The 2020 China Green Company Annual Meeting was held in Hainan from September 28 to 29. Ma Yun, chairman of the China Entrepreneurs Club, founder of Jack Ma Charity Foundation, proponent of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and partner of Alibaba, attended and spoke.

Ma Yun said at the conference that the epidemic will always end, but the COVID-19 disease may accompany humans for hundreds or even thousands of years. Now, I'm afraid the virus will live longer than any of us. We need to learn to adapt, and our epidemic prevention will also learn to change from routine epidemic prevention to normal epidemic prevention. Perhaps in the future, the vast majority of hospitals will have a “COVID-19 department”. This is a situation that may occur with long-term coexistence.　

The full transcript is as follows:

Ma Yun's speech at the 2020 Green Company Annual Meeting

I'm very happy to see you all in Haikou. After the pandemic, we know that in fact, meeting someone is a very precious thing.

This is the first time that Green Company's annual meeting has been held in Hainan, and it is also the first time that so many entrepreneurs from the China Entrepreneurs Club (CEC) have come to Hainan in groups. When we come to Hainan this time, we have no other idea. We just want to support the free trade port, because at this time, China needs to open up even more and connect with the world!

2020 is very special. The future must be a watershed moment in history; if Hainan becomes a free trade port, it must also be a historic choice; I hope our CEC Hainan conference will also be a conference that spans the ages. After the pandemic, after the new globalization begins, and when the digital age arrives, our CEC entrepreneurs can create unique value in this period of history.

I was still in Wuhan yesterday, and I went on a trip to Wuhan with about 30 of our CEC directors. Watching Wuhan on TV a few months ago was really difficult. When I visited Wuhan this time, I really felt that Wuhan is a heroic city with a heroic temperament. The pandemic is over, so we should consider how to revive the economy. The rebirth of the economy is not about going back to yesterday and before, but at a higher level, seeing the future from the pandemic, seeing trends, and seizing opportunities.

When I came to Hainan from Wuhan this time, I think it was a coincidence; it also seemed like there was something inevitable. Two years ago, **** announced a strategy to build the Hainan Free Trade Port and fully open it up. Two years have passed, and the world landscape has changed dramatically, but I still believe that we must stick to openness and we must stick to globalization. Especially after the pandemic, I believe all doors in the world have to be opened by ourselves, and no door will open naturally.

At this time, adhering to globalization is more important and meaningful than ever. Now Hainan stands at the beginning of a new history. The construction of a free trade port is not simpleDevelopment in HainanThe opportunity is not only an opportunity for China's economic development, but also for taking on the historical responsibility of exploring new globalization for the world.

I myself think that internationalization and globalization are two different concepts. Internationalization favors Chinese people doing business with foreigners, mainly bilaterally. Globalization, on the other hand, is a major event for all countries in the world; it is a global issue.

Today, many people think that globalization has given rise to this kind of problem. And I don't think so:

First, I think today is the time for real globalization to begin.

Today is the end of yesterday's original, traditional, industrial-era globalization. A new, real, digital age of globalization has just begun.

In the past, globalization was dominated by developed countries and large enterprises. In the future, globalization should be for developing countries and small and medium-sized enterprises to the world; in the past, trade was the main force of globalization, and future technology would be the main force of globalization; in the past, people and goods were flowing, and the future was the flow of data and services; in the past 30 years, the future was the globalization of enterprises that made good use of Internet technology; in the future, anyone could do global business with just one mobile phone. In the past 30 years, 6,000 large enterprises have determined globalization, the future It is likely that 60 million small and medium-sized enterprises will decide to go global. Geographic expansion is business expansion. This is a huge opportunity the world has given us.

Second, this is a new round of globalization driven by China's domestic demand.

In the new round of globalization, China will change from “selling and selling” to “buying and buying.” The Hainan Free Trade Port has its own historical mission, and Hainan will play a very important role in history in the future. Assuming that we are not satisfied with the rules of the trade game, we are given an opportunity today, whether we have this kind of mindset, this kind of pattern, and this kind of responsibility to formulate a fairer, more sustainable, and greener trade rule for the future digital globalization of the world, the globalization of more companies, more countries, and more developing countries. People actually don't need to be afraid to change from “sell to buy” to “buy buy.” Every time China opens its doors, it is a symbol of China's progress. Every time the door is opened, China has made progress.

We have to keep going out. I remember that in the past, people went out looking for gaps; we thought they did a good job and that did a good job. Today, many of our Chinese companies are going out, or many Chinese people are going out, looking for feelings. When we're looking for feelings, we're actually going backwards.

The last time it was globalized was driven by the consumption of 300 million people in the US; China's current globalization is the domestic demand of 1.4 billion people, which will drive the next round of true globalization and drive the world economy. Imports are not the end point; in the end, imports will force China's industry to upgrade, consumption to upgrade, and promote the development of modern service industries. For entrepreneurs, future opportunities are in China's small towns with a population of one million. I don't know if you know how many cities in China have a population of over 1 million people. I made a preliminary statistic in 2014. There are probably less than 12 cities in the US that have a population of over 1 million, and 167 cities in China have a population of over 1 million. However, with the infrastructure of 1 million people and the huge industry created by a population of 1 million, we are far from developing well. With a population of nearly one million cities, maybe 300 in the future, these places will unleash huge consumption potential. Domestic demand is definitely not driven by rich people; domestic demand should meet the needs of every ordinary person. Driven by the domestic demand of ordinary people, it is the value of domestic demand that can truly develop sustainably.

Thirdly, the new globalization is an ability to serve the world.

The core of globalization is to create value in other countries and regions, create jobs, and do things that cannot be done locally. If China went global in the past, it had to have people go out, machines to go out, and capital to go out; today's China needs information to go out, services to go out, and value to go out. Globalization is an ability to serve the world, not the ability to make money in the world. Chinese enterprises should be determined to go global rather than conquer the world. Many people climb mountains and think they are conquering nature, but nature is not conquering; nature should surrender. The real value for the world is not about going on an expedition, but creating value. What we want to win back when we go out is not only profit, but what we should win back is respect; what we want to show is not a strong country, but a kind and beautiful country; we don't want to transfer excess production capacity, but we need to go to the local area to create new and different values, respect local culture, respect local values, respect local religion and beliefs, and respect the different systems and systems of each country. We need to believe that the world is beautiful because it's different. It's all like you, and it's not OK, it's all like everyone else, and it's not OK.

2020 should be said to be a turning point. I discussed with many entrepreneurs and found that everyone was more or less anxious. Actually, everyone has anxiety. Any era, any company, and anyone has anxiety; it's just that some people are more sensitive, while others are less sensitive.

My judgment on the future: far away, very difficult in the near future, even more difficult in the medium term. This is a bumpy period for airplanes to pass through the clouds, so everyone should have a good steering wheel and seat belts, but the most important thing is to have a futuristic view. When you look at today from the future, today's difficulties are not difficult. When you only look at today and compare with yesterday, your frustration will only increase. Therefore, we need to face the future and use future methods to solve today's problems rather than yesterday's methods to solve today's problems. Many people are very optimistic, and many are also very pessimistic. I think excessive optimism and excessive pessimism are all due to not seeing the future clearly.

Yesterday's opinions and actions determine the present day of your business, and today's opinions and thoughts determine the future of your business. The future does not mean what you will look like in two years; the future refers to what your business will look like in twenty or thirty years. Every company here, your scale today, your achievements today, everything we have achieved today is not what we did today, all because 20 years ago we believed China would be what it is today. I believe that if you judge from today what the world will become and how society will become in twenty years, solve future problems, and believe in young people, you will definitely have a future.

Amidst all the huge uncertainties today, I think digitalization is certain, and digitalization will definitely completely transform all industries. Not every business needs to transform, but every enterprise must upgrade and complete the digital upgrade. Don't worry about the “old kings” who have competed with you for 20 or 10 years now. What you should worry about are the “Little Li” you don't know at all and haven't met. This group of people has never appeared; they have no baggage; they have adopted new technology, dared to innovate, and dared to use the Internet. These young people will be the hope of China, but they may also be under pressure that everyone here may face. In the end, it is not the Internet companies that defeat you, but the companies that make good use of Internet technology. I hope all enterprises must think today about using digitalization to upgrade their management, upgrade their organization, and upgrade their products.

The next ten years will be the last decade for traditional industries to advance digitalization. Actually, twenty years ago, in many provinces I visited, I was constantly talking about the impact of the Internet on the retail industry and the impact on the manufacturing industry. No one took it seriously. Until companies such as Taobao, Tmall, Alibaba, Baidu, and Tencent started up, people suddenly felt that “wolves” had arrived; in fact, “wolves” were always there.

If you are not prepared for change today, I believe you will definitely be the target of digital poverty alleviation ten years from now. To this day, unfortunately, there are still many entrepreneurs who still talk about the digital revolution as alarmist claims; digital technology and Internet technology are only simple tools. I want to tell you that digital technology will redefine manufacturing, redefine retail, redefine technology, redefine production materials and everything, and even soon this technology will trigger changes in all production relationships in the whole society.

In fact, in the future, the farther away the industry is from technology, the more the industry that has not been technologically transformed, the greater the opportunities. In fact, as long as many enterprises invest in more technology, talent, and ideas, the benefits and value they get will be very certain. Today, if you are simply an internet company, you may not be rewarded, but if you digitize your traditional business today, your return is certain.

The key to the digital transformation of traditional industries lies in ideas. The key lies in ideas. The responsibility must lie with the leader, not the technical department. An enterprise whose leader does not change must not be a farsighted and responsible enterprise.

The epidemic will always end, but diseases such as COVID-19 may accompany humans for hundreds or even thousands of years. Now the virus will probably live longer than any of us. We need to learn to adapt, and our epidemic prevention will also learn to change from routine epidemic prevention to normal prevention. Perhaps in the future, the vast majority of hospitals will have a “COVID-19 department”. This is a situation that may occur with long-term coexistence.

2020 is bound to be a year that will change history. In Wuhan, our CEC entrepreneurs made this requirement for themselves: entrepreneurs are not equal to rich people, and rich people are not necessarily entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs are a high-quality asset for a country or nation. In the face of a national disaster, entrepreneurs have no need for orders, voluntarily, and come forward. The epidemic is a sudden disaster, and we must take the initiative; entrepreneurs are even more responsible for economic recovery after the epidemic is over.

All the companies, entrepreneurs present here, if your business has not experienced three or five disasters within ten or twenty years, your business will never be able to withstand being hit. The more the world changes drastically, the more entrepreneurs have to take responsibility. The more responsibility we have for entrepreneurs. We do these things not to get applause, not to win recognition, not to win support from some policies, but rather to our inner belief, we like it, and we believe that we should use a vision of the future and a strategic vision to communicate with the world, and make the world better and better through our own efforts.

Thank you all!

Sina's statement: All conference transcripts are compiled from live shorthand. Without review by the speakers, Sina posted this article for the purpose of conveying more information, which does not mean that it endorses its views or confirms its descriptions.