“Digital China in Motion: Internet Thinking, Super Apps, and the Agent Economy”

In Partnership with HKU Business School, we invite you to the webinar with Prof. Weiming Zhu, Associate Professor in Innovation and Information Management, HKU Business School, The University of Hong Kong.

What makes China’s digital economy different, and what can global leaders learn from it? This session unpacks the operating logic that has propelled Chinese tech companies to the forefront of the digital economy.

It starts with the concept of “internet thinking”: a customer-obsessed, data-driven, rapid-iteration mindset that turns everyday user interactions into a powerful engine of learning, scale, and ecosystem growth. Drawing on real-world examples from Alibaba, Meituan, Tencent, and SHEIN, the session shows why digital competition in China is ultimately a matter of operational excellence.

It then looks ahead to the next shift—from the attention economy to an AI-driven, agent-based model—exploring how this could redefine how customers search, decide, and transact, and what it means for the future of digital competition.

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About the speaker:

Professor Weiming Zhu is Associate Professor of Innovation and Information Management at HKU Business School and Programme Director for Open Programmes in Executive Education. He was named one of Poets & Quants’ Best 40 Under 40 MBA Professors (2025), recognizing him among the world’s leading business school educators.

His work focuses on China’s innovation landscape in a global context, from digital platforms and AI ecosystems to urban mobility and supply chain finance. He brings comparative insight into how China’s business models are diverging from, and influencing, global markets, a core theme in understanding “China 2.0.”

Previously on the faculty at IESE Business School in Spain, with visiting appointments at MIT and Northwestern University, he brings a truly international perspective to China-related strategy and innovation. His research is widely published in leading journals and has received multiple global best paper awards.

An award-winning educator, Professor Zhu teaches across MBA and executive programmes, and his insights on China’s digital economy have been featured in international media including the BBC, Financial Times, and Caixin.