When asked about the most memorable experience during their six-day, two-city trip to China, more than half of the 2023 Future Close-Up Program participants cited their participation in the Digital Social Good campaign, designed to explore the evolution of China's digital economy.

From June 15 to 20, 16 people from 14 countries, including Latvia, Spain and Pakistan, joined the program, an undertaking advocating youth exchanges through digital development.

"They say that when you practice something, you will understand it better. In the past few days since arriving here [in China], I have experienced things for myself and gained a better understanding of the development of the digital economy in China, especially how it has helped charitable efforts, how love has been brought to the people," Rida Hameed, a reporter for Pakistan's K21 News TV channel, shared with the group during a meeting on June 19.

According to the 51st China Internet Development Statistical Report released by the China Internet Network Information Center on March 2, the number of netizens in China exceeded 1.06 billion in December 2022, up 3.4 percent year on year, with an Internet penetration rate of 75.6 percent.

With the extensive integration of digital solutions into social communication and daily life, digitalized life has become increasingly important in China. Initiatives in the country's philanthropy ecosystem, a springing sector, are increasingly adopting more imaginative, diverse and scenario-based approaches with the help of digital technology. Moreover, China's potential philanthropic growth represents a tremendous opportunity for organizations with the ability to seize the moment—and Internet technology giant Tencent presents one such example.

Step by step

During their "digital day tour" of Beijing, all 16 trippers not only used Didi Chuxing (China's Uber equivalent) to hail a car and scanned QR codes to get on the Beijing subway or ride shared bikes, but also participated in a unique initiative called Step Donation on Weixin, one of China's most popular super apps developed by Tencent. This involved participants recording their steps and converting them into real monetary donations to a range of charitable projects on the Tencent Charity app. One such project was an English training program for rural children who lack access to sufficient education resources.

Tencent Charity donates approximately 1 yuan ($0.14) for every 10,000 steps taken by each participant. According to the online public fundraising platform's data, from May 2022 to May 2023, circa 89.67 million users had donated their steps, amounting to a cumulative contribution of more than 13.3 billion steps.

After wrapping up his digital day cruising across the Chinese capital, Latvian Arthur Gopak, cofounder of a business portal for young professionals, had amassed and donated 6,000 steps to a rural library program.

"I really liked the use of technology in a social entrepreneurship context. I tried out the Tencent Charity app, which I found pretty cool and really conveniently designed," Gopak told Beijing Review, adding the contribution was a "small highlight" of his first-ever trip to China.

As one of China's top five Internet tech companies, Tencent not only focuses on core businesses and leads industry development but also aims to take on more social responsibility.

It became the first Chinese tech company to launch a charity foundation in June 2007. The annual 99 Giving Day campaign, initiated by Tencent Foundation in 2015, aims to promote philanthropy as a nationwide social activity that encourages netizens to participate in online and offline charity events held every September.

According to data released by Tencent, 99 Giving Day collected a total public contribution of 2.4 billion yuan ($336 million) from September 7 to 9 in 2022, with donations from 40.97 million supporters.

Over the years, 99 Giving Day has become one of the largest philanthropic festivals globally, alongside Giving Tuesday in the United States and Red Nose Day in the United Kingdom.

In the past, the public had difficulties accessing crowdfunding platforms and small, individual donations weren't enough to generate substantial change. Also, donors were often concerned about where the funds were going and how they were being used. Online public fundraising platforms can help address and ease these concerns. In fact, 30 such platforms, including those created by Tencent, e-commerce leader Alibaba and Weibo, China's Twitter equivalent, have been designated by the Ministry of Civil Affairs for charitable organizations to promote their endeavors.

Compared to the charity sector overseas, China's digital philanthropy stands out for its combination of government and civic efforts and its ability to reshape connections. The ubiquity of super apps, live-streaming, e-commerce, teleconferences and so on has provided new ways for people across the country to connect with and participate in philanthropy.

An all-access pass

China's digital transformation over the past decade has not only diversified the channels and forms of charitable donations, but also introduced a range of projects and activities intended to support individuals with physical disabilities.

One such project is called Ethereal Audio Lab (TEALab), created in 2021. Its engineers have applied their research on audio quality enhancement and noise reduction to assist those who are hearing-impaired.

"We are utilizing our artificial intelligence (AI) technology to enhance the auditory experience for users suffering hearing loss, enabling them to hear more clearly—even in noisy environments," Xiao Wei, an audio engineer at TEALab, said in a documentary that aired on China Central Television's Documentary Channel in May last year.

Through TEALab, Tencent provides free access to its AI audio technology for developers working on public welfare projects, hearing aid manufacturers, non-profit organizations and related industries. For the lab, the goal is to address the challenges faced by individuals suffering hearing loss and to help create a friendly social environment without barriers.

Digital voice technology is also being used to cater to the visually impaired community's increasing needs. Guangming Cinema, a project focused on creating and promoting audio descriptive movies, first came into being at the Communication University of China in Beijing in late 2017.

A barrier-free film is produced by incorporating narration that describes visual content, as well as its underlying emotions and meanings, during pauses between dialogues and sound effects. This allows visually impaired individuals to get as close to the full silver screen experience as possible.

More than 500 student volunteers dedicate their spare time to producing 104 all-access films annually to ensure the visually impaired community can have access to two new movies every week throughout the year.

During the 2023 Future Close-Up group's visit to Guangming Cinema, Conrad Alwin Ho, co-founder of a tech talent development program in China's Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and Africa, threw himself into the process of voice recording. Following the visit, he told Beijing Review that he believes this project "provides students with valuable job experience and skills, and benefits individuals with visual impairment."

"The 2023 Future Close-Up Program has shown that the development of China's digital economy generates many opportunities to apply technology to surpassing traditional limitations, and contributes to the betterment of the lives of seniors, differently-abled groups, people living in rural areas and many other groups," Ho shared. 

(Print Edition Title: Social Samaritans)

Copyedited by Elsbeth van Paridon

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