Tencent report claims that Beijing is the smartest city in China

Beijing is the “smartest” city in China, according to a report on the cashless society released on 31, July. [caption id=“attachment_3877151” align=“alignleft” width=“385”] Image Courtesy: Wikimedia[/caption] The report, jointly published by Chinese tech giant Tencent, the Chongyang Institute for Financial Studies, and French market research firm Ipsos, used indexes like transportation, education, shopping and food delivery to measure “smart cities” level in 324 Chinese cities. Overall, Beijing ranked first in the penetration of a cashless society, followed by Shenzhen, Guangzhou and Shanghai, Xinhua news agency reported. Dongguan and Foshan ranked sixth and tenth, respectively. The report also showed that 40 percent of Chinese carry less than 100 yuan ($15) in cash when going out, while 52 percent use cash for 20 per cent of their total monthly consumption. Over 70 percent respondents said they could live more than a week with only 100 yuan in cash, and 84 percent were “comfortable” going out with only mobile phones, no cash. The report was part of a week-long celebration of WeChat’s annual “Cashless Day” on 8, August. “Cashless Day” aims to promote a green, fashionable and efficient lifestyle. Even though a completely cashless society is unlikely to happen, a new age of smart life has already arrived, according to WeChat, China’s largest social media company.