By Li Yiwen Gu Xin

我的中國故事MY CHINA STORY

Nihao, China! Swiss Entrepreneur Designs APP to Help Foreigners in China

By Li Yiwen Gu Xin

"You cannot plan a good product or a good business model. You can only repeatedly try and test things out, adjust where necessary and make updates in a timely fashion." That's the business philosophy of Swiss entrepreneur Lucas Rondez, who has started his own business in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

Born in Geneva in 1983, the young Swiss man started working at the Union Bank of Switzerland at 16. His dealings with Chinese customers at the bank sparked an interest in China that eventually brought him to live and work in the world's second largest economy.

"The bank didn't have any businesses in China, and I could not speak a single word of Chinese. But I so eagerly wanted to come to China. I handed my resignation in on Monday, and by Friday, I was on the plane to China." Rondez said.

Nihao was the only phrase Rondez knew when he arrivedin Hangzhou in 2007. The language barrier was so big and seemingly impenetrable that he felt like a 3-year-old again, virtually unable to communicate with the world around him. However, Nihao was not just a starting point in China for Rondez; it turned out to be the phrase that helped launch his career.

Taking time to understand China

Rondez is decisive.

Once he made up his mind to move to China from Switzerland, he accomplished it in just four days. When he did come to China, his hopes to start a new career took a little more time.

"Team, capital, connections, resources and a thorough understanding of the local market, all of these are indispensable." All of which he did not have when he arrived.

Rondez started off by working in local banks. By 2016, he decided he'd gained enough experiences and resources, as well as ideas for a product——an app targeted at foreigners living and working in China.

"One needs to deeply understand a particular area in order to run a business. And at that time, what I understood the most were problems foreigners may encounter in China."

According to Rondez, there are three major areas that foreigners struggle with; visas, where to go for fun and paying travel expenses.

"Chinese locals may not have any idea how difficult things are for foreigners when purchasing train or plane tickets. One time I saw a foreign couple in line buying train tickets. They were speaking to the staff for a really long time, but still couldn't finish the transaction with their debit cards. In the end they had to withdraw cash from the ATM. These kind of experiences are just too painful."

These encounters, the lack of any services targeted at expats, along with Rondez's judgment on the rapid development of China's e-commerce, led to the birth of Nihao, an app that "strives to make foreigners' lives in China easier".

For foreigners, by foreigners

The all-English app is targeted at foreigners living in China, offering functions like discovering where to have fun, news on events in the city, food and dining and even translation tools to shatter those language walls. Users can also purchase movie tickets through the app, pay for their phone bills, buy insurance and train tickets, and even call a taxi.

"We are also working on a direct purchase platform through the app."

In just over a year, Nihao has gained more than 130,000 registered users from more than 100 countries, and partnered with more than 1,500 businesses. Users are not just conf i ned to those who reside in Hangzhou. The app is now equipped to provide services for those living in 20 cities that are popular with expats, including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Chengdu and Nanjing.

"We are only starting." Rondez said.

Internet-led development for the future

"Running a business is sometimes a lonely task, but I'm grateful for the atmosphere Hangzhou provided me."

Rondez, who participated in the third World Internet Conference in 2016, said the platform is providing new opportunities for entrepreneurs like himself, and that the internet is leading the way in the market.

"Internet has bridged cultures and nations. I also hope that my work and myself can also act as a link for the world to communicate with China."

The idea is ref l ected in the naming of the app.

Rondez, now fl uent in Mandarin, says though some foreigners may not know any Chinese, almost all of them are familiar with the term nihao, just like he was at the beginning.

Almost a decade ago, Rondez greeted China with nihao. Now, a decade later, he created an app so that more foreigners can not just greet the nation with "nihao", but truly live, immerse and experience China with much more ease.