When banking feels effortless

During my recent visit to Hubei Financial University, where I continue my research into AI and financial services, I was taken to a technology branch of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China in Xiong’an. 

I ordered a coffee, which was promptly made and delivered by a robot, smoothly, efficiently, and without hesitation. Nearby, customers applied for credit cards at a digital terminal and received approval almost instantly, with their cards printed on the spot.

No forms. No waiting. No friction.

It was all hugely impressive, but also quietly unsettling. Not because of the technology alone, but because of how normal it already began to feel.

A city created from nothing and built to last

From the bank, I stepped into a self-driving taxi. No driver, no conversation, just movement.

We headed to the Xiong’an Exhibition Hall and what I saw there will stay with me forever.

Xiong’an is being built as a “1,000-year city.” This isn’t a political slogan, but a genuine planning philosophy. The city is not designed for the next election cycle, or even the next generation, but for the centuries ahead.

Only a few years ago, this was open land. Today, it’s a rapidly emerging urban ecosystem.

The design is simple, and yet radical. Featuring:

• Beneath the surface, an invisible infrastructure which keeps everything running seamlessly.
• At ground level, people live, work, and gather in carefully designed spaces.
• Above, an entirely new economic layer is forming, including a “low-altitude economy,” where drones, aerial transport and new industries operate up to 1,000 metres in the air.

Altogether it is structured, intentional, and deeply strategic.

The sky’s no longer the limit

What struck me most is that this low-altitude economy isn’t theoretical, it’s already happening, and at a considerable scale.

Other cities are also pushing their boundaries in a mix ways:

• Shenzhen is building aerial logistics and transport systems.
• Chengdu is converting military capability into civilian innovation.
• Hefei is becoming a research powerhouse in this space.
• Chongqing feels almost surreal, with trains running through buildings and transport layered in ways which challenge everything we might assume about cities.

There is a sense of momentum that’s coordinated, purposeful, and quick.

And yet… stillness

However, what I didn’t anticipate was the calm these spaces radiate.

After the exhibition, I was guided through Yuerong Park in a small autonomous vehicle. The park is vast, green, and quietly beautiful. People walking, sitting and talking, the perfect example of life unfolding at a very human pace.

Later, in Baoding, I visited the Lotus Pond, first created in 1277. It is peaceful, reflective and timeless. And this, perhaps, is the point. China isn’t choosing between the past or future. It’s holding both at once.

A glimpse of another China

On a high-speed train to Aranya, a coastal retreat whose name means “a place to recover your true self,” I saw yet another layer.

Aranya is where China’s affluent and creative communities retreat. It is curated, minimal, almost introspective. But what caught my attention here the most was the journey itself. Felds lined with solar panels powering agriculture, and other quiet evidence of a country redesigning even its most rural landscapes.

The leadership question we’re all avoiding

I left China with a lingering thought, and it’s not a comfortable one. Why is there such a growing gap between China and the West?

China is building, infrastructure, cities, and systems, all with a long-term view. It is investing in capability, resilience, and technological integration at a scale that is hard to ignore.

Meanwhile, many Western organisations remain locked into short-term performance cycles, quarterly pressures, and reactive decision-making. This isn’t just an economic difference. It’s a leadership difference.

And this leads me to a fundamental question: Can organisations built on short-term thinking compete with systems designed for the long term?

A final reflection

What I saw wasn’t about robots, or even cities. It was about intent, clarity of direction, and a willingness to invest in the future, and then build it is a very deliberate way.

For business leaders, the message is clear: The future isn’t something to predict, it’s something others are already creating.