Foreign firms from Minhang shine at CIIE
The 6th China International Import Expo concluded in Shanghai on November 10 with its one-year intended transaction amount reaching US$78.41 billion, up 6.7 percent year on year. Minhang District, one of the major clusters of foreign investment in Shanghai, reported that more than 50 of its foreign invested companies participated in this year's CIIE. Some have been senior participants for each of the six events in the past few years, while others were newcomers to the CIIE family, each with its own brilliant CIIE story to share.
Tyson Foods tempts
Tyson Foods' exhibition booth, a bright red dining car packed with all kinds of meat products and sending out tasty aromas that attracted a long queue of people waiting for free samples, was a star at the 6th CIIE.
The world meat giant is relying on the CIIE's global influence while carrying out its localization strategy in China. It debuted several of its high-quality protein products at its exhibition booth, and expressed its wish to further increase its investment and sales scale in China.
The company launched eight new products under three categories – "Ten Chicken Wings Bucket," "For the Air Fryer" and "Tavern Taste." All the flavors catered to the Chinese market and palate, and a new generation of consumers.
Take its "Ten Chicken Wings Bucket" series as an example. The new products included two flavors – caramel honey and French garlic butter – and its food steaming and roasting technology preserved the essence of the food that can be lost in frying, and can quickly restore the original taste by reheating in a microwave oven or air fryer.
When asked what were their greatest benefits from participating four times in the CIIE, Tyson's response was a sharp rise in corporate name recognition, industrial influence and consumer trust.
"Tyson's global headquarter is gaining a better understanding of the Chinese market and its business environment through the CIIE," said Zhou Quan, senior public relations director of Tyson.
The CIIE has also witnessed Tyson's digitalization transformation in China.
During the 3rd CIIE in 2020, Tyson Foods set up its China and South Korea regional headquarters in Shanghai. It was the first world Fortune 500 company to locate its regional headquarters in the Minhang section of the Hongqiao International Central Business District.
At the 4th CIIE in 2021, Tyson announced its initiative to launch its digitalization transformation in China and declared it would construct three smart factories in Rizhao of Shandong Province, Nantong of Jiangsu Province and Xiaogan of Hubei Province.
Its digitalization transformation focused on smart manufacturing, consumer data analysis and product delivery.
"We've cooperated with several domestic and global industrial leaders on internet of things, artificial intelligence and big data," Zhou said.
The company also set up a smart factory photo and video exhibition zone in its booth, to demonstrate its newest achievements in localization.
Benefiting from its total industrial chain digitalization transformation, the company's sales and import volumes in China have achieved double-digit increases annually.
Tyson Foods' exhibition booth
Visitors flock to Tyson Foods' booth at the 6th CIIE for its wide variety of food offerings.
Signify inks pact
Signify (China) Investment Co signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Shanghai Modern Agriculture Investment and Development Group Co on November 6.
The latter's Shanghai Modern Agriculture Park, situated around the estuary of Yangtze River in the East China Sea and to the south of Hengsha Village in Chongming District, is a strategic deployment by the Shanghai government.
Signify, a Minhang-based company, joined with the agriculture investment group during the CIIE and together they will explore greener and smarter agriculture, especially in plant lighting, low-carbon energy conservation and the green environment.
This was Signify's third time participating in the CIIE following its 2018 and 2019 attendances. Its exhibition featured smart city lighting, smart interconnected office lighting, smart interconnected home appliances lighting, plant lighting and the recycling economy.
Signify set up its Northeast Asia headquarters and Asia-Pacific service center in Hongqiao Town in Minhang in 2015. A world-leading lighting company, it was founded in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, about 130 years ago as Royal Philips Electronics. In 2016 the brand earned its independence and went public in Amsterdam with its business ranging from professional lighting, through consumer lighting and interconnected lighting.
"Shanghai is an open and welcoming city as a world economy, finance, trade, navigation, and science innovation center. Signify is impressed by Shanghai's friendly business environment and its supporting policies every moment," said Wang Yun, vice global senior president of Signify and its Northeast Asia chief executive officer.
Signify's booth at the 6th CIIE
Skechers' new shoes
Inside Skechers' exhibition booth in the CIIE venue, expo attendees dashed out in a shuttle run, wearing the company's latest high-tech sports shoes.
Users are usually impressed by the brand's comfortable shoes and Skechers, for five successive years, has brought its high-tech products and concepts to a global audience through the CIIE.
Several of its sports shoes, including SKX ResagripTM, SKX Floattm, and SKX_01, endorsed by NBA stars Julius Randle and Terance Mann, and England football star Harry Kane, made their Asian debuts during the event, as did the company's first professional pickleball shoes, the Viper Court Pro.
Its latest GoWalk7, equipped with handsfree slip-in technology, quickly won the hearts of those who tried them on in the booth.
As a leading company in the sports sector, Skechers usually pinpoints their brand concepts with popular sports including pickleball, urban jogging and walking, outdoor camping, basketball and football, among others. Its exhibited items catered to the needs of both leisurewear and sportswear for people through all ages.
"We are honored to display Skechers' products in this world stage set up by China and believe only through a thorough understanding of Chinese consumers can we earn their trust and preference," said Chen Weili, China, South Korea and Southeast Asia regional chief executive officer of Skechers.
Skecherss booth at the 6th CIIE
Skechers unveils its latest shoe collection at the CIIE.
'Ribbon' telecom tower keeps expo online
A "ribbon" telecommunication tower, nicknamed "Min Jianshe" ("Minhang Construction") near the CIIE exhibition hall, ensured well-connected telecommunications for the densely-populated venue during the event. The tower, constructed and maintained by the Minhang Branch of China Tower Co, used to be a traditional angle-steel tower built in 2008. When the city launched its first CIIE, the tower underwent a facelift and a relocation in 2018 to satisfy the increased demand for telecommunications coverage. The ribbon-shaped facility twisting the tower not only decorates it more beautifully but also serves as space for installation of a variety of equipment. The tower, now used for 5G coverage for China Telecom, China Mobile and China Unicom, is also used for meteorological observations.
Charity brews up with Hongqiao coffee harbor
Yun Weiping, a retired national team athlete with physical disability, serves a cup of charity coffee during the CIIE. Hinichijou, a Shanghai charity coffee brand, joined with Hongqiao International Coffee Harbor of Minhang and set up a Communist Party-themed coffee booth inside the CIIE venue. The booth restored the setting of the Swan Café in Brussels of Belgium from 1845-1848 when Karl Marx and Friedrich Von Engels worked on the Communist Manifesto there. Baristas in the booth were all people with disabilities. They included Yun, Zhang Jun, a blind barista fighting against cancer, and deaf and mute barista Chen Lulei. As a gesture to connect the world of the disabled with the world of able people, Hinichijou provided hearing aids and AR glasses for its disabled workers with hearing or speaking problems.
