NUS Business School kick starts a series of engagement activities in China. Starting with Shanghai, the first edition of the NUS Business Talks (新思沙龙) invited like-minded business leaders interested in sharing thought leadership and best practices within various business industries in China.
Tapping on the expertise of our EMBA (Chinese) alumni, the Shanghai office organised the inaugural session on 17 February.
The Shanghai edition focused on how companies can promote consumer growth through three key factors: the upper middle class and affluent consumers, online shopping, and the upcoming new generation of consumers.
Based on a consumer trends report, it pointed out that private consumption is becoming an important driving force for further development of China’s economy, the future of China’s consumer market will remain a staggering room for growth. According to the report, even if China’s real GDP growth slowed further to 5.5%, by 2020, China’s consumer market will expand by about half to 6.5 trillion US dollars in size. The next five years the consumer market brought about by the $ 2.3 trillion increase, equivalent to the current German or British consumer market 1.3 times.
Bringing the discussion into perspectives were Miss Guo Xiuling, founder of SandRiver, where she is a leading expert in textile technology, as well as Mr He Shaobo, CEO & President of Huapi Tang Hotel and Resort.
With more than 20 participants in attendance, they discussed the future of Chinese consumer trends, such as consumer perception that are rapidly changing from going beyond just purchasing products, where consumers want to experience “service” and looking to “improve the quality of life” as opposed to just gathering daily necessities.
Based on Miss Guo’s experience with the luxury market, where she holds more than 200 patents, and established her own brand of fashion, she surmises that quality and cross-border integration would be the key to being a market leader.
Similarly, Mr He, who is responsible for his team’s brand development, planning and management, with prior hotel general manager duties also concurs that a brand has to be willing to breakthrough and consistently upkeep the core competitiveness for a brand to have longevity.
Find out more about the Shanghai edition here. The NUS Business Talks will continue to travel to Beijing in March.