Global New Economy Conference 2019 was held in Shanghai, an annual event of EO Company, was held in Shanghai, with the guidance of several Shanghai government departments, including Shanghai Economic and Information Technology Commission (上海市经济和信息化委员会), Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce (上海市商务委员会) and Shanghai Changning District People's Government (上海市长宁区人民政府).

The conference that runs from June 12 to 14 is held under the auspices of Shanghai Changning District Youth Federation (上海市长宁区青年联合会) and EO Company with the theme of "Technological Innovation Leads the New Age of Intelligence".

The whole conference consists of one main forum and eight sub-forums, with several hot-button topics such as STAR (Sci-Tech innoVation boArd), 5G, New Energy and Intelligent Manufacture, and so on. More than 150 people spoke at the conference, including government officials, economists, entrepreneurs and investors from China, the United States, Germany, and several other countries. Over 6,000 attendees participated in the three-day event. 

In the following recap of the forums, we’ll guide you quickly through the main viewpoints of more than 30 speakers.

Leadership Summit – the main forum of the conference

Wang Bin, co-founder and president of EO Company. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Wang Weiren (王为人), Party secretary of Changning district, attended the Leadership Summit and introduced the industry development and business environment of Changning district. The Changning district government embraces various types of companies, investment institutions, and talents by providing preferential policies, convenient services and so on, said Wang.

Finn E. Kydland, 2004 Nobel Laureate in Economics, said that "the only driving force for the long-run real economic growth is innovation and technological upgrade." He cited the example of Ireland. Ireland has a bigger per capita GDP than four major economies in Europe, including the United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Italy, because of its advanced fiscal and monetary policies. The central bank of Ireland operates independently and adopts a better financial mechanism than other countries.

Wu Bofan (吴伯凡), professor and research supervisor at the School of New Media, Peking University, claimed that Chinese consumers are focusing more on better quality and personalized lifestyle. This change has led to more abundant types of products targeting different consumer groups with multiple characteristics.

Wang Bin (王彬), co-founder and president of EO Company, published a new report on the 100 companies hopeful of being listed in STAR. This report was compiled by EO Intelligence, the research affiliate of EO Company. To get the report free, please click: STAR. 

Germany-U.S.-China Intelligence Vision Forum

Zhang Fan, vice president of EO Company and co-founder of EqualOcean. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Zhang Fan (张帆), vice president of EO Company and co-founder of EqualOcean, presented three concepts to the guests to help them understand the New Normal in China's business landscape: 996, STAR, and 5G. A full transcript of this speech can be accessed here: Zhang Fan. 

Scott Beardsley, dean of Darden School of Business at the University of Virginia, enlightened the audience with intriguing insights into the Industry Intelligence in the US. Thanks to his 26-year experience at McKinsey, he is well-positioned to analyze the developments in the industrial value creation process, and he stated that the innovation and human performance would be the main catalyst in the industrial value creation, globally.

Fiona Hui Hui, head of the Asia Pacific and Southeast Asia at Axel Springer, delivered her speech on the Industry Intelligence in Germany and said "We're the European answer to Jinritoutiao," which is the news media product of Bytedance. Indeed, she focused on Axel Springer's initiatives to transform itself into an AI-driven media group which is the core technology and unique value of Jinritoutiao, as well.

Zhu Jintong (朱金童), director of Enterprise Data Intelligence Products at Alibaba Cloud, said that they focus on the data collection and the ecosystem. He thinks China is the best country to develop an AI-driven cloud, thanks to the gigantic data pool in China. "We have access to the data generated by 600 million and through processing these data, we learn to create a smarter process of machine learning," he noted.

David Weild, founder and CEO of Weild & Co, and former vice chairman of NASDAQ, stressed the growing influence of AI-driven business models on NASDAQ and observed that his major investment decision criteria are "the vision of the company" for nascent AI companies.

To get more speech content, please click: Gremany-U.S.-China Intelligence Vision Forum.

New Catering Summit

Li Shuang, partner and vice president of EO Company. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Shao Xinmou (邵信谋), CEO of Dingqiao Canyin (顶巧餐饮), shared his secret behind how to attract young diners. By analyzing consumption data, one of Dingqiao’s brands Dicos constantly changes the flavor of foods to satisfy young customers' palates.

Li Haipeng (李海鹏), founder of Panda Selected, suggested that “new boom of the market stems from the improvement of customer acquisition channel, sales channel, and supply chain.” When all the improvements are in place, business can move fast.

Li Shuang (李双), partner and vice president of EO Company, revealed a catering trend that many Chinese catering companies have launched their global strategy, including opening shops overseas, building brand images in the world, and so on. The top 20 catering brands, by the number of outlets, are mainly from the U.S., Sweden and China. The top five are Subway, McDonald’s, Starbucks, KFC and Berger King. The most-favored destinations for Chinese catering enterprises to start their overseas business are San Francisco, Los Angeles, Toronto, London, Tokyo, Singapore and Sydney.

Industry Internet Summit

Peng Zhiqiang, chairman of Shengjing360 (盛景网联). Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Peng Zhiqiang (彭志强), chairman of Shengjing360 (盛景网联), observed that the market of industry internet is much bigger than that of consumption internet.  He went on to say that industry Internet, which connects every section of the supply chain, can considerably boost efficiency of production, transportation and other industries. By contrast, the role of consumption internet is to provide online services to individuals. As such, the new platform of industry internet might offer a great deal of business opportunities.

Chen Shengqiang (陈晟强)，COO of Yijiupi (易酒批), a alcohol products wholesale online platform, pinpointed three core factors for the development of industry Internet. Firstly, enterprises should build their own R&D teams and develop innovative products. Secondly, companies should build infrastructure independently, such as storage and logistics. Lastly, companies ought to focus on one or two vertical fields to continually upgrade services before proceeding to expand business.

Future Manufacturing Summit

Huang Xuan, dean of Shanghai Unicom Intelligent Manufacturing Research Institute. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Huang Xuan (黄璿), dean of Shanghai Unicom Intelligent Manufacturing Research Institute, indicated that 5G, industrial Internet, and other cutting-edge technologies have developed by leaps and bounds and will revolutionize the sector of manufacture.

Zhang Xiaoyi (张小懿), vice president of Midea, pointed out that traditional manufacturers have no idea where customers are. Digitalization is key to the survival of old-fashioned, established players as well as to the upgrading of their business.

Dong Zhigang (董志刚), senior vice president of SAP China, summarized five trends in manufacture: All for customers, digitalization of supply chain, internet of things, intelligent factory and new business network.

Wang Bin (王彬), co-founder and president of EO Company, released a new report entitled Intelligent Manufacture Research Report 2019. A free copy of the report can be obtained here: Manufacture. 

Brand Revolution Summit

Wang Lei, vice president of Nestlé China. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Hu Shanshan (叶珊杉), marketing manager of Red (小红书), disclosed how Red grew to be a great competitor to other e-commerce platforms, while staying true to its origins as an online content community. She explained that generation Z, or people born after 1990, will be the largest consumer group in the world. Precise recommendation in the form of targeted push notifications sent to users’ mobile apps has thus become the core ability for many new FMCG brands to ride on the crest of the new consumption wave since members of Gen Z pursue elements like individuality, character and differentiation. By constantly conducting AB tests, Red can acquaint itself with users’ attitudes and consumption habits through data analysis, as well as improve its strategy of products recommendation.

Wang Lei (王雷), vice president of Nestlé China, nailed down three opportunities for traditional FMCG brands. The first is the provision of better in-store services and interactions. The second is for businesses to create more experience scenarios online and offline. Lastly, vendors can lure customers by upgrading the business process through digitalization.

Wang Dingxiao (王丁虓), marketing manager of TikTok, explained that short video platforms like the one he works for can derive new business opportunities from user growth and extended hours users spend on these apps. 

Fintech Summit

You Tianyu, vice president of EO Company and dean of EO Intelligence. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Li Haitao (李海涛), associate dean of Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, pointed out that the main problem of China’s finance market is with direct financing; 80% of company’s financing comes from banks, and the rest is from investment institutions. While the situation overseas is the opposite. To develop the finance market, investment institutions should be encouraged to play more active role.

You Tianyu (由天宇), vice president of EO Company and director of EO Intelligence, published a new report entitled Open Banking and Fintech Research Report 2019. He gave an in-depth explanation of Open Banking, an innovative business model whereby commercial banks can share information and services with their counterparts business banks, fintech companies, and other partners via technologies like API, under the approval of clients. To get a free copy of the report please click here: Open Banking. 

Chen Haijun (陈海俊), Cash management product manager of Citi Bank China, predicted that China’s GDP will reach CNY 82 trillion (USD 11.84 trillion) in 2025, in which 60 trillion (USD 8.67 trillion) will be generated by digital business.

New Energy Vehicle Industry Summit

Yang Yongping, vice president of EO Company and president of EO Auto. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Lian Qingfeng (连庆锋), deputy secretary of the party committee of BAIC BJEV (北汽新能源), said that some new energy vehicle manufacturers will go bankrupt amid the intense market competition. Enterprises will have to struggle to stay afloat.

Liao Bing (廖兵), founder and CEO of HYCAN (广汽蔚来), believed that the new policy of removing EV purchase limits signals the Chinese government's determination to develop this market.

Yang Yongping (杨永平), vice president of EO Company and president of EO Auto, published a new report on the new energy vehicle industry. He was optimistic about the market prospects because of new technologies like 5G and IoT; meanwhile, and investment institutions contribute to the EV industry. To get the report free, please click: New Energy Vehicle. 

5G & IoT Summit

Tang Haiqing, the chief industry analyst of TF Securities. Photo: Credit to VPhoto

Tang Haiqing (唐海清), chief industry analyst of TF Securities (天风证券), noted that with the adoption of new materials and technologies, the price of a 5G base station is likely to rise. Thus, 5G infrastructure will take an estimated eight to 10 years to build and the costs are three or four times as high as 4G.

Chen Danqing (陈丹青), marketing manager of Huawei China, pointed out that Huawei has unveiled 52 types of 5G devices by the end of May, and that it has performed quite well in the field of television, remote surgery, intelligent police service, autonomous driving and so on.

Zhao Yong (赵勇), CEO of INNNO (因诺科技), expounded his views on the application of 5G technology in drones. He said that 5G further enables autonomous flying function and transmission of 8K video footage.

Global New Economy Conference is an annual event of EO Company. In the future, the company will organize more of such international events to create a platform for government officials, academics and industry experts, entrepreneurs and investors from all over the world to communicate and exchange their opinions.

In December, EO Company will organize another event called“EO Innovators Annual Conference” in Beijing. We look forward to seeing you then and anticipate more opportunities to cooperate and connect with you.