Amid the surging global demand for smart hardware, wearable devices, and household smart appliances, Chinese brands face the challenge of transcending regional and cultural barriers to establish themselves as key players in international markets. How can product functionality and design be optimized for different countries and regions to ensure that smart devices, electronic consumer goods, and other technology products meet global users' expectations in terms of performance
Amid the surging global demand for smart hardware, wearable devices, and household smart appliances, Chinese brands face the challenge of transcending regional and cultural barriers to establish themselves as key players in international markets. How can product functionality and design be optimized for different countries and regions to ensure that smart devices, electronic consumer goods, and other technology products meet global users' expectations in terms of performance, experience, and localization adaptability?
On December 19, at the EqualOcean "2024 Go-Global of 100 Forum (GGF2024)" and the Emerging Industries Go-Global Forum, industry experts came together for a roundtable discussion titled "How Can Consumer Tech Products 'Break the Circle' Globally?". The panel featured Deepzero Partner Mr. Zhao Chen（深演智能，赵琛）, Fangda Partners LLP Partner Mr. Xue Feng（方达律师事务所，薛峰）, XAG Global Business Lead Mr. Tong Wei（极飞科技，佟巍）, Zerozero Robotics CEO and Founder Mr. Wang Mengqiu（零零科技，王孟秋）, and was moderated by 01 VC Executive Director Mr. Tao Yangfeng（零一创投，陶洋峰）. Together, they explored strategies and insights on this critical topic.
Transcript Highlights (Edited)：
Moderator (Tao Yangfeng): Over the past two years, the renewable energy sector has undoubtedly been a hot topic. Beyond that, consumer hardware and smart products have also emerged as a highly significant and closely watched industry. Many global brand rankings, such as the TOP 100 or TOP 500 lists, feature a substantial number of brands from the smart product sector. Today, we are delighted to have several distinguished guests join us to share their experiences and insights in this field. To start, could each of you briefly introduce your company, brand, and core business?
Wang Mengqiu: Hello everyone, I’m Wang Mengqiu, the CEO of Zerozero Robotics. Our company focuses on the development of small flying devices and has introduced a new category we call the flying camera. These devices offer features such as autonomous flight, automatic video framing, and auto-return. They allow users to record life from a third-person perspective and can land in the user’s hand after completing their task. Our product aims to provide users with a more convenient and intelligent way to capture moments.
Tong Wei: Hello, I’m Tong Wei from XAG. XAG is a company dedicated to agricultural technology, and our main business involves developing and manufacturing agricultural drones. In addition to drones, we offer irrigation systems and autonomous vehicles as part of our technical solutions. Our goal is to enhance the efficiency of agricultural processes through intelligent technologies and promote the modernization of agricultural production.
Xue Feng: Hello everyone, I’m Xue Feng, a partner at Fangda Partners’ Shanghai office. Fangda Partners was established in 1993 and now operates seven offices across China. Our firm’s expertise lies in cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Over the past 30 years, we have built a network of more than 300 partnerships globally, providing internationalization services and M&A solutions to businesses. Personally, I have nearly 15 years of experience in foreign direct investment (FDI) and M&A transactions. I’m honored to join today’s discussion and exchange ideas on these topics.
Zhao Chen: Hello, I’m Zhao Chen, a partner at Deepzero. We uphold the core philosophy of “AI Empowering Decision-Making” and aim to build a great company that helps Chinese brands enhance their customer lifetime value, thereby significantly improving operational efficiency and effectiveness. Founded in 2009, Deepzero has offices in the U.S., Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Beijing. Our mission is to assist international companies in entering the Chinese market, support domestic internationalized enterprises, and aid local brands in their overseas expansion. Today, as Chinese consumer tech products and retail brands venture into markets in the U.S., Europe, and Southeast Asia, they face diverse consumer bases with varying expectations. This requires a wide range of software and services to establish closer interactions with customers and enhance marketing efficiency and effectiveness. That’s the mission our company is committed to fulfilling.
Moderator: Thank you to our guests for the introductions. One of the primary challenges companies face during global expansion is effective marketing and customer acquisition. Deepzero has accumulated extensive experience in international marketing. As a company specializing in AI-driven marketing, how does Deepzero utilize AI technology to enhance marketing performance across different industries, particularly in retail? Could you share one or two real-world examples that demonstrate your success in areas like precision targeting and personalized recommendations, along with the varied results achieved?
Zhao Chen: I’d like to share some trends we’ve observed over the past few years as we’ve supported domestic companies in expanding into overseas markets, as well as the solutions we’ve provided. Broadly speaking, there are three main customer-facing scenarios: platform-based e-commerce, brand-owned websites, and retail brands.
Expanding into global markets isn’t a new concept. Companies have long been selling on major e-commerce platforms such as Amazon, as well as emerging platforms like TikTok. However, the trend of building brand-owned websites has become especially prominent, particularly among manufacturing companies in South China, which have been establishing their own online sales platforms. Additionally, numerous offline retail brands, such as Pop Mart, Miniso, and food and beverage chains like Bawang Tea and Mixue Bingcheng, are actively venturing into international markets. We’ve had in-depth discussions with the CEOs and CMOs of these brands about the marketing challenges they face and how Deepzero can help address them.
For years, Deepzero’s positioning in the domestic market has been centered on leveraging data and marketing technologies, including AI, to empower marketing solutions. We aim to help brands achieve three key objectives: first, customer acquisition; second, fostering long-term personalized communication with users to boost repeat purchases and retention; and third, improving operational efficiency. These goals are especially relevant for brand-owned websites.
One recent case involves an apparel aggregator brand from Southeast Asia with millions of SKUs and significant traffic on its self-owned site. Their primary challenge was that every visitor saw the same product offerings, despite spending substantial sums on global platforms like Facebook to drive traffic. With such a vast inventory, the key was to solve two issues: first, increasing the visibility of their diverse SKUs, and second, ensuring that each user sees products relevant to their preferences, rather than presenting the same items to everyone.
Most brand-owned websites rely on e-commerce operators to manually configure "popular" products. However, this approach often fails to align with individual user interests. From the user’s perspective, browsing time is limited—perhaps only two to three minutes on a site. If they don’t see items of interest quickly, conversion and retention rates drop significantly. Deepzero addresses this challenge by offering AI-powered personalized solutions, predicting what each user is most likely to engage with.
How do we make these predictions? We analyze various types of data. First, we examine historical purchase data and membership information, such as geographic location, local weather, past loyalty points, and participation in brand activities. Second, we incorporate real-time browsing behaviors, such as search queries, clicks, and items added to the cart but not purchased. Using this data, we’ve built a hybrid recommendation AI engine that personalizes product displays for every user based on their historical behavior and current preferences. This creates a "thousand faces for a thousand people" experience.
The ultimate goal is to maximize conversion rates and sales within existing traffic levels. For many brand-owned websites, where significant investments are made in driving traffic through platforms like Facebook and Google, improving post-click conversion rates is critical. Deepzero’s AI-automated marketing solutions are designed specifically to address this universal challenge.
Moderator: The business of agricultural drones differs significantly from traditional consumer goods, especially in the B2C space. In agriculture, the diversity in regional climates, crop types, and local farming practices creates substantial variability in market demands and challenges. Against this backdrop, could you elaborate on XAG's strategic layout in overseas markets? Specifically, how does your company address regional differences through product optimization or customization?
Tong Wei: Every year, attending this forum brings new insights and inspiration. In the agricultural sector, companies targeting farmers like ours are relatively rare. Most businesses cater to mature consumer groups, for whom we can predict needs through AI-driven analysis of purchasing behavior and historical data. However, the biggest challenge in agriculture lies in its unpredictability—particularly when faced with the diversity of farmers worldwide.
Farmers can be broadly divided into two categories: those in developed countries and those in developing ones. Farmers in developed nations typically possess greater purchasing power and higher levels of knowledge, often outspending even the middle classes in many regions. On the other hand, farmers in developing countries may rarely use the internet, making it difficult to gather insights into their consumption behaviors.
Though we are essentially a consumer-focused business, our market spans an expansive terrain—97% of the Earth's landmass, as only about 3% is urbanized. This vast coverage means our operations extend to vastly different agricultural landscapes. For instance, farming practices in Southeast Asia differ significantly from those in Europe or Latin America. Even within similar climates and latitudes, cultural differences and farming techniques vary greatly, presenting unique challenges in each region.
To address these challenges, we dedicate significant time to field research in overseas markets. In 2024, my travels spanned every continent except Africa, where we intend to focus in the near future. Often, online research isn't enough to gather the information we need, so we visit remote areas to observe firsthand. These visits have revealed just how diverse global agricultural needs are, with varying requirements for water, sunlight, fertilizers, and seeds across regions.
Agriculture, at its core, is about precision management. Traditional methods rely heavily on manual labor, which is inherently imprecise. For example, if irrigation is scheduled for 8:00 a.m. but delayed by just five minutes, those five milliliters of water might miss the optimal window for absorption, reducing effectiveness. Precision management ensures every step in agricultural production is executed at the right time and with the right amount. Here, AI plays a transformative role by enabling precision farming—identifying where pesticides are needed, where replanting is required, or which areas need irrigation. This dramatically improves productivity. Unlike traditional methods like broad irrigation, AI allows precise control over resources like water, fertilizers, and chemicals, minimizing waste and cutting costs.
AI not only guides farmers in making the right decisions but also tailors recommendations based on environmental conditions—advising when, where, and how to act. Through this precision, farmers worldwide can access customized solutions tailored to their specific needs and growing conditions, enhancing efficiency and sustainability in agriculture.
We’re often asked how many product categories we offer and whether we can optimize or customize them. Nearly all customers desire customization to suit their unique requirements. For example, farmers in Chile grow grapes differently from those in France or Spain, and they want solutions tailored to their practices. However, as a company, we face resource constraints and cannot support an extensive SKU range. Similar to Mr. Wang’s consumer drone business, while multifunctionality—like skiing or biking compatibility—is appealing, our challenge is addressing the diverse needs of farmers across five continents, each with unique climates and farming cultures.
Agriculture’s essence is precision, but regional variations force us to adopt a "greatest common denominator" approach. In product design, we make trade-offs, sacrificing 20%–30% of specific needs to cater to the majority. This means some farmers' demands may go unmet for now. However, as we grow and allocate more resources, we’ll gradually develop solutions for these niche requirements. Currently, we focus on addressing 60%–70% of market needs, with plans to tackle the next set of challenges as productivity improves over the next decade.
In summary, we prioritize addressing the greatest common denominator rather than pursuing large-scale customization. This approach ensures our adaptability across global markets while optimizing resource utilization. It’s a strategy that balances meeting the majority of farmers’ needs with the efficient allocation of our capabilities.
Moderator: Thank you, Mr. Tong, for your insightful sharing. XAG’s standardized approach to addressing market needs is truly impressive. Next, I would like to ask Mr. Wang a question. The aerial camera you just presented is indeed an outstanding and highly attractive product. As we all know, great products require precise marketing and branding strategies. As the saying goes, "Even fine wine fears a hidden alley." No matter how high the quality of a product is, without effective promotion and dissemination, it will struggle to penetrate the market. Mr. Wang, ZeroZero Robotics has achieved impressive sales results in the Japanese market. Could you share how you approach brand positioning and develop marketing strategies in overseas markets?
Wang Mengqiu: XAG is an old friend of mine, though this is my first time meeting Mr. Tong in person. As one of China’s earliest drone companies, XAG was founded in 2006, while ZeroZero Robotics was established in 2014. In some ways, our companies share similarities: both have defined new categories in the market and created demand. XAG is undoubtedly a pioneer in the agricultural drone sector, and we are currently experiencing the stage XAG went through years ago, as our market gradually gains attention and begins to grow.
I mention this background to highlight a key difference in Shenzhen: many companies focus on traditional go-global models, but we’ve taken a different path. In established product categories, companies only need to differentiate themselves in terms of parameters, performance, or pricing. While challenging, this is simpler than what we face. The aerial camera category defies most people's imagination—almost no one searches for “aerial cameras” because the category didn’t exist. This makes our challenge significantly greater.
As Mr. Tong mentioned, opening up a new category or market requires deep, hands-on engagement with local users to understand their needs. Our aerial cameras have performed well in Japan, where we customized a product weighing just 99 grams specifically for this market. In contrast, our products in China and the U.S. weigh 125 grams. This customization was driven by Japan’s stringent drone regulations, which exempt drones under 100 grams from registration requirements. To enter the Japanese market, we prepared for over a year. Last year, I traveled to Japan three times, including a visit to a small island with only 5,000 residents, one middle school, and one elementary school. We engaged with the local students, teaching them how to use our aerial cameras.
I believe that true market expansion requires going to where the users are, connecting with them, and demonstrating the product’s value and use cases. This process demands commitment and patience—it cannot be rushed. I spent five days on that small island because only through such direct engagement can we bring new ideas and products to overseas markets and establish strong connections with users.
Compared to XAG's daily grind under the sun and rain, our work may seem slightly easier, but fundamentally, the challenges we face are similar. This is the shared challenge of the new generation of Chinese enterprises venturing abroad: entering new, uncharted categories and creating markets through user education. At the same time, I feel fortunate. Today’s era offers entrepreneurs like us the chance to experience an extraordinary journey on multiple levels.
Moderator: At the end of the last discussion, many panelists touched on the issue of overseas structures in the context of globalization. Whether it’s overseas investment or market entry, addressing different regulatory environments and risks is a critical topic. Attorney Xue, with years of extensive experience and involvement in numerous practical cases, could you share your insights? How can businesses design an appropriate structure to effectively navigate regulatory challenges and mitigate potential risks in overseas markets?
Xue Feng: I’d like to break this question into two parts: first, technology-driven enterprises, and second, globalization. The "globalization" aspect has certain shared principles or frameworks, while technology enterprises focus more on the specificities of their industries or niche areas.
In our recent observations, two major trends have emerged in globalization. One involves businesses facing declining margins or other external pressures in the domestic market, prompting them to expand into international markets. The other involves transformation, where companies that originally focused on domestic operations gradually pivot to overseas markets, eventually establishing controlling structures abroad. This shift often encompasses transitions in workforce, operations, finances, and technology.
Given these changes, when addressing globalization strategies, we typically consider three dimensions: first, understanding why the enterprise is going global and the underlying context or trends driving this decision. Only with clarity on the purpose of globalization can we delve into how to implement this strategy within a compliant framework. Compliance, at its core, requires a clear definition of the business objectives. Without such clarity, regulatory measures may fail to align with the company’s practical needs.
When it comes to factors enterprises need to consider in their globalization journey, three primary aspects emerge: capital flow, goods flow, and information flow.
1. Goods Flow: Companies need to identify their target markets and assess potential geopolitical challenges. For instance, certain products—like drones—may not directly serve military purposes but could be classified as dual-use technologies and thus subject to export controls. Additionally, issues such as origin determination and tariffs can arise during export, necessitating careful planning.
2. Information Flow: For tech companies, globalization involves not only selling products but also managing significant volumes of data, particularly sensitive information such as geotagged data and personal information. For example, under the GDPR framework in Europe, certain types of personal data—such as children's data, religious beliefs, or social security information—are subject to stricter protection. This requires rigorous compliance reviews regarding the flow and transmission of data across borders. Managing information flow compliance, particularly given varying regulations across regions, presents a considerable challenge.
3. Capital Flow: This pertains to the entire chain from financing to investment, involving the movement and allocation of funds during globalization. Some have mentioned concerns about ODI (Overseas Direct Investment) restrictions, but this is a misunderstanding. ODI is still feasible, provided the relevant conditions are met and the investment project complies with regulations, such as not falling under restricted categories. Furthermore, companies must decide whether they intend to retain funds overseas or repatriate them to the domestic market, as this decision directly impacts the structural design.
For transformative enterprises, the ultimate outcome often involves products and markets being heavily reliant on foreign operations, with investors primarily comprising USD-based institutions. This trend explains why many transitioning businesses favor parallel structure models when designing their overseas frameworks, as this model better aligns with the needs of international investors. However, this also presents challenges, such as effectively communicating with existing shareholders and establishing new structures.
In conclusion, navigating regulatory environments and addressing potential risks during globalization requires clear objectives, meticulous planning, and flexible structural design. With these elements in place, businesses can achieve sustainable and compliant overseas growth.
Moderator: As we know, effective localization is one of the key factors determining a company’s success after entering overseas markets. Whether it involves collaborating with local partners or building a local supply chain, how can products and operational models be adjusted to meet the demands of different markets? Next, I would like to invite Mr. Wang and Mr. Tong to share their approaches to localization, especially in adapting to market differences and working with local partners and supply chains. What strategies and practical experiences can we learn from?
Wang Mengqiu: In the Japanese market, we operate with a small, localized team. The market there emphasizes a slow and steady approach, which is quite different from our strategy in the U.S. For instance, in November this year, we launched two new products—the Pro and ProMax action flying cameras. In the U.S., our approach involves high-profile campaigns to build brand awareness. We are currently the official camera of the U.S. Ski Team and will announce a partnership with the U.S. National Cycling Team next week. We’ve also collaborated with well-known cycling brands like Trek.
The U.S. market is highly vertical, with strong community ties in sectors like cycling. While the market size is relatively small, it is extremely targeted. There are around 8,000 to 10,000 cycling stores in the U.S., and we plan to enter 1,400 stores in the next quarter. By partnering with these vertical brands, we establish deep relationships and achieve precise market penetration. A similar strategy applies to our collaborations with European ski groups—we use partnerships to enter the market.
In Japan, however, we focus more on localization strategies. Recently, we reached cooperation agreements with the Hokkaido Prefectural Government. Across all these strategies, the common thread is our emphasis on local interaction. We aim to make local “friends” and establish a relatable and approachable brand image to connect with the market.
Tong Wei: Our approach shares many similarities. We also choose to make breakthroughs in vertical fields. Many people ask why we don’t advertise at airports. The reality is that airport and CBD consumers don’t necessarily align with our product’s target audience, so we focus on reaching the right demographic.
We divide markets into two categories: developed countries and developing countries. In developing markets, we partner with established local players. For example, in Thailand, we collaborate with the CP Group, which is omnipresent there. Its influence spans from the northernmost to the southernmost farmers in Thailand. Through this partnership, we leverage CP’s deep understanding of Thai agricultural culture to provide technical support to local farmers.
In contrast, developed markets like Europe and the U.S. present different challenges. In regions such as Europe, Bulgaria, and Brazil, credit systems are not well-developed. Many farmers lack credit cards, and financial services are not widely available. Given the relatively high price of our products, we must offer financial support to customers. In Brazil, for instance, we’ve partnered with the largest truck and trailer group, which has a robust supply chain system and evaluates farmers’ creditworthiness. This enables us to offer credit support and flexible payment options to Brazilian farmers. Meanwhile, in Bulgaria, where the credit system is relatively well-established, we collaborate with local partners to help farmers access loans under the framework of the EU credit system.
Overall, localization is a highly specialized field. It’s crucial to find well-established local partners. Building channels independently is not just a matter of money—you can’t simply tell investors you’ll spend billions to build channels. In reality, cultural barriers will block your efforts. You must follow the threads of local culture to successfully grow your business.
Moderator: Thank you. My next question is for Mr. Zhao. Previously, in the cross-border e-commerce model, brands primarily ran ads on Facebook to generate orders, but lacked a focus on user operations. The conversation often revolved around achieving 100 or 200 orders a day, rather than acquiring 100 or 200 customers. Could you share how we now help these brands localize their user operations?
Zhao Chen: When we discuss improving localized consumer operations, it’s essential to recognize that each service provider contributes only part of the solution. Let me share insights from the perspective of overseas self-operated websites and the retail export industry on how to improve operations.
First, compliance is the foundation. Many businesses that have gone global were initially focused on rapid expansion without paying much attention to compliance. Years ago, when I worked with TikTok, they were also exploring ways to make their operations more compliant. While most companies today are aware of compliance, their infrastructure often remains underdeveloped.
For example, in today’s globalized world, companies may receive user data from around the globe overnight. Questions arise: Can European user data be stored in the U.S.? Should Southeast Asian user data be stored in the U.S. or Singapore for better security? These compliance issues impact many aspects of operations, such as IT infrastructure, the setup of localized teams, and even whether Chinese headquarters staff can access U.S. user data. This isn’t just about visibility but also about using software to process this data. Such issues can fundamentally affect a company’s organizational structure.
Second, user assets have become a critical component of corporate value. Let me give you a practical example. One of our clients in Chongqing sells eyeglasses produced in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu. With a low average order value of $15–$20, the company has been operating for 10 years and accumulated 30 million users, yet they process fewer than one million orders annually. This means that over a decade, they’ve amassed a substantial user base, but the business hasn’t thrived because these users remain dormant in their database.
From this perspective, we believe that precise user operations are crucial, especially as advertising and traffic costs on media platforms continue to rise. How can companies improve customer repurchase rates through refined operations?
Take the consumer goods sector, for instance. We recently worked with a company specializing in household power tools. Their product range includes innovations like AI-powered lawn-mowing robots, which are highly relevant to homeowners in the U.S. and Europe. With such a diverse product line, leveraging user data and fine-tuned operations is essential to drive cross-category repurchases. For example, a customer who buys a drill might later purchase another tool or an AI lawn mower. The key is to maximize the value of the customer lifecycle through data-driven, refined user operations.
What are we doing? Essentially, we’re replicating domestic practices. I believe Chinese marketing tech companies have a significant advantage when going global because we’ve been extensively tested by leading domestic consumer brands like L’Oréal. When we compare ourselves to overseas marketing tech firms, I think we excel, which is why businesses are eager to expand globally. After being forged in the competitive domestic market, we’re well-equipped to achieve a “dimensional reduction attack” overseas.
Finally, it’s essential to maintain compliance. Deciding between standardized and customized products depends on the specific needs of each niche industry. This flexibility allows companies to better adapt to diverse global markets.
Moderator: In recent years, in addition to businesses expanding their operations overseas, we’ve also seen large companies engage in overseas acquisitions or strategic investments, such as Joyoung and Midea’s investments in the robotics sector. Mr. Xue, could you briefly share the legal considerations Chinese brands and companies should keep in mind when undertaking strategic overseas investments?
Xue Feng: Regarding overseas investments and acquisitions, it’s crucial first to understand the primary modes of entering international markets. Companies typically have three main options: 1) Establishing loose business partnerships with local companies. 2)Setting up joint ventures or making minority equity investments. 3) Directly acquiring local companies.
Each approach involves different levels of difficulty and risk. For companies preferring lower-risk strategies, venture capital or equity investments are often the first choice. In recent years, joint ventures have gradually been replaced by strategic investments. While early-stage joint ventures provided market entry opportunities, they also came with high governance costs, complex exit mechanisms, and challenges in management dynamics between partners.
Strategic investments, as a more flexible alternative, have gained favor among companies. In these arrangements, the investor typically holds a minority stake and requires conventional investor rights protections. Moreover, the investor and the investee company usually sign business cooperation agreements to set clear KPIs and business objectives, ensuring returns on investment.
In practice, Chinese companies have accumulated rich experience in their overseas ventures, particularly hardware and traffic-driven companies, which have implemented successful strategies in expanding abroad. For instance, Chinese firms excel in leveraging domestic internet experience, using app landing page traffic strategies to gain market share. These approaches are especially advantageous in the mobile internet era, where ensuring visibility and traffic for products in overseas markets has become a decisive factor for success.
When it comes to acquisitions, this method is more complex and carries higher risks. Through acquisitions, a company aims to enter the target market directly and take over the existing market structure of the acquired company. However, this approach requires a high level of certainty. Beyond the significant financial commitment, acquisitions also involve challenges in post-merger integration. These challenges are particularly pronounced in cross-border acquisitions due to cultural and operational differences, often making integration more difficult than anticipated.
As the saying goes, there are two types of unknowns: things you know you don’t know, and things you don’t know you don’t know. The former is relatively manageable—if you’re aware of potential compliance issues, like sanctions or data concerns, you can research and address them. However, the latter type, the unknown unknowns, poses greater risks.
In cross-border transactions, thorough pre-deal research on the target market’s legal and compliance environment is essential. This is especially true for regions with unique religious or local legal systems, such as the Middle East and Islamic countries. Domestic business practices may not be acceptable in these regions. For example, in some countries, punitive breach clauses or equity buyback provisions are not permitted by law. Without adequate understanding and preparation for these cultural and legal differences, negotiations may fail, or contracts may later be deemed invalid.
For any overseas venture, compliance remains a critical issue. To achieve success in entering and establishing a deep presence in overseas markets, understanding and mastering the local legal system and enforcement environment is key.
From our observations, the process of going global can be divided into two phases:
Pre-entry phase: Before expanding overseas, companies must thoroughly understand the target market’s legal systems and compliance requirements. This includes not only the fundamental legal framework of the target country but also the specific legal contexts, transaction rules, and regulatory environments closely tied to the company’s interests. Only with this foundational knowledge can businesses anticipate potential risks and challenges and provide a solid basis for subsequent decisions.
Implementation phase: After completing the initial legal preparations, companies move into the operational stage, executing deep market entry strategies. During this phase, businesses may choose methods such as joint ventures, acquisitions, or strategic investments to achieve market penetration or expansion. These complex operations require robust financial and resource support, while also accounting for the adaptability to local enforcement environments, industry standards, and relevant policies. A comprehensive understanding and assessment of local market conditions and legal environments are essential to ensure the smooth execution and success of these transactions.
Moderator: Thank you. To conclude, could each of you summarize in one sentence the lessons learned from going global this past year and your outlook for the future?
Wang Mengqiu: There are indeed abundant opportunities for going global, but success requires patience and diligent effort. Often, we need to return to our core principles and stay firm in our beliefs. If we truly create value for customers—whether through services or products—and approach them with genuine sincerity, the rewards will follow.
Tong Wei: For us, the focus this year has been deeply integrating China's technological advancements into the agricultural cultures of other countries. From a global perspective, the layout of agricultural products has been largely established over the past 100 years, especially after mechanization. Countries like the U.S., Italy, and Israel have armed their farmers with advanced agricultural machinery. While these products continue to evolve, there haven’t been many groundbreaking innovations in this field. Our entry, powered by China’s post-reform development, particularly in new energy and AI technologies, is creating a significant disruption to traditional agricultural practices. Our goal is to fully promote and demonstrate how China’s new productivity can transform and revolutionize the traditional agricultural product structure. This year and in the years ahead, we will continue to focus on these verticals, embedding China’s emerging culture into the global agricultural sector.
Xue Feng: I am optimistic about the future. Our national traits make us highly competitive and adaptable. We have an exceptional capacity to learn and evolve in new environments. Over the past 15 to 20 years, China has gained substantial experience through collaborations with international PE firms and MNCs. Today, in our global endeavors, we are no longer crossing the river by feeling the stones; instead, we operate with precision and efficiency based on accumulated knowledge. In these turbulent times, our priority is to remain calm and composed as we navigate this transformative journey.
Zhao Chen: Seeing so many companies going global now makes me very optimistic. I’ve always believed that the future will belong to Chinese brands on the global stage. For example, Miniso started as a local Chinese retail store years ago and recently opened a flagship store on Paris’s Champs-Élysées—this is the power of Chinese brands. For professional organizations, the key lies in excelling at localization and refinement. Helping brands adapt to diverse markets and meet the needs of different consumers with products tailored to local habits is essential. The challenges we face are similar to those faced by brands—while they contend with local competitors, we compete with globally established software enterprises. Our mission is to refine our product capabilities while serving Chinese companies, embracing both the challenges and opportunities of going global.