Suning chairman Zhang Jindong: China's consumption upgrade will double Suning's sales of American products by 2020

WASHINGTON, July 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Holdings Group ("Suning", or "the company") has given a keynote speech at the China-US Business Leaders Summit in Washington which was co-chaired by the founder of Alibaba Group, Jack Ma, and the CEO of Blackstone Group, Stephen Schwarzman. Zhang pointed out that China's retail industry is at its best era in history which provides countless opportunities for American companies.

Consumption upgrade brings in mutual benefits: Suning will double sales of American brands in three years

The policy and strategies that China has launched to drive economy result in huge demands for American products like smart devices, service robotics, electric vehicles and high-end household appliances from Chinese consumers. Chinese consumers, under this context, will bring some best opportunities for high quality products from American companies, according to Zhang.

Zhang said Suning looks forward to helping more American brands enter China. "Our goal is to double the sales of Made-in-America brands in three years."

Dubbed as a combination of Wal-Mart and Amazon, Suning's business has covered the US, Japan and the Europe market with an annual trade volume of more than 130 billion dollars. The company is pushing forward the Global Buyers strategy to procure more high-quality foods, maternal and child products, as well as health care products.

Suning is already the largest retail partner of A.O. Smith, Whirlpool, as well as tech giants HP, Dell and Microsoft. During the past 20 years, A.O. Smith has managed to keep its growth at 20% per year with the support from Suning.

American companies like A.O. Smith are emerging in China for the country's huge consumption potential. Zhang pointed out that the cooperation with outstanding American companies has laid the foundation of Suning's global expanding step by step. By digging in the 'big data', Suning can team up with American companies to provide personalized products to serve Chinese consumers.

Suning has worked with IBM in management consulting and IT solutions for more than 20 years. The company has also worked with design firms like RTKL, NBBJ, WATG in 20 projects accounting for a total of 10 million square meters (176 million square feet) in commercial real estate. Whilst in the hotel sector, Suning is a strategic partner with Marriott, HYATT, and MGM. The world's second Bellagio hotel, a high-end co-work between Suning and MGM, is set to open in Shanghai's Bund area at the end of September this year.

Future of retail lies in Smart Retail

"Smart retail is the future of the retail industry," said Zhang, "China's has vast population and very diversified communities, while the US has world-leading technologies. Smart retail is the best bridge for both."

He noticed that big data and artificial intelligence have become the common interests between Chinese and American enterprises.

Companies like Suning, Wal-Mart and Amazon have made a lot of attempts at smart retail. The development in China will create a huge application scenario for American tech companies.

The cashier-free store has caused quite a buzz in social media platforms recently, which was also a hot topic among world media outlets. That includes the Amazon Go and Alibaba's Tao Café. Suning, which specializes in offline retail, has formed a team long ago and plans to unveil a fully commercialized staff-free store next month.

For Zhang, technological service cooperation based on smart retail will push China to become the biggest market for American cyber and high-tech companies.

Zhang believes China and the US can create unlimited possibilities in smart retail and provide a whole new option of channels for delivering American products worldwide. "Smart retail will set up a bridge that seamlessly connects China and US commerce."

About Suning Holdings Group

Founded in 1990, Suning Holdings Group, through its subsidiaries, is a market leader across six industries: retail, real estate, media and entertainment, investment, sports, and financial services. Two of Suning's subsidiaries are publicly listed, Suning Commerce Group and LAOX Japan. In 2016 Suning ranked the second-largest Chinese non-state owned enterprise. With online and offline retail platforms serving a market of around 280 million loyal consumers, Suning is providing comprehensive services for consumers, as well as reliable and efficient support to overseas companies that are just entering the Chinese market.

SOURCE Suning holdings group