On April 13, 2022, the 2022 China Singapore (Chengdu) Small and Medium sized Enterprise Matchmaking Series, with the theme of "Escorting Singapore's Small and Medium sized Enterprises to Explore the Western China Market", was held at the Chengdu Renheng Land International Conference Center in a combination of online and offline modes.
The event was hosted by the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Chengdu Retailers Association, co organized by the Chengdu Representative Office of the Singapore Enterprise Center, the Chengdu Innovation Brand Incubation Center, and the Chengdu New Consumer Industry Ecosphere Alliance, and supported by the Singapore Enterprise Development Board.
More than 70 people from relevant government agencies, business associations, brand representatives, and carrier representatives from Singapore and China gathered together. Among them, 20 enterprise representatives were invited offline to attend the meeting, with He Ying, Deputy Secretary General of the Chengdu Retail Association, as the host. The meeting focused on catering, retail, and cultural and creative fields, discussing cooperation and development opportunities for Singaporean enterprises in Chengdu.
Mount Huangshan Zhong, the former president of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Singapore, said in his online speech, "In order to better help local enterprises enter the Chinese market and achieve steady landing, the General Chamber of Commerce has set up representative offices in Shanghai, Chongqing and Sichuan since 2010, actively building a platform for exchanges and cooperation between enterprises of the two countries." At the same time, The General Chamber of Commerce has become the first stop for new Chinese enterprises to enter overseas, with the support of the Singapore Enterprise Development Authority, in the Singapore Enterprise Centers in Shanghai and Chengdu.
The first store economy is an important indicator for measuring the commercial development of a city. "Ou Jianling, Executive Secretary General of the Chengdu New Consumer Industry Ecosphere Alliance and Secretary General of the Chengdu Retailer Association, delivered a pre recorded video speech to the event. She said," Our alliance and association are vigorously developing into the first store in the city. We sincerely welcome a large number of Singaporean brands to enter Chengdu and seek common development.
The Singapore Enterprise Development Authority, as a government department in Singapore, has been actively seeking cooperation with local partners in China and hopes to use multiple resources and forces to help Singaporean enterprises understand the market, connect with market resources, and seize new opportunities, "Fu Anqi, Deputy Director of the West China Region of the Singapore Enterprise Development Authority, said in an on-site speech.
At the meeting, Deng Jun, Deputy Director of the Singapore Enterprise Center, gave a keynote speech, introducing the functions of the Singapore Enterprise Center. He said, "We hope to become a 'guide' for Singapore's small and medium-sized enterprises to enter the Western China market.
Wu Lijuan, Director of Chengdu Innovation Brand Incubation Center, delivered a speech with the theme of "The Brand Breaking Code of China's First Store and Third City", and expressed her hope to take the opportunity of international consumers' first visit to Chengdu, link international brands, especially Singaporean brands, and contribute to Chengdu's economic development. Wu Lijuan reviewed the development process of Chengdu's first store economy over the past three years and conducted an inventory analysis. "Among Chengdu's first stores, catering brands account for 46.4%," she said. Chengdu should become the preferred city for Singapore's catering brands.
She summarized the five characteristics of Chengdu's first store, which are "fashion consumption", "Chengdu customization", "new middle-class temperament", "youthfulness", and "new commercial space", in terms of which emerging areas in Chengdu are worth paying attention to for Singaporean brands and companies planning to invest in as their first stores.
Nie Jiangfeng, General Manager of Chengdu Shoupu Brand management Co., Ltd., introduced Chengdu's industry and investment environment, sorted out the services provided to enterprises interested in investing in Chengdu. "We hope to find carriers for brands and brands for carriers." Nie Jiangfeng said that in the future, he hopes to work together with the Singapore Enterprise Center to establish long-term cooperation, summarize the demands of enterprises at different stages, and improve the docking efficiency of services for enterprises.
Yiman, a Singaporean catering brand that first chose Chengdu Luozi and opened its first store in China, shared the brand's business philosophy and development context in Chengdu from a corporate perspective. Guo Yan, the founder of Yiman China, stated that both labor costs and market compatibility are the reasons why she is optimistic about the Chengdu market. For small and medium-sized brands in Singapore, choosing the Chengdu market has a relatively low entry threshold and a higher survival rate for the brand in the Chengdu market.
Guo Silin, China Marketing Director of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Singapore, shared the theme online, mainly focusing on the analysis of Chengdu's market spending power, consumer group characteristics and digital marketing strategies. He stated that in the profile of the consumer goods market in Chengdu, there are three groups of consumer groups that are more important to Singaporean brands, namely emerging white-collar workers, exquisite mothers, and urban silver hair, because they have a demand for safe and healthy products and prefer to purchase imported products.
The event also set up a corporate interaction section, and the on-site discussion atmosphere was lively. Guests answered the concerns of Singaporean companies attending the online conference one by one, and representatives of offline companies also shared their insights, stating that the guest's speech was very comprehensive and had practical reference value.
According to the organizer, we will continue to host the 2022 China Singapore (Chengdu) Small and Medium sized Enterprise Matchmaking Series activities, make more specific contributions to the journey of Singapore's small and medium-sized enterprises into the western market of China, promote exchanges and cooperation between the two countries' enterprises, and connect opportunities for bilateral economic, trade, and investment cooperation.
