Join Hands to Enhance the International Influence of Chinese Enterprises and Improve the Network of Services

By Liu Xinwei

“Soft power has increasing- ly become an important support for economic development and is also an important factor and source of innovation for Chinese companies to engage in international competition，” said Zhang Shaogang， Deputy Chairman of the CCPIT， at the second Seminar on Strengthening the International Influence of Chinese Companies （hereinafter referred to as the seminar）.

This seminar was held by China Trade News， the CGTN think tank and LinkedIn China under the guidance of the CCPIT， and was designed to respond to corporate development needs， further strengthen the international influence of Chinese companies and increase communications about international influence.

CCPIT improves the network of corporate services

Zhang Shaogang pointed out that todays world is in a period of great development， change and adjustment， and multi-polarization， economic globalization， social informatization and cultural diversity are all developing profoundly. As Chinese President Xi Jinping said at the BRICS Business Forum which was held recently，“where is the world headed： progress or regression？ Openness or isolation？ Cooperation or confrontation？ These are the choices of the times that we are confronted with”. This is also the focus of conflicts between various cultures and schools of thought， which further highlights the strategic position of soft power in the competition for comprehensive national strength.

“In recent years， the Chinese busi- ness community has actively promoted the international cooperation under the Belt and Road Initiative， actively getting involved in the reform and construction of the global economic governance system on the G20， the APEC， the BRICs and other international multilateral cooperation platforms， and continuously contributes Chinese wisdom and strength， highlighting the continuous improvement in the soft power of Chinese Enterprises，”Zhang Shaogang said.

Against the background of the global spread of the COVID-19 pandemic and the decline in foreign direct investment， Chinas outbound investment has successfully achieved growth. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce， Chinas outbound investment in all industries reached USD 145.1 billion in 2021， an increase of 9.2% year-on-year. From January to April this year， Chinas outbound investment in all industries reached USD 45 billion， an increase of 2.6% year on year.

“This shows that with increasing trade liberalization and economic globalization， more and more Chinese enterprises have been actively bringing innovative technology and services overseas to compete in the broader global market，” explained President of China Trade News Xu Suting at the forum.

As the earliest-founded and largest national trade and investment promotion organization in China， the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade （CCPIT） is an important bridge for domestic and foreign business circles to carry out economic and trade exchanges and cooperation， and an important force for building an open economy and serving the countrys foreign communication work. Zhang Shaogang pointed out that this year coincided with the 70th anniversary of CCPITs foundation， and the CCPIT will make good use of the platform of the trade news and will work closely with national media and social platforms to interpret Chinas economic policies， share the stories of Chinese enterprises， and strengthen the ability and role of Chinese enterprises in international communication. At the same time， a more positive public image of China can also be built， with the positive public opinion of overseas media being guided and the brand construction of Chinese enterprises overseas development being strengthened. All parties must work together to improve the international influence of Chinese enterprises， weave a dense service network for enterprises， and make more international friends.

The media should provide more accurate services for enterprises

“Hard power can determine how far an enterprise goes， while the soft power determines how stable and how long an enterprise lasts，” explained Xu Suting. As for the improvement in soft power， he believes that we should first change our way of thinking. For example， when enterprises go to the overseas market， they should not just transplant the domestic business， but should also learn to plant and cultivate a new type of business overseas. The cultural and business environment overseas is different from that at home. Enterprises need to be more patient and meticulous， not chasing quick success.

Xu Suting also pointed out that when looking at the excellent enterprises going overseas， there is a consensus that the overseas development requires a long amount of time and diligent work by several generations. In the long run， all the difficulties will be temporary. The short-term silence is waiting for an opportunity for things to change and grow.

Xu Suting continued： “in the past， the media focused on publicity and did not provide enough services to improve the soft power of enterprises. Today， we should not only be the mouthpiece of enterprises， but we should also become a think tank of enterprises， solve the problems faced by enterprises， and become intimate friends of enterprises.”

Wang Jian， Director of the overseas cooperation department of CGTN， said at the forum that at present， China has initially formed a multi-body and three-dimensional international communication pattern， but the international communication ability is still lacking， because the communication ideas， channels and means are not scientific and rich enough. “In the international communication pattern， Chinese enterprises， the CGTN and other mainstream media outlets should work together to form a broader international communication network，” he said.

Lu Jian， President of LinkedIn China， explained， at the forum， that in the past year， LinkedIn has comprehensively upgraded the overseas business of Chinese enterprises， effectively integrated the overseas solutions of the two business divisions of talent and marketing， and cooperated with more external partners to jointly create an overseas ecosystem close to Chinas local market， from a single point of solution to a full range of services.

Enterprises going overseas will improve international influence in five aspects

How to further improve the international influence of enterprises when exploring the global markets must also be considered. Liu Yingkui， Deputy Director of the research institute of CCPIT， said that it is important to raise the international influence in five aspects， including： international thinking， global layout， and an accurate market positioning ability； a large amount of R&D investment and sustainable technological innovation abilities； first-class standards， quality， services， brands and modes； and the ability to grasp the key links of the industrial chain and the supply chain and integrate global high-quality resources.

Enterprises must develop international thinking， exercise global layout and perform accurate market positioning. Liu Yingkui said that in terms of market positioning， Xiaomi has made successful strategies. It focuses on India， a market with a population of 1.4 billion people， but a low consumption ability. At its peak time of development， Xiaomi held a 25-30% share of the Indian market.

Enterprises need to have a sustainable technological innovation capacity and high R&D investment. In 2021， Chinas R&D investment intensity reached 2.44%， ranking 12th in the world. The R&D intensity of both Israel and South Korea reached nearly 5%， twice that of China. With the continuous emergence of new business models such as cross-border e-commerce and overseas warehouses in foreign trade， enterprises should become more sensitive and follow trends， so as to achieve rapid growth.

In order to prevent and control risks in overseas markets， enterprises should fulfill their social responsibilities， carry out compliance-based operations， and improve their risk prevention and control capabilities. Yang Rongkuan， senior partner and Hong Kong office director of Kangda Law Firm， who has long been engaged in cross-border commercial and legal services， has frequent contact with cross-border enterprises and has solved many thorny legal cases. He said： “Enterprises must have international legal thinking when going overseas. The key is to fully understand the differences be- tween different legal systems， and raise the international legal capabilities to improve the international influence.”

Xu Peng， Chairman of the board of directors of Mebo Group， He said that the word “health” has a broad extension of meaning and is the largest soft power. Under such an environment， Mebo has been striving to create global cooperation through technologies and contribute to the improvement of the world public health system. It also seeks to influence the development of the world life science industry through the concept of health and respect of life values.

Li Wei， Vice President of PR Newswire China， also stressed at the forum：“Every company must pay attention to its official website， which is the starting and end point of all communications with the company. Many Chinese companies domestic websites are quite good， but the design of the international official websites is always simple， and the information is limited and lacks frequent updating. This is also a soft power that needs to be improved.”

In recent years， Big Trade Data has set up offices in the United States， Australia and Hong Kong region.

According to Li Jingze， Founder of Big Trade Data， the image of Chinese enterprises has been greatly improved in recent years. Especially in the past five years， as approximately 30% of Big Trade Datas customers are from overseas， and these customers have an increasingly high recognition of Chinese enterprises. He summarized： “At the moment， we are more confident telling foreign customers that we are a Chinese enterprise.”

LinkedIn China Upgrades its Overseas Business to Promote the International Operation of Chinese Enterprises

LINKS

As the worlds leading social networking platform， LinkedIn has 830 million users and provides services in more than 200 countries and regions. Also， LinkedIn is also a platform for connecting global business opportunities， with more than 58 million corporate users. During the Second Seminar on Strengthening International Influence of Chinese Companies， LinkedIn held a media communication meeting themed “sailing overseas at the right time -LinkedIn helps Chinese enterprises go oversea”. At the meeting， LinkedIn first introduced in detail its role and value in the process of Chinese enterprises going overseas， and it aims to become a precision detector， powerful booster and all-round navigator for Chinese enterprises going overseas.

Three advantages empower Chinese enterprises going overseas

Talent is an important indicator to measure the degree of internationalization of a company. Wang Qian， General Manager of Talent Solution Division of LinkedIn China， pointed out at the forum that most Chinese enterprises will face certain challenges in overseas talent strategy. First of all， there is a lack of overall planning of overseas talent strategy. Most enterprises seek short-term effect and have no longterm constructions of the talent team； second， there is a deviation in the understanding of “good employer” for overseas talents， and most enterprises shall perform better in attracting overseas talents and enhance their sense of belongings； third， there is some issue about localization with the cultures of foreign countries. It still needs long-term exploration about how to integrate the corporate systems with different cultures and practices of many regions in the world.

“It is important to strike a balance among quality， speed and cost， so that we could attract and retain the best overseas talents， and let them play to their values，” said Wang Qian.

In response to these challenges， LinkedIn relies on its three distinct advantages to provide more reliable， efficient and caring solutions and services for Chinese enterprises going overseas： with a large number of its global member users， LinkedIn provides a powerful talent pool with the most comprehensive data and the widest coverage for Chinese enterprises to make efficient recruitment. It also provides an early detection and competition situation analysis of overseas market； using the real-time data products， LinkedIn helps enterprises to accurately create the portraits of the core talent teams and build the talent pool. It also leverages the new AI technology to reach and recruit the best talents； it also makes deep understanding of the problems， difficulties and pain points encountered by Chinese enterprises when going overseas， and provides personalized consulting services and talent development solutions for Chinese enterprises.

“Global platform+local ecology” enables precision marketing

For Chinese enterprises， going overseas for big development is not only about the business scale expansion， but also about quality improvement. More and more Chinese enterprises are seeking to build their brand influence in foreign countries. Cai Xiaodan， General Manager of marketing solution division of LinkedIn China， said that due to the pandemic， B2B enterprises are more inclined to start digital marketing and digital transformation， and have a more mature understanding and cognition of overseas marketing. They hope to expand the international market through online social media.

As a platform for global business decision makers， opinion leaders and workplace influencers， four fifths of LinkedIns global users are decision-making influencers and participants of enterprises. Therefore， LinkedIn has unique platform advantages in helping B2B enterprises overseas marketing， which include the information credibility brought by real users in the business social environment， accurate user portraits and customer positioning based on workplace labels， and customized consulting and content marketing services combined with in-depth insights about the data.

In 2022， targeting the pain points of digital marketing and needs of different development stages of Chinese customers going overseas， LinkedIn China upgraded its localization services and hoped to select strategic cooperation partners in content innovation and big data technology through the establishment of localized ecosystem. The purpose is to tap into the second-tier and third-tier markets of China and empower more small and medium-sized enterprises going overseas through LinkedIns marketing technologies and methods. Also， LinkedIn China will work with its business partners to carry out local innovation practices in the field of technology and content， and expand the boundaries of marketing based on global experiences.

Cai Xiaodan introduced that LinkedIn has built a set of scientific methods for Chinese enterprises overseas marketing within the shortest period of time， through the combination of “global platform+local ecology”. This combination will accurately reach decision-makers of enterprises and customize precision marketing solutions according to different market cultural environments.

“Among the top 100 Chinese enterprises going overseas， about 70% have chosen to carry out in-depth cooperation with LinkedIn. In the future， LinkedIn hopes to give greater play to its own advantages， help more Chinese enterprises improve their international vision and localized operation ability， and achieve real global operation.” Cai Xiaodan said.