BEIJING -- Suning, China’s second largest non-state-owned enterprise by revenue and the owner of a Fortune Global 500 retail company – launched a Global Sourcing Programme worth ‘hundreds of billions’ in Chinese Yuan (CNY) that will give more than 5,000 overseas brands access to the lucrative Chinese market over the next three years.
The Global Professional Sourcing (GPS) plan launched by the Chinese commercial giant is to further expand its supply chain through deals worth billions of US dollars with overseas brands and suppliers across FMCG, general merchandise, 3C products and lifestyle household goods, etc. The news came at CES 2018, where Suning has joined forces with the International Buyer Programme (IBP) led by the US Commerce Department.
Suning, which says 30 per cent of its revenue will come from its international business by 2020, has already entered into strategic partnerships with a number of leading international brands. The business is the largest retail partner of Microsoft, HP and Dell along with Whirlpool and A.O. Smith, Suning is also the largest retail channel in Greater China for BSH Home Appliances Group, the largest manufacturer in the sector in Europe.
Ms Melody Jia, Business Development Director of Suning International, said: “This plan represents a huge opportunity for overseas brands to work with us and access the Chinese market. We’ve built our cross-industry ecosystem to provide brands with diversified support and resources they need to explore the market and enable them to reach Chinese consumers in an efficient way, while at the same time meaning we can help bring Chinese consumers even better experiences through global products and services.”
In 2016, Suning established Suning International, immediately integrating its overseas business in Japan, Hong Kong and the US. The business is now seeking partnerships worldwide to further strengthen its ecosystem across the six industries in which it operates: retail, real estate, financial services, media and entertainment, sports and investment. Since the acquisition of F.C. Internazionale Milano in 2016, Suning has been working with Inter on several commercial cases. At Suning CES booth, you will find Samsung-Inter exclusive smartphone which showcases the proven record of success in crossover marketing by Suning. Suning is also working with Nilox, No.1 hoverboard brand in Italy on Nilox-Inter e-bike and hoverboard to sell on Suning online and offline channels. Fans will stay tuned for more of the licensed product and benefit from the added value of the unique experience.
Suning will embark on a series of international roadshow events throughout 2018, covering 10 countries including the US, Australia, Japan, South Korea and key European markets. They will introduce the opportunities of Suning’s open platform capabilities and globalization plans to brands, merchants and trade organisations. The company will first host its Global Suppliers Summit in February of 2018 and followed by a special event dedicated on global sourcing in March at Suning’s Headquarters in Nanjing, China.
Suning’s announcement comes as it prepares for the China International Import Expo (CIIE) from 5-10 November 2018 in Shanghai. The event unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping is seen as a significant move by the government to actively open the Chinese market to the world to strengthen economic cooperation and cross-border trade.
Suning has built one of its fully autonomous ‘Biu’ stores – the latest innovation in its Smart Retail strategy – at its CES booth (booth 21048, LVCC South 1, E-commerce Area). Earlier this week the company announced the latest step in its strategic partnership with Intel Corporation that will see the two companies cooperate on an industry-leading data centre establishment, cloud operation efficiency improvement, and AI user experience optimisation.
CES 2018 runs from 9-12 January 2018 in Las Vegas, USA, and is the world's gathering place for those who thrive on the business of consumer technologies. (Source: Suning)
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