In order for a brand to go global, talent is the key.
UBTECH has attracted talent from world-renowned universities, and also owns an internationalized R&D team and professional brand marketing staff, establishing cooperation with international first-class research institutions and enterprises. Since 2008, UBTECH has focused its efforts on developing the technology essential to building androids: steering gear. Finally after five years of overcoming numerous bottlenecks and difficulties, UBTECH developed products that are equal to, if not better than those of first-class European and American companies in terms of parameters performance. From technological R&D brand translation to global distribution... "internationalization" gave wings for rapid take-off to unicorn enterprises like UBTECH from the beginning.
Shenzhen Foundation for International Exchange and cooperation (SFIEC), Federation of Shenzhen Industries and Shenzhen Special Zone Daily jointly organized "Shenzhen-Made With Global Vision - An Exploration of Shenzhen Brand Stories" on the "CityPlus" platform. After half a year, the media series has come to a perfect close. Through the immersive coverage of 10 brands, such as UBTECH Robotics, Hytera, Artron and Fangda, we explored their story of overseas market expansion. In this article, we have included the most prominent parts of 6 SFIEC Trustee Companies for our readers.
2018 marks the 40th anniversary of reform and opening up. Global brands are the best name card from Shenzhen to the world. Facing the competition of innovation, Shenzhen has always focused on technological innovation and industrial upgrade, changing "Made in China" to "Designed in China" !
While Hytera has made the United States its first stop in its international market expansion, BGI started from the Human Genome Project Laboratory at the University of Washington and UBTECH became the first supplier of intelligent robots to make its way into Apple's global flagship stores... unlike many of the early traditional Chinese companies who "went global", Shenzhen's cutting-edge technology brands regard the developed countries in Europe and America as their starting point of globalization.
Hytera: Charging Towards the
GlobalPrivate Network Communication
When he first came to the United States in 1997, Chen Qingzhou, the founder of Hytera, decided to make the United States his first stop of "going global". In his mind, only a strong foothold in the world's most developed market would make a strong endorsement of product quality.
"The cultural differences between countries are very deep. If Chinese companies want to make good overseas acquisitions, they must be able to apply the wisdom of China's 'harmony in diversity' ".
-- Chen Qingzhou, founder of Hytera, Vice Chairman of SFIEC
To succeed in the international market, one must have international talents who understand the local market and are able to take local design, marketing and technology into consideration. From the development of C160, the first walkie-talkie for professional wireless communications in China, in April 1995 to the announcement of its intelligent convergence network solution at the Hytera Global Summit in May 2017, Hytera has changed the rules of the game, bringing the private network communication into a new era of "intelligence convergence".
Today, from Hollywood blockbusters to the Jiuzhai Valley Earthquake, Columbia Mudslides rescue sites, from the Rio Olympics to the World Cup in Russia, from the Xiamen BRICS Summit to the SCO summit in Qingdao... Hytera is everywhere in the world. It has 10 R&D Centres overseas, 90 subsidiaries and branch offices, and has successfully acquired a number of European and US companies. "Think Globally, Act Locally", Hytera has explored its own international strategy through practice.
BGI: Leading the Way in the Era of Life
Founder Wang Jian started in the laboratory of the Human Genome Project at the University of Washington in the United States, which later turned into the Chinese Biomedical Association of the United States. Since its establishment, BGI has carried an international gene and started its journey to becoming the "gene master" with "1%".
With the unique mode of combining production, learning and research, BGI leads the innovation and development of genomics. With cross-border cooperation in more than 100 countries and regions all over the world and applying cutting-edge research achievements of genes to the fields of medical health, agricultural breeding, resource conservation, judicial service etc. Since 2015, BGI has released several independently developed sequencers to further reduce the cost of gene sequencing and promote gene technology for the benefit of mankind. In leading and guiding the formation process of the "Hyper-Moore's Law", BGI has also become one of the world's only three, and China's only mass production clinical level sequencer company.
"BGI is not a company in the traditional sense, but a social enterprise linking research, industry and people's welfare."
- Zhu Yanmei: Chief Talent Officer of BGI Group, SFIEC trustee
Because they had a dream, UBTECH chose robots; because of innovation, UBTECH chose Shenzhen. Founded just six years ago, UBTECH is the world's first "Unicorn" company in the humanoid robot field. In 2017, it was named one of Fortune Magazine's "Top 50worldwideAI start-ups ". From the day of its birth, UBTECH has always been committed to the internationalization of its brand.
In order for a brand to go global, talent is the key. UBTECH has attracted talent from world-renowned universities, and also owns an internationalized R&D team and professional brand marketing staff, establishing cooperation with international first-class research institutions and enterprises. Since 2008, UBTECH has focused its efforts on developing the technology essential to building humanoids: steering gear. Finally after five years of overcoming numerous bottlenecks and difficulties, UBTECH developed products that are equal to, if not better than those of first-class European and American companies in terms of parameters performance. From technological R&D, brand translation to global distribution... "internationalization" gave wings for rapid take-off to unicorn enterprises like UBTECH from the beginning.
In UBTECH's blueprints, there is not only a dazzling, cool "futuristic feel", but even more, a warm, amiable "sense of expectation": At the 2016 CCTV Spring Festival gala, UBTECH's independently developed and produced humanoid robot won the audience with its cuteness: by being able to talk, host and dance, they became the hottest internet celebrities of the day.
In the era of globalization and the internet, the elements of innovation are gathering towards"urban characteristics" of the international urban agglomeration from the traditional "geographical zone". From "Cultural Desert" to "Cultural Oasis", "Cultural Innovation" is the "urban characteristic" displayed in the process of Shenzhen's reform and opening-up.
From Artron, a global arts service provider, to the international professional orchestra Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra, to the Shenzhen Watch & Clock Association, a leader in creating time culture in Shenzhen, Shenzhen has paved its way of innovation leading towards globalization for cultural brands with a global vision and Shenzhen characteristics.
Artron: Creating "world culture" with "artistic wisdom"
Starting from Shenzhen, Artron looks up at the sky leading to international brands, and the "artistic wisdom" displayed in the process of transforming a printing methodology into a way of art has become the benchmark for the international development of its brand.
By applying the differentiation strategy and reducing commercial printing, Artron has moved away from traditional printing towards an art and design oriented cultural enterprise. They have settled into their new state more quickly: to make people's lives better. "With print becoming more personalized and small-scale, in the future, a printed book may become a 'Work of art' or a 'luxury good'. What is to come is digital information that can be linked to in depth reading on paper, with one quick scan with your phone you can connect directly to the 'Artron Cloud Atlas'," said Peng Gan, CEO of Artron Culture Group and a veteran of overseas business development.
Artron aims to represent the highest standard of the industry "Oscar" with professional standards in order to be internationally recognized, thus successfully giving Chinese brand access to the global market. Since winning the gold medal at the 2003 American print awards for his production of "the face album of Mei Lanfang opera" on the "Oscar Stage" - Benny Award, Artron has won the world's top printing prize 12 times, winning a total of 65 Benny Awards and becoming the printing company to receive the most global prizes in the last five years.
Orchestras and companies are very different, with the former relying on a long history of culture, including top talent, unique repertoire, and good reputation, none of which can be accumulated in a short period of time. Based in southern China, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra has quickly established a global reputation as a leading serious music group and become a brand of well-deserved international cultural exchange in Shenzhen.
Founded in 1982 at the beginning of the reform and opening-up period, Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra began to learn from the professional experience of international orchestras in the 1990s, breaking the traditional way of "ranking according to Seniority" with the principle of "bringing in, going out". The Orchestra not only attracts outstanding music talents from home and abroad, but also trains them in a planned and cost-effective way, providing them with great studying opportunities. Furthermore, it also dares to work with the world's best to continuously enhance the professional standard of the orchestra.
So far, deep friendships have been established in five continents. The Orchestra has toured in the Czech Republic, Poland, Germany, Italy, France, Turkey, South Africa, the United States, Singapore, Indonesia, South Korea and Thailand among many others. The orchestra pays special attention to traditional Chinese compositions, with some original compositions such as "Harmony in China", "Folk songs and Hakka tunes" and "Ode to Mankind" being performed with great success at the United Nations headquarters, the UNESCO Headquarters and the world's most prominent concert halls.
"We learn from the outside world and absorb their experience for our own good."
--Nie Bing, Director of Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra and SFIEC Trustee
Even though we can't change the past, we can strive for a spot in the future.
As one of the earliest industrial associations in Shenzhen, Shenzhen Watch &Clock Association has been continuously exploring and innovating the element of "time culture" for 31 years, guiding and leading local watch enterprises in Shenzhen to move towards "fashion technology", extending the reach of the development of artificial intelligence to the wearable product industry, providing other manufacturers with precise and intelligent manufacturing capabilities, and sharing the "time culture" of Shenzhen Intelligent Manufacturing with global consumers.
On the road of brand internationalization growth, while the Shenzhen watch enterprises cooperate with European Swiss and French high-end brands, they also research and develop products for new generation of consumers with digitalization. Since 2011, Shenzhen has held Chinese Watch Culture Week every year. This year, the first Shenzhen Time Culture Week shows "the eternal charm of time" in the form of exhibitions, forums etc.
It is precisely because of the continued investment and perseverancein the creation of a brand that Fiyta, Tian Wang, Ebohr, Power, Starking and other Shenzhen Watch brands are gradually becoming more and more well-known. "
" Time is fair to everyone! The key lies with he who can convey the future."
- Zhu Shunhua, president of the Shenzhen Clock & Watch Association
Niu Huayong
Executive Dean of the School of Southern Studies at Beijing Foreign Studies University
"Forty years after its reform and opening-up, Shenzhen has gone from a contract factory to today's innovation capital of China and the world. This is because a number of innovative enterprises with great aspirations have chosen to invest in research and develop at a time when others only care about making easy money in order to claim the high ground in ten to twenty years from now. After experiencing initial difficulties, the explosive, unlimited motivation will be unmatched by other enterprises."
"CityPlus" is a two-way information platform initiated by Shenzhen and dedicated to the whole world. It aims to let the world learn about Shenzhen in a warm and interesting way and let Shenzhen citizens know the world.
