Top executives weigh in at CIIE (II)

Rohit Jawa, president of Unilever North Asia

A1: This is the fourth time that Unilever has participated in the CIIE, and Unilever is also one of the founding members of the CIIE Exhibitor Alliance.

The CIIE is more than a perfect platform to enhance people-to-people exchanges in topics like trade, investment, distribution and culture. It is also a place offering crucial business opportunities. We have introduced bestselling products in other countries through CIIE to China, thus broadening the range of selections available to Chinese consumers, as well as manufacturing locally.

A2: The CIIE could boost the recovery of the global economy. As one of China's initiatives to further open up its market to the world, the CIIE can be a great platform for global manufacturers and exporters to explore the Chinese market in terms of promoting international procurement and promoting investment. We noticed that the role of the CIIE is becoming increasingly prominent.

A3: Through the CIIE, we have introduced Unilever's quality brands and products from all over the world into the Chinese market, which will assist China's consumption upgrade and better build the imports' branding globally.

Domestos is a prime example. Due to the pandemic situation, consumer demand for sanitary cleaning products has become greater. Domestos is a UK brand that Unilever launched in China via the CIIE. Indicative of the CIIE's potency as a platform to reach Chinese consumers, its popularity has boomed, with Unilever now producing Domestos in China, with two products created specifically to meet the needs of Chinese consumers.

A5: We have confidence in the Chinese market. We see that the Chinese government has demonstrated efficient, orderly and resilient management in response to the pandemic and the contagion in China has been well controlled, which has helped companies to resume operations quickly and the supply chain has been restored, with the domestic market regaining vitality.

Unilever in China for China. The determination of the Chinese government to continue reform and opening-up also shows its confidence in the future. Recently, the peak carbon emissions action plan issued by the State Council also has a clear goal. With the mission of "make sustainable living commonplace", we are full of confidence and believe that there will be more opportunities for sustainable growth in the future.

A6: China's opening-up has made important contributions to promoting global economic development and sustainable growth. It also provides a strong impetus for the stable recovery and sustainable development of the world economy.

We will continue to drive Unilever's consistent growth in China with our purpose-led, future-fit business model, and we are committed to making sustainable living commonplace.

A7: Bringing standards more quickly in line with international benchmarks and speeding up linkages with the international system. There is consensus and mutual recognition among countries, which facilitates the circulation of more products. In the context of global "carbon neutrality," it is an especially important issue for us to better promote green (environmentally friendly) products. For example, carbon labels can be improved.