China Consumer 2022: UK consumer brands meet leading China buyers and influencers

The second day of the China-Britain Business Council’s China Consumer 2022 programme took place on 30 June in CBBC’s London office and online, with British Consumer brands offered a rare platform to meet with leading China buyers and Chinese influencers and student ambassadors

Following the event’s Conference Day, which took place in London on 28 June and attracted over 120 attendees, the second day of activities under CBBC’s flagship Consumer event of 2022 generated a buzz, with the exchange of fresh ideas and insights, coupled with the generation of tangible next steps for participating UK brands in the China market, high on the agenda.

Meet the China Buyer is a signature service that CBBC has proudly offered for many years, whilst our Chinese Influencer Focus Groups are a new offering trialled at China Consumer 2022, and soon to be launched as a dedicated service.

“We have received fantastic feedback from all of the brands participating in China Consumer 2022’s Day 2 programme, said Pearl Zhu, UK Sector Lead for Retail and Ecommerce, China-Britain Business Council. “The participating UK Consumer brands were delighted with CBBC’s experience, knowledge and resources on offer, and expressed the value that these have added to their China market journey going forward.”

Based on the success of the Chinese Influencer & Student Brand Ambassador Focus Groups, CBBC plans to launch a new dedicated service offering this platform to UK brands later in 2022.

Meet the China Buyer

The day kicked off with Meet the China Buyer, which was held exclusively online. UK Consumer brands interested in meeting some of China’s most successful retailers and distributors of UK consumer products took part. During the session, participants met and built relationships with four pre-warmed buyers, with dedicated follow-up support from CBBC included post-event. Participating Chinese Buyers included:

Buyers in the retail industry:

Hangzhou Juanqi Clothing Limited 杭州隽启服饰有限公司
Hengcheng Group 恒城集团
Shanghai Wisepartners Ecommerce Co Ltd 上海智驭电子商务有限公司
Shantou Nuomo Trading Co Ltd 汕头市诺墨贸易有限公司
Tangshan Lubei District Wonderland Children’s Clothing Shop 唐山市路北区旺得童装店

Importers in the food and drink industry:

Beijing Vandergeeten Trade & Commerce Co Ltd
Feast Creative Foods
Green Phoenix Trading Co Ltd
Weinashi (Xiamen) Alcohol Co Ltd
Pagemill Trading
Shanghai Golden Wing Industrial Co Ltd (Golden Wing)
Weihai Shencheng International Trade Co Ltd

Chinese Influencer and Student Brand Ambassador Focus Group Sessions

Following the Meet the China Buyer session, a Chinese Influencer and Student Brand Ambassador Focus Groups Session took place in the afternoon at CBBC’s London office in Westminster.

Held in partnership with Influencer Hub International, the UK consumer brands in attendance received valuable live feedback on their brand from nine dynamic London-based Chinese influencers and student ambassadors in this interactive session.

The participating Chinese influencers and student ambassadors were:

Ms Xiaoji in London
Lisuanyu
Celine Tang
Liujie in the UK
Fantastictam
UKZone
Wetrysnacks
Fanny
Janice Shen
Tempura Baron 天妇罗男爵

Each of the participating KOLs brought their own unique perspective to the event, with expertise in areas ranging from fashion and lifestyle to food and drink to beauty and luxury. Each has an impressive follower count and presence across key Chinese social media and social commerce channels, including Xiaohongshu, Bilibili, Douyin, Weibo, Instagram, and WeChat.

“Umberto Giannini were delighted to join CBBC in their influencer session as part of China Consumer 2022. It was a pleasure to spend time with both influencers and students, and we gained invaluable insights regarding market appetite and positioning for our brand in China,” said Jo Butcher, Commercial Director, Umberto Giannini.

UK Consumer brands attending took advantage of the session to engage in a live Q&A session with the influencers and student ambassadors and discuss any queries they had in relation to consumer perceptions, including but not limited to new product launches, packaging, trends, shopping behaviour and market strategies.

The session provided unique and meaningful insights that helped participating brands to make strategic decisions, innovate and grow in the Chinese market going forward.

“We are so happy to have built a relationship with the CBBC who has been giving us the most incredible guidance into the China Market, said Benny Hancock, Co-Founder, Benny Hancock For Men. “Participating in this programme and interacting with influencers and students from China that are living in the UK has been the best insight before launching Benny Hancock For Men into China. Market research on your product offering is essential as it gives you confidence that you are making strong decisions for the market you are entering into. Just because a specific product or shade works in the UK doesn’t necessarily mean it will be successful in China. I recommend everyone does market research like this before entering China!”

Click here to view the event recording

For further enquiries about China Consumer 2022 and CBBC’s work in the Consumer sector please email CBBC’s Director of Consumer Economy, Antoaneta Becker at Antoaneta.Becker@cbbc.org or CBBC’s UK Sector Lead for Retail and Ecommerce, Pearl Zhu at Pearl.Zhu@cbbc.org.  

To learn more about CBBC’s Membership offer please email Membership@cbbc.org or visit www.cbbc.org/membership