This session explores market transformation driven by demographic shifts, aging populations and health-conscious trends in Japan & Korea, capturing the functional upgrade and innovation of beverages, protein drinks growth, and insights from packaging perspective. Yoko Kaji, the marketing director of Japan and Korea, Tetra Pak, will share with you the market landscape, bringing inspiration to the Chinese market.

Amid the dual pressures of consumption downgrading and technological breakthrough, brick-and-mortar retail is entering a new cycle of structural transformation.

Chairman Daniel Zhang will draw on his hands-on experience in retail operations and AI innovation to systematically elaborate on how to leverage AI as a core engine to build a new AI-powered retail paradigm that integrates "retail operations + full digitalization + AI." He will focus on the following three key dimensions:

1. Growth Potential:

AI-driven new productive retail emphasizes data as a key asset and artificial intelligence as the core driver, revolutionizing the entire circulation chain of FMCG from production to consumption. By redefining the relationship between people, products, and channels, it enables a new model of efficient, sustainable, and inclusive growth.

2. Ecosystem Capability:

AI-driven new productive retail must replace "single-point competition" with "ecosystem collaboration." Retailers, AI solution providers, cloud service platforms, and computing power companies must complement each other’s strengths, accelerate innovation, share best practices, reduce technical risks, and jointly navigate the complexities of AI technologies.

3. Human-Centered Value:

AI-driven new productive retail stays rooted in a people-first philosophy, upholding the “Five Loves” principle: love yourself, love your family, love your colleagues, love your partners (all business collaborators), and love your customers. The goal is to create a new retail system that is efficient, convenient, and high-quality, enhancing well-being for all stakeholders.

In an era of market uncertainity and increasinly cautious consumer decision-making, how can F&B brands break through the traditional traffic-driven marketing to achieve high-quality growth? The answer lies in Xiaohongshu. As the go-to plaform for gourmet inspiration for over 300 million users, we have an integrated marketing solution for F&B brands proven by various leading players. We will showcase how brands can leverage Xiaohongshu's unique community ecosystem and its full-suite of marketing products covering full-chain of marketing demands that enable brands to spark consumer demands, influence purchase decisions, drive omni-channel sales conversion, and nurture brand reputation - ultimately to maximize the long-term ROI.

As the global dairy industry undergoes rapid transformation, Chinese dairy enterprises are actively expanding overseas to compete on the world stage. As the leading dairy company in China, Yili Group has been making significant moves in international markets, demonstrating its ambition to build a global dairy ecosystem.

In this session, Mr. Ke Xu, Vice President of Yili Group, will share Yili’s strategic insights and practical experiences in overseas market expansion and development.

Against the backdrop of geopolitical shifts and increasing market fragmentation, Chinese companies are moving from “product export” to “capital export” in their globalization journey. However, post-merger challenges—brand integration, cultural alignment, and supply chain restructuring—remain significant hurdles. Compared to global giants like Nestlé, Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Mondelēz, who have honed their “capital + operations” dual-engine capabilities through a century of M&A, how can companies avoid the trap of peaking at acquisition? How can they turn acquisitions into sustainable growth engines instead of financial burdens?

This dialogue will focus on:

• The difference in M&A logic between Chinese and Western companies

• The "soft barriers" to successful integration

• Unpacking the hidden methodology of cultural compatibility and talent retention

• New rules in a shifting geopolitical landscape

• The possibilities for a uniquely Chinese answer