Editor's note: The Chinese government has rolled out a series of targeted measures to help revitalize businesses and boost economic growth in the face of COVID-19 epidemic. China Daily interviewed top business executives from well-known multinational companies for their views and experiences during the outbreak, as well as their business strategies for the post COVID-19 period.
Q1: This year's two sessions were postponed over two months due to COVID-19. What policy guidelines are you expecting from the upcoming meetings?
Q2: The outbreak has caused disruptions to the global economy. How is your China business recovering from the outbreak? Will your investment plans in the country change due to the virus?
Q3: The government has released a series of policies to help revitalize businesses. Which one, or ones, are most helpful to your company?
Q4: Have you identified any new business opportunities after the COVID-19 outbreak? Are there any new best practices in terms of business operations coming from China setting the trend for your business worldwide?
Q5: Ensuring employment is one of the top priorities for the Chinese government as it strives to restore growth after the epidemic. What measures are you taking in China to ensure employment and benefits for employees?
A1: Given the importance of the travel industry to the local economy, we expect the government to cover a lot of relevant topics that hopefully will help with the recovery of the travel and short-term rental industry.
The following are some categories that we think will be beneficial for the industry's post-outbreak development. Support the small and medium-sized enterprises to stimulate the economy towards a healthy and sustainable future. Upgrade the tourism products and services and stimulate consumption to revitalize the tourism industry along with the service industry.
Elevate cleaning and sanitization standards for the homestay industry, and reassure both hosts and guests, as well as providing travelers with safe and comfortable surroundings.
A2: The COVID-19 outbreak is causing travel restrictions and other disruptions that have a direct impact on the travel and tourism sector and beyond. Most importantly, our focus right now is on how we can best support our stakeholders as they are impacted by this global health challenge, including hosts, guests, employees and the communities in which we operate. We remain absolutely committed to the China market and will continue to invest in it, and do all we can to support our amazing community of hosts and guests in China.
We already see early signs of recovery. According to Airbnb's internal data, the growth of domestic bookings between April 1 and April 18 surpassed 200 percent month-on-month. The number of searches for domestic listings for Labor Day holidays has increased by more than 2.5 times compared with the same period last year.
A3: The tourism industry has been severely impacted by the pandemic. However, in the period of economic recovery, the government has leveraged stimulating the tourism industry to re-boost the economy, with a series of supportive policies being introduced by both central and local governments, ranging from encouraging consumption to supporting high-quality tourism products. Built on a recovering and positive environment, we have the confidence to revitalize the business and hope to play a role in revitalizing the industry.
We fully support governments' efforts to revitalize the travel industry and also make investments that will strengthen and grow our community of hosts and guests and boost the resilience of the Chinese economy.
A4: People will seek out nearby things to do and places to visit, and want longer-term stay options for family, work and study. They also will look for sites and activities away from tourist hotspots. All of these create new ways for regular people and communities to benefit from travel and tourism.
As COVID-19 brought severe travel restrictions, we worked with the hosts on our platform to help them shift to meet new consumer needs for longer-term stays within their communities. In recent weeks, we've seen a significant increase in longer-term stay bookings on Airbnb as compared to last year. Eight in 10 Airbnb hosts now accept longer-term stays and about half of Airbnb's active listings now provide discounts for stays of one month or longer.
A5: China is one of Airbnb's most important markets. Our sharing model provides additional revenue streams for hosts and allows guests to explore new areas and contribute to the local economy. We will also expand our involvement with local communities to better support our Chinese hosts.
Airbnb China announced a $10 million fund in early February and took some measures in China to rebuild the community's confidence and support our hosts in the next few years during the recovery period of the local tourism industry. Over the last few months, we also launched several local initiatives that are helping local hosts and guests to cope with the disruption created by the outbreak. These include a pre-sell and early payout program for hosts as well as rest assured stays for guests.
Stephan Kothrade, President & Chairman, Greater China, BASF
A1: We appreciate the efforts made by Chinese government during the crisis in helping foreign companies like BASF. We believe that preferential policies in tax and energy will be necessary to help the Chinese chemical companies to recover from this historic crisis. Also, the consistent inclusion of foreign passport holders in the QR health code system will be welcomed for foreign nationals traveling in China.
A2: The company anticipates a considerable decline in sales volumes in the second quarter of 2020 and a slow recovery for the third and fourth quarters of 2020. How the situation develops is uncertain and not predictable now. Most BASF sites and offices on the Chinese mainland did continuously operate or have resumed operation. China will be a major contributor. We are committed towards the long-term development of the Chinese market. Our investment projects in China, including the BASF Guangdong Verbund, are progressing as planned.
A3: The Chinese government has been ramping up monetary and fiscal responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in the past weeks, including increasing export VAT refund rates, direct financial support on employees' social benefits. Most of these measures are targeted at bailout and relief, which have benefited many companies in China, including BASF, to partly offset the negative impact brought by the pandemic.
A4: BASF produces products that are essential for containing and combating the coronavirus. At the moment, customers from pharma, detergents and cleaners, or food are even experiencing additional demand.
BASF also enhances its e-commerce presence in China. On March 20 BASF launched a fully automated ordering system on Alibaba's 1688.com flagship online store. It shortens the order-to-ship time from several days to two or three hours.
A5: Employment rests on economic success. Chemicals are the foundation of the value chain of all the other industries. BASF is committed to several large-scale projects, including the multi-billion-dollar BASF Guangdong Verbund site project in Zhanjiang. All these high technology sites are not only operating to generate business for BASF, but also help our high technology customers to position themselves more successfully and sustainably in the domestic and international markets. We also highly value the health and safety of all our employees in BASF. We've been taking precautionary measures at all sites and offices since work resumptions.
Peter Huang, president of Greater China, Corteva Agriscience
A1: The key this year will be how China navigates this global crisis and furthers its agendas by focusing on policies that alleviate pressure and leverage the market economy to inspire innovation. This point is close to Corteva's heart as we are engaging with millions of farmers and growers across the country through the promotion of ‘farm enterprise'. We also hope to see what progress has been made with regards to the opening up measures proposed last year.
A2: China remains a core business location for Corteva and our operations in China are back to normal. Corteva is deeply committed to the sustainable growth of farmers, land, community and our operations across the world. And the outbreak hasn't changed our plans. In China, we've set forth goals that improve farmers' livelihoods and operations, while conserving resources and sustaining the land. In the next decade and beyond, we will provide tools and training to increase yield stability, optimize input and improve climate resilience, provide training on soil health, nutrient and water stewardship, as well as productivity best practices. We will also increase the productivity, income and sustainable farming practices of smallholder farmers.
A3: The most inspiring policies for our business will be those aligning the government's top agenda of fostering new growth drivers, especially in the field of accelerated digitalization, which is also a major trend in agriculture.
Agriculture is fundamental to people's lives and we also value the government's highlights on leveraging the position of essential industries, such as agriculture, and major industry players, such as ourselves, to maintain ordered revitalization.
A4: In terms of best practices we have acquired insights on the effectiveness of efficient and holistic solutions against uncertainties, the importance of supply chain resilience and the proactive responses to change from Chinese farmers. China is currently ahead of the rest of the world as it enters the normalization stage of recovery, pioneering and accumulating valuable practices and experiences. Evidenced by China's achievements, a globally connected future lies ahead, and deepening collaboration, led by China, will only benefit our business and the whole industry at large.
A5: Corteva is committed to continuous investment for the long-term development and well-being of our employees. Over the epidemic, Corteva has continued to progress its employee training and skills in an effort to improve the capability of local operations and better respond to the fast-changing market environment. To date, we have seen no loss of any jobs or reduction of employee benefits due to the epidemic.
Jiang Ying, vice-chair for China, Deloitte
A1: We are all expecting both short-term measures to continue to support the recovery of business and economy, from tax and social benefit support, financing support, from increasing government purchase, and more, tailored for the small and mid-business, export related business, or business with a supply chain that is globally reliant. More importantly, we hope to hear substantial and optimism for the future, from strong domestic consumption, to accelerated digital transformation of the whole society (from business to government), and even more open policy for foreign investment, to be an active leader and player in globalization.
A2: We are recovering very strongly. Deloitte has responded quickly to form COVID-19 task forces to protect our employees in China and around the world. We created a self-reporting track and trace system for our 20,000 employees in China within two days and we are continuing to use them to protect and manage our workforce in China. Our serving of our clients has never stopped. Working digitally has been a norm for Deloitte China even before COVID-19 and we have accelerated our digitalization of working with our clients during the crisis. In addition, we have produced over 100 point-of-views of supporting our clients to navigate from respond, to recovery, and to thrive, so they can grow stronger in the next normal. Our investment plan has continued and will probably increase or accelerate, especially in the areas of digitalization, innovations ,and new products and services, especially to support our clients to participate in new infrastructure development.
A3: We are a talent-focused organization. The deferral and/or reduction of the social benefit contribution is the biggest support, especially during the first quarter of this year, where our business was slower than before.
A4: As the largest professional firm in the world, Deloitte China has been sharing since February what was happening in China and how Deloitte China has responded and has recovered. These recovery stories inspired and provide a very positive pathway for our practices around the world within our organization and for our clients.
We believe crisis is not to be wasted but to be leveraged for a stronger and more resilient organization. In the crucible of crisis, resilient leaders are defined first by who they are. Our actions are from our heart to protect our workforce, to serve our clients with distinction and to make a societal impact, to stabilize today, and to make decisive action, and to aim for a stronger future.
Looking at now and the future, many are uncertain. But what is certain is tech and digital transformation. This comes across in Asia and more so in China much stronger. Our clients are all looking at accelerating their transformational journey, and China will be leading the way with a ready infrastructure and business model, such as our E-payment system, our E-platform, and our strong mobile network. The New Infrastructure Initiative would certain lead the way in the Asia-Pacific region, and around the world.
A5: As a talent-intense organization, people first is the principle that we follow for everything we do. Deloitte has responded quickly to form COVID-19 task forces to protect our employees in China and around the world. We created a self-reporting track and trace system for our 20,000 employees in China within two days and we are continuing to use them to protect and manage our workforce in China. We are the first professional services firm to announce the Working from Home policy and have continued this policy since. We have provided adequate PPE to protect our employees when they need to work outside of their home. We have been putting our employees' interest to be the first priorities for everything we do. For example, our cutting of pay started with our partners in order to protect the employment of our workforce. We will continue to ensure we protect our workforce who will support our services to our clients for their recovery.
Dow Greater China President, Yoke Loon Lim
A1: We are expecting the two sessions to shed light on the development themes of China in the 14th Five-Year Plan, as well as additional policies to offset the negative impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on the market. There are many exciting discussions on new infrastructure investment focusing on IoT, smart city and 5G networks, which means opportunities for materials science companies like Dow. We are eager to learn the details.
A2: Dow continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation closely. Our largest manufacturing site in Greater China, Zhangjiagang Operations, has remained operational throughout the epidemic. All other Dow manufacturing sites in the mainland of China went back to work on Feb 9 and have been running smoothly since then. The market recovery has been better than our original estimation, especially in sectors such as 5G, health and hygiene and consumer products. The outbreak didn't change our commitment to the market. On March 23th, we signed a MoU with the Zhangjiagang Free Trade Zone in Jiangsu province, announcing the intention to invest an additional $300 million in the next five years.
A3: We benefited from the waiver of social security fees.
A4: Dow supplies the world with materials needed for many life-critical applications: disinfectants, sanitizers, cleansers, personal protection equipment for healthcare professionals, memory foam for hospital beds, and more, which are in demand during the pandemic. The focus on personal health and hygiene will outlive this temporary crisis. The pandemic also accelerated adoption of digital tools, such as livestreaming and online technical services, as well as e-commerce of industrial products, which will also be sustained in a changed business environment.
A5: Our capacity in China is mainly for the Chinese and Asia Pacific market. By far, we have not seen any significant downward impact in the markets, and neither have our partners. Some segments, such as institution cleaning and home care, have seen strong growth in the past several months. We don't see any reason to revisit our employment scale or talent development plan in China. China is not only the home to 3,200 of our employees, but also the second-largest market for Dow. We grow and strive with our people in this country. Meanwhile, as part of a Dow global program, we provided a special award of $1,000 to all employees who took a personal risk and returned to work in Feb for more than 20 hours per week.
Connell Zhang, executive vice-president of Ecolab & president of Greater China, Ecolab
A1: We're expecting the implementation and enforcement of the new foreign investment law and related policy guidelines, which will further level the playing field for businesses of various kinds and strengthen multinational companies' confidence in investing in China in the long term to support quality business developments as a whole.
The policies on intellectual property protection related legislation are an important contributor to improving the business environment as well.
It is equally important to further enable multinational companies to participate in setting industry standards and collaborating with Chinese partners in that regard.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn people's attention to maintaining a healthy public environment, we are also looking forward to higher hygiene and sanitization standards and requirements in general.
A2: We have seen a surge of demand for sanitization solutions since the beginning of the outbreak, resulting from significantly improved awareness of personal and public hygiene.
Except sanitization, the demand from our customers was depressed in general due to less traffic to restaurants and hotels, and due to fewer orders from the export market. But, it is now picking up with the gradual resumption of normal economic activities. We believe that digital solutions will play an even larger role in this recovery process.
China is one of Ecolab's three mega markets across the globe, and we will continue our commitment here. Meanwhile, we are looking into localizing more production to support our customers and to grow with the Chinese nation.
A3: We are encouraged by the resourcefulness and commitment that the government has demonstrated to guarantee a safe public environment, which in turn, helps all companies, including Ecolab, protect associates and provide timely support for customers, and allows us all to recover to a point of normal operation.
The strong financial incentives offered by the government are also crucial for companies to reduce operational costs and overcome difficulties during this challenging time, providing sound and effective measures for companies to boost business and long-term growth.
A4: We have seen significantly improved awareness in public health and hygiene, resulting in opportunities in some previously under-served segments, such as small- and medium-sized food service providers and the manufacturing sector.
Digital transformation is undoubtedly the most obvious trend amid the pandemic, which has been a focal point at Ecolab for so long. Amid the COVID-19 outbreak, we have been leveraging digital tools (e.g. 3D TRASAR™) to help our customers do remote monitoring, and launched "Food Safety 365" mobile app for food service and hospitality clients during the outbreak.
China is ahead of the curve in this pandemic, so we have been able to share our experiences here with other regions, in terms of staff protection, work resumption, customer servicing and such. Meanwhile, we have also been learning from the rest of the world and exchanging experience and expertise in a mutually beneficial way.
A5: Our three key focus areas during the pandemic are protecting associates, serving customers, and sharing expertise. Our global and local teams have been working to help ensure the safety of our 3,400 associates in China. We have established rigorous protocols to guide decision-making as we serve our customers and reinforce safe practices.
We are committed to the long-term development of China and the region. We expect to continue to grow our business quickly, building upon a close partnership with our associates in the country. We are very confident that Ecolab and our 3,400 China associates will play an even more important role in helping build a cleaner, safer and healthier society here, and at the same time, benefit from these great developments in China.
Benedikt Sobotka, CEO of Eurasian Resources Group
A1: China has taken systematic measures to facilitate a gradual recovery, both to strengthen production and support consumption. This includes promoting the development of "new infrastructure" in relation to 5G and charging stations for New Energy Vehicles. Eurasian Resources Group is supporting China's economic recovery and transition through its extensive, competitive portfolio, which includes ferrochrome, cobalt, copper, alumina and aluminum. These products are crucial for China's "new infrastructure" plan and we look forward to seeing more policy guidelines further enabling foreign enterprises to cooperate and invest in the country.
A2: As a long-term strategic partner of China, ERG focuses on strengthening its relationship with this key market, which accounts for 20-25 percent of total Group sales volumes, further developing cooperation with Chinese companies on business development projects and contributing its expertise to support the country's development.
For shipments from Kazakhstan to China, the Group, starting from March this year, is using the additional railway station (Altynkol), close to the Khorgos International Center of Boundary Cooperation. ERG's logistics company, TransCom, has steadily increased shipments of iron ore products to China this year, with April shipments almost double the same month in 2019.
A3: In April, the government extended its purchase subsidies on New Energy Vehicles for two years to 2022, while the sales of NEVs in China grew rapidly, by 9.7 percent month-on-month – a strong positive signal for the sector. ERG is growing as the world's second largest producer of cobalt, a key material for the batteries that power EVs, and the second largest supplier of the metal to China.
The government measures are also important for our copper business and we have reached a significant milestone at Metalkol RTR flagship facility in the DRC, where we produced the first copper under Phase II.
A4: We have been impressed by China's prompt and effective response to the outbreak. Our company, from the very beginning and in all countries of its presence, has been strictly adhering to relevant government and health expert guidance. Drawing on that initial experience, ERG has implemented a set of measures to ensure the health and safety of its employees at this challenging time and enable the continued running of its operations with minimal disruptions vs normal. ERG has undertaken a business continuity plan across its operations and is closely monitoring the situation as it evolves.
A5: At the outset of the outbreak, ERG took rapid measures in terms of medical supply preparation, as well as implementing internal information campaigns about the virus in China. In compliance with the government's guidance, we quickly put in place relevant policies, including flexible work arrangements and the deep cleaning of facilities. Our absolute priority is the health and safety of all our employees, contractors, as well as their families and the communities in which we operate.
Ericsson China President Zhao Juntao
A1: As a pillar of China's domestic economy, the information and telecommunications industry has always been a key topic of discussion at the two sessions. With 5G now emerging as a driver of growth for the new economy and an important platform for innovation, it will also open up greater room for maneuvering and increase the resilience of China's economy. As for the overall guideline direction this year's two sessions will signal, we expect the government will implement new policies and provide greater support for 5G construction as part of the "new infrastructure" strategy.
A2: At present, all of Ericsson China's offices in the country have opened and resumed operations, and our employees have returned to their posts. Our business in China is now operating at full capacity. So far, the COVID-19 outbreak has had a limited impact on our supply chain.
Recently, Ericsson won central procurement bids from China's three major carriers. We are proud to participate in China's 5G construction and serve our Chinese customers. Ericsson stands ready to support China's 5G construction even more with world-leading 5G technology.
A3: At Ericsson, we are greatly encouraged by the measures announced by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the central government has issued a series of measures to help companies confront this difficult period. China has included the construction of 5G networks as a key pillar in the country's new infrastructure, thus providing clear guidance for manufacturers and participants in the telecommunications industry. In addition, the central government, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and local governments have put forward specific action plans for 5G development. All these supporting measures have offered significant encouragement to us.
A4: We have observed the critical role mobile communications technology has played in the fight against the pandemic. Innovative applications, such as remote consultations, online education and online contract signing, have created new opportunities for 5G in economic development.
As the crisis hit China early, Ericsson's frontline employees, driven by their sense of responsibility, recognized our collective efforts are of critical importance to the whole community. Our employees all over the world therefore supported and encouraged each other to overcome the challenges of this difficult period. Our employees in China were the first to work remotely at a large scale, and we shared the experience and knowledge accumulated during the fight against the coronavirus with Ericsson in other markets.
A5: The health and safety of our employees remains our top priority. Ericsson was among the first to withdraw from this year's Mobile World Congress Barcelona in February. We aim to provide a positive, healthy and safe work environment and have taken a wide range of protective measures, such as distributing masks to our employees. For employees that are essentially onsite and working with customers, we provide comprehensive protection measures and equipment, as well as mental health support.
Teh-han Chow, interim CEO Greater China of Fonterra
A1: China's national legislature passed the foreign investment law at last year's two sessions, which will provide stronger protection and a better business environment for overseas investors. We hope there will be more policies coming out to help create a fair and transparent environment for all market players.
A2: Like other companies, our business was also affected by the unprecedented trying event. We saw several countries closed borders and the exchange of trade and flow of intellectual exchange were affected. But the resilience of China's economy that we saw in the pandemic has made us more confident of the great potential from the Chinese market. In fact, we just launched a research and development center in Shanghai with a local partner last month. And Fonterra's fifth application center is expected to come up next year in Wuhan to better serve customers and clients in Central and East China.
A3: In our view, where the government has taken initiatives to drive consumption, this has been most beneficial to companies. Examples of this include the progressive return to work, return to school, as well as the consumption festivals. Both national and local governments released preferential policies to revitalize business. Some policies optimize the business environment for enterprises by improving service quality, simplifying processes and reducing time costs. Some reduce or exempt corporate housing rents, defer tax declarations, and grant preferential tax treatment to related enterprises and individuals. Others increase support for enterprises with liquidity difficulties, and strengthen financing guarantee support to increase financial assistance for enterprises.
A4: A key learning from the pandemic for us has been the need to be flexible and adaptable and to be prepared to try new ways of doing things. We have seen this mentality within our own business and in our customers' business. Those that have been able to adapt quickly, have also been able to respond quickly. This is something we need to hold on to and nurture. It's also something we shared with our counterparts in other markets who are now still in the influence of the pandemic.
In terms of changes we've seen, we believe COVID-19 has certainly accelerated the adoption of online shopping and that is likely to result in lasting changes for retailers. In addition, the increased demand for dairy foods will remain at a higher level than pre-COVID-19.
Lastly, people are now more aware of the importance of health and immunity, which means there will be more focus from the public on provenance and quality of dairy products. After more than 40 years in China, we see it our mission to bring the best quality and goodness of dairy from New Zealand to more Chinese customers and consumers.
A5: While we experienced some downturn during the outbreak, we see positive signs of recovery. Thus, we would expect that our staffing situation would continue as per normal.
James Chiu, Vice President and Managing Director for General Mills China
A1: Like our peers, our business in China was inevitably and heavily hit by the outbreak of COVID-19. However, we view it as a natural consequence of the lockdown and stay-at-home policies the government took to control the outbreak, and has nothing to do with whether we are a foreign-invested enterprise.
Unlike some foreign-invested enterprises who treat China as a manufacturing base, we are very focused on local market and consumer needs and committed to the long-term growth opportunity the Chinese market offers. We don't think there are any other emerging markets that can provide the great business opportunities China does now.
At this year's two sessions, we are eager to see what kind of economic stimulation plans will be discussed and approved to resume growth momentum in the overall economy, create more jobs, increase people's incomes and encourage people to spend. As a foreign-funded enterprise, we also want to see China reassure the world the open-door policy will remain and be further enhanced to help the world fight a potential recession. We are also interested to learn the directions and actions China will take to stabilize and improve the China-US relationship, including the trade relationship, which is the most important one directing the business and political environment for the long term.
A2: Thanks to the local government's strong supports, Wanchai Ferry plant resumed its production as early as Jan 28 serving as one of the first re-opened companies in the area. Our Haagen-Dazs shops also reopened to the public gradually. We are seeing business come back step by step, and have the confidence for a full recovery in summer.
As one of our core markets, China plays a critical role in General Mills' global strategy. We witnessed what China has achieved in the past 30 years and have a long-term commitment for China and will continue it. We view the pandemic as a short-term market volatility and are amazed by the effective and swift response the Chinese government took to control the situation. We have strong confidence in the Chinese government, and General Mills' long-term strategy and commitment to China will not change. With the latest developments of the pandemic, we also foresee China will play a much bigger role and grow opportunities for us in General Mill's overall strategy.
A3: The epidemic has had an impact on the short-term production and operation of foreign-funded enterprises, such as the risk of restricting construction, falling orders, overburdening labor costs, supply chain disruption and insufficient personnel. Since the outbreak, governments at all levels have been actively helping foreign-funded enterprises meet the challenges of the epidemic, coordinated and solved some practical problems in terms of investment, production and operation, and introduced a series of policy measures to help enterprises revitalize businesses.
Take the resumption of work as an example. We have been given a great deal of care, such as matchmaking mask resources, providing disinfectant and officials visits. On top of that, the government has repeatedly inquired about our business operations, guided us to resume work and production in response to the challenges we face, and supported our work on epidemic prevention and control. In addition, the policy of periodic reduction and exemption of tax and rent, and government assistance in procurement have helped us withstand the epidemic, ensuring orderly progress in the resumption of production and providing a buffer period for our recovery in the next quarter.
A4: If there is only one opportunity we can pick, it would be to transfer the business model by "digitalization". We talked about digitalization transformation for years, but the sense of urgency was not so strong. What the pandemic changed dramatically is the sense of urgency and determination, as such transformation requires huge investments, not only in technical areas but also talent, and reshaping of our organization.
We are taking a holistic approach to accelerate the transformation process to act more swiftly and responsively to the changing needs of Chinese consumers.
A5: General Mills is proud of its "people-oriented" culture. Hence, it was very natural for us to put employee safety as our first priority at the very beginning of the outbreak. We mobilized global resources to ensure we had enough PPE for our employees. Although we had to close the majority of our Haagen Dazs shops, which resulted in the significant decline of our business, we made the decision to keep our employees with us. We knew we needed to go through this together. We are very proud all our employees in China are safe.
We believe during such a difficult time nothing is more important than an employee keeping their job and having the sense of being needed and the ability to support their family. As an employer, the best thing we can do is to provide such work opportunities by growing our business in China.
Mark Dorn, president of Henkel Asia-Pacific
A1: The COVID-19 pandemic has been effectively contained in China, with strict measures taken by local communities and companies following clear guidance by the government. Henkel is happy to see that the two sessions will be held, which demonstrates China's battle with the COVID-19 pandemic has entered a new phase that will allow the economy and people's lives to gradually return to normal at a faster pace in the country.
Since the pandemic has been contained, China is placing increasing focus on ensuring stability in key areas such as employment, foreign trade, foreign investment and market expectations. Policies like the Foreign Investment Law, which was proposed at the two sessions last year and put into effect on Jan 1, shows the continuous opening-up of the Chinese market and creates a healthier and more competitive business environment – with new opportunities for multinational companies like Henkel. Furthermore, we also see a series of favorable policies has been recently issued to support companies and promote domestic consumption. These will all help the recovery and development of the economy.
A2: The COVID-19 pandemic has affected all areas of life and also hit the global economy hard. Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in China, Henkel has kept a close eye on the situation and is actively participating in efforts to prevent and contain the spread of the virus. These measures have allowed us to resume operations as soon as the outbreak in China improved, helping to ensure our business continuity and stability. Operations were resumed at all our manufacturing facilities in China in early February, and now our dedicated China teams are all back to their normal positions to provide high-impact innovations and services to customers and consumers.
China is one of Henkel's top three global markets and plays a strategic role in our global business. We still hold a positive outlook toward the Chinese market in the long run, despite the short-term challenges posed by COVID-19. Earlier this year, Henkel launched a new strategic framework with a clear focus on purposeful growth. This means creating superior customer and consumer value to outgrow our markets, reinforcing our leadership in sustainability and enabling our employees to grow, professionally and personally. China is definitely one of the focus markets, and our commitment to develop together with China will remain unchanged.
A3: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the health and safety of our employees, customers and business partners are of the highest priority for Henkel. We appreciate the guidance and support that the local governments provided to prevent and contain the spread of the virus, and to resume business rapidly and in an orderly manner.
We are also happy to see a slew of supportive policies have been issued to boost consumption growth and energize the market, as well as lessen the corporate burden through tax breaks and social insurance waivers. These measures, alongside existing efforts by the government to stabilize foreign trade and welcome international investment, will have the effect to create an even stronger business environment.
A4: Lessons from the COVID-19 response in China have helped us tremendously in other regions. As the business environment steadily improves in China, the measures we have taken in this market to prevent and control the spread of the virus and the processes we put in place to resume business operations will surely prove helpful for Henkel teams worldwide, who are now going through the same experience.
In addition to these prevention measures, what particularly impressed me is more accelerated digitalization after the COVID-19 outbreak, which gives a greater number of people the opportunity to transform how they live and work and provides a further boost to the online economy.
With the proliferation of 5G networks, developments like remote medical treatment, artificial intelligence and smart manufacturing are already promising to substantially alter our lives, driving market demand for Henkel's high-impact solutions. Meanwhile, in line with our new strategic framework, we are also boosting engagement with consumers and digitalizing the customer experience across all points by leveraging new tools and e-commerce platforms.
A5: The health and safety of our employees, customers and business partners are our highest priorities. At an early stage of the pandemic, we introduced a comprehensive range of protective measures. In accordance with the government's guidance, we implemented strict measures at all Henkel offices and sites across China to help protect against the virus, including increasing the frequency of disinfection in offices and facilities, air ventilation adjustments and health screening upon entry to facilities.
With the launch of our new strategic framework earlier this year, we continue to foster a culture of collaboration and empowerment. This year, we introduced a new e-learning platform in Asia-Pacific with nearly 160,000 new online courses available for employees across the region, and about half for people in China.
Scott Zhang, Honeywell China President
A1: In recent years, China has undergone an amazing digital revolution that is transforming the way we live and work with exciting new products that connect us and incorporate software and data in new ways. The COVID-19 crisis further confirmed to us how important digital technologies are, and it also enhanced our customers' understanding of their importance.
China's digital economy has undergone rapid changes from COVID-19, and we believe that Honeywell's software-industrial technologies will play a role in helping adapt to these changes. So, we look forward to policy guidelines in upgrading facilities of public health, education, transportation, as well as further guidelines on infrastructure that mix traditional and novel ones should also be mentioned, besides digital economy.
A2: Following the government's rules and regulations, and thanks to the government's strong support, Honeywell's 21 plants and majority of our critical suppliers across China have fully resumed manufacturing and are serving customers in China and abroad. Additionally, our customers are continuing to demand our technologies and our solutions to solve everyday problems. We are working with our suppliers to ensure we can meet our customers' needs in critical areas such as safety, security, health, energy efficiency and operational excellence.
Honeywell has registered a wholly owned subsidiary Huosheng Industrial Technology Co Ltd in Wuhan as the company's emerging market China headquarters and innovation center. We are honored to be the first Fortune Global 500 enterprise to establish a subsidiary in Wuhan in 2020 and received congratulation letter from Premier Li Keqiang. This marks a key milestone in our growth journey in China, demonstrating Honeywell's long-term commitment to China.
A3: We feel appreciated to see different levels of government to unveil measures to stabilize business, and foreign-funded companies are able to enjoy the same treatment as local businesses. We also enjoyed supports from those measures that helped to relieve burdens and mitigate impacts of the outbreak, such as benefits in social insurance, training incentives, etc.
Honeywell's growth has fully aligned with China's macro trends, like the digital economy. The booming digital economy is further evidenced during the epidemic. Honeywell is rapidly entering a new digital era of "combination of software and hardware". We are very excited to see that China has been making efforts on new infrastructure construction, and Honeywell can make contributions, especially in the field of data center and industrial internet.
A4: Chinese government's quick actions to contain COVID-19 and boost economy have brought various new opportunities for business. The upgrading for public facilities, especially public health facilities, will provide more scenarios for Honeywell products and technologies which can substantially help those facilities to improve their functions. More construction programs in the future, and new infrastructure programs especially those equip traditional infrastructures with safer and smarter technologies will also benefit our business in China.
On April 20, the National Development and Reform Commission defined the scope of new infrastructure for the first time. This brings great opportunities to Honeywell.
A5: We have been recruiting key talents for the company, including for the newly set up Huosheng company.
Meanwhile, employees' safety is our top priority. We have put a number of measures in place including but not limited to travel and visitor restrictions at affected regions, enhanced site cleaning and sanitation procedures, several types of work-from-home arrangements, which are geography-specific (China has fully resumed work and manufacturing), and regular communication around World Health Organization guidelines. We're committed to doing everything we can to protect the well-being and safety of our employees.
Sherri He, managing director of Kearney Greater China
A1: We expect government policy to stimulate the economy, especially consumption. 5G infrastructure-related policy is also important, but needs to be market-driven.
Policy that can benefit sectors hit the hardest, such as small and medium enterprises and the service industry, can subsidize and help transform export-oriented industries.
Policies to support people impacted by COVID-19 the most, such as migrant workers.
Policies to continue to attract and retain foreign investment and to protect China's position as a key supply chain market for the global economy, including continuing opening up sectors to foreign investment per World Trade Organization guidelines and reinforcement of intellectual capital.
Policies to enhance the public health sector, especially the effectiveness of monitoring mechanism, better management of "wet markets", ensure reinforcement of restrictions on wild animal trading.
A2: The consulting business has been impacted during COVID-19, due to travel restriction and cost reduction of clients. But in the meanwhile we see a rise in demand on some particular topics, such as cost or profitability-related topics, which Kearney is known for. China is one of the most important markets we want to grow. COVID-19 will slow down our growth in 2020, but won't change our growth objectives in the mid-term.
A3: We have not seen minimum post-COVID-19 subsidy policies related to my company. In the meanwhile, we do think the Chinese government is doing great in reviving the economy without risking lives. Our colleagues feel safe.
A4: There are more needs in cost reduction and profitability improvement, and many clients come to us on this topic. Globally, we had same experience in 2009, but in China we see a lot more needs on this than then, as more Chinese clients now realize consulting can help on this. We have done a lot of digital topics in China, and digital is clearly the area that has been accelerated post-COVID-19, and this is another topic where we are seeing more needs than before.
A5: Talent is the core of our business. We are doing everything to protect our talent, and trying our best to win business is the most important measure for that.
Lu Jian, president of LinkedIn China
A1: The world is currently facing an unprecedented situation, with the impact of COVID-19 affecting nearly all economies. We see China has taken the lead in virus control and prevention, boosting the gradual economic recovery of the country. We believe more efforts from China to advance international cooperation in combating the virus will help increase the global community's confidence in the overall recovery. For example, development during the post-COVID-19 era will require joint efforts from all nations, such as sustainable supply chains or the opening of infrastructure. China could play an important role in helping various countries become increasingly interdependent and making global growth more resilient through worldwide cooperation.
As a global social network that connects individuals and companies around the world, LinkedIn could help them navigate these difficult times by strengthening their communication and cooperation with others based on the information and connections on the LinkedIn platform. We look forward to following China's further initiatives in promoting worldwide cooperation to help boost the global recovery.
A2: We found supply and demand in the labor market were greatly affected during the initial stages of the outbreak, but these are now gradually returning to normal. LinkedIn data showed that the hiring rate in China plummeted by 35 percent year-on-year in early February, while the rate for SMBs with fewer than 200 employees declined by 83 percent year-on-year. However, both job markets have started to recover since March, with the latest LinkedIn data showing that, as of April, the number of job applications increased by 48 percent year-on-year, while the number of job postings grew by 31 percent year-on-year.
As more businesses are exploring digital transformation to deal with the changes the epidemic brings, LinkedIn is providing more valuable online solutions to companies, including assistance to help connect corporations with suitable talents while helping them to precisely reach out to their target audience.
As China is the largest addressable opportunity we have in the world, we will continue our commitment to provide more value to the China market and assist Chinese individuals and companies to grow and develop with more opportunities to help make connections matter.
A3: China's efforts in promoting the development of new infrastructure provide guidance for LinkedIn's future business. Facing pressures on economic transformation and upgrading, new infrastructure will help the country gain momentum; this also is providing a stabilizer for employment.
From a talent perspective, the development of new infrastructure will inevitably bring new demands for talents in the workforce, which provides an opportunity for LinkedIn to close the gap. Leveraging its vast global database, LinkedIn can provide real-time industry insights to inform of trends in the workplace and continue delivering products and services to help individuals get prepared by upskilling and helping companies adjust talent strategies and connect with the right talents to better fulfill digital transformation.
A4: Largely fueled by the pandemic, the workplace is undergoing drastic change. Remote work is changing from a growing trend to a new normal. LinkedIn data shows that the demand and desire for remote work has rapidly increased. The impact of the epidemic and the changes in the workplace will be long lasting, boosting the development of online activities and business. Given this new landscape, LinkedIn is committed to creating more relevant and helpful products and services to support our members and customers navigate and connect with opportunities in the new normal.
As China is ahead of other countries in the pandemic timeline; many of our examples are being followed by other countries to help our global members overcome difficulties. For example, students continue to face significant challenges to their career progression due to nationwide lockdowns and recruitment pauses and deferments. Seeing these needs, LinkedIn China has launched a Mentor/Mentee Program, encouraging professionals on the LinkedIn platform to donate their time to coach students online who require career advice during these difficult times.
A5: The safety and health of employees always comes first at LinkedIn. After the outbreak, our immediate action was to establish the Incident Management Team (IMT), which involved multiple department heads to undertake effective decision-making. The China IMT then continuously rolled out coping measures, including work-from-home and remote-onboard arrangements, and measures to ensure the physical and psychological health of employees, especially those in Hubei.
Meanwhile, LinkedIn has been proactively providing support for employees to resume work in a safe and orderly manner and to remain productive. We have actively explored internal channels to help employees across departments to constantly stay connected and informed, and offered free psychological consultations and training to help employees quickly adapt to the situation. We ensure that those working from home are provided with adequate technical support, while those employees who have returned to the office are aware of adjusted health and safety management measures, as well as commute solutions.
Allan Gabor, president of Merck China
A1: As a long-term partner of China, Merck has been fully merged to the local industrial eco-system through high-level localization from early-stage R&D and manufacturing to tailor-made solutions. As a leading science and technology company with strengths in healthcare, the life sciences and performance materials, our preferred areas include:
Continuing the transformation and upgrade of industries, in particular where Merck can provide better support to local ecosystems and value chains, such as semiconductors, OLED and gene-editing.
Policy guidelines to secure and maintain the internationalized supply chain upon expected emergencies, as the COVID-19 pandemic brought about challenges for MNCs relying on a globalized supply chain and restrained our capacity to fulfill commitments to local customers and patients;
Reinforced implementation of intellectual property protection, to create a healthy eco-system for R&D intensified technology focused companies to further promote the Internet+ healthcare system and help patients to get more convenient and friendly medical and healthcare services.
A2: In spite of all the disruptions and uncertainties, we are successfully maintaining our business continuity in China. Although there are challenges in the global supply chain, we are making the utmost effort and proactively working with local authorities and suppliers to minimize impact. Now, we are happy to say we are meeting our customers' needs.
We have been operating in China for 87 years, and have been a long-term partner with China. Our strategy "In China, for China" remains unchanged. Our ambition to sustainably impact every life in China is unchanged. We are committed to playing an active role in China's transformation into an innovation-driven economy.
A3: Among many of the revitalizing initiatives, we believe quick action in allocating low interest loan and subsidies on venue rental are very efficient policies to help businesses recover from Covid-19 impact.
As a global leader in Life Science R&D and manufacturing solutions, Merck is actively involved in the anti-COVID 19 campaign with our partners in China on virus research, test kit development and the optimizing of technological process. In addition to the temporary challenges to the industry, we see it as an opportunity to upgrade the entire life science research, development and manufacturing ecosystem, in which Merck can contribute our expertise to leverage technical merits for the sustainability of local industries in the long run.
A4: As a leading science and technology company, we are making important contributions with life-saving medicines, materials for vaccine development and by supporting researchers around the globe: as a critical supplier for the development of diagnostics, vaccines and treatments; as a provider of much-needed medicines for patients affected by serious diseases and as a manufacturer of electronic materials that help people worldwide stay connected.
A5: As we continue to have strong faith in China, and great ambition to grow our business in China, retaining talents in China remains our top priority.
Merck does not have any plan to cut jobs due to the COVID-19 crisis. In addition, all managers are requested to select qualified internal candidates first for any openings, so as to protect existing employees' job security.
In addition, we put employees' health and safety as our top priority. Therefore, Merck China provides comprehensive benefits to our employees during the COVID-19 period, including distributing facial masks, providing transportation assistance (taxi and parking expense) during the critical period, and upgraded medical insurance plans. We have also promoted and communicated the existing EAP (Employee Assistance Program) to all employees.
Meanwhile, with the launch of flexible working arrangement programs, we provide strong support to employees and their families to balance work and family during this difficult time.
Some examples:
- Talent conference to identify talents and to discuss career development
- Retention plan to retain talents
- Online/offline training to develop talents
- Short-term assignments, both nationally and globally, to help talents extend practical experience
- Mentoring programs (local & regional), coaching programs to nurture key skills
Kamran Vossoughi, president and CEO of Michelin China
A1: We hope to see more favorable government policies that can inject new momentum and vitality for business development. Further optimization of the business environment can boost recovery. The Chinese government has announced to continue to promote the reform and opening-up policy and to relax restrictions on market access. We look forward to stronger policy signals to implementing more supporting measures. Sustainable innovation drives the future. China is entering a new phase of high-quality development with an economy that requires advanced enterprise innovation. We expect more innovation incentive policies to apply as an absolute advantage for Michelin in our endeavor of sustainable mobility.
A2: To mitigate the risks, we adapted to the changes timely, understood the market quickly and responded to the demands swiftly. We stabilized our business and achieved good performance results in March and April, which brought added confidence that we can recover fully and continue to grow in the future.
Our confidence also comes from the resilience of the Chinese market. Real gold can stand the test of fire. The Chinese market is large and full of potential. Although the pandemic has taken a major toll on traditional consumption, online buying has grown explosively. The needs delay but not disappear, and will help to fuel economic recovery as the pandemic wanes.
We will speed up our development beyond tire in China in green mobility and hydrogen fuel cell, as well as increase our knowledge and capacity in smart mobility in our newly created Innovation Center for Connected Mobility in Shanghai.
In the post-pandemic era, Michelin will continue to convey confidence to business partners, clients, consumers and society, while contributing to the recovery of the Chinese economy.
A3: To promote economic recovery after the outbreak, the Chinese government has reacted quickly and responded early. A series of favorable policies has been implemented to benefit various stakeholders. We believe that this quick actions and concrete supports both from central and local governmental agencies helped for our quick business recovery.
Proactive moves have been made by the government; more follow-up supports are required to help sustain economic recovery. It is suggested that forthcoming tax allowances for enterprises and individuals, and the strengthening of tax reduction and exemption policies will further encourage consumer spending.
During the outbreak, we have seen a run on "cloud solutions" for the government and enterprises, conforming to the trend of the digital economy and for enhanced work efficiency. We look forward to the further popularization and application of e-government, thus digitally promoting the rapid recovery of enterprises.
A4: We will strengthen the development of our sustainable projects for a green and smart mobility, while moving toward "zero emission" will be the driver of our future development in China. It includes product and service design, production across our industrial sites, high-tech materials and hydrogen mobility. As early as February, we confirmed our participation for the third CIIE. It is a great stage to showcase our developments in sustainability mobility to Chinese customers, and to find new business opportunities, as well as potential business partners.
The Chinese government has launched "New Infrastructure", an innovation-driven program. We will examine how to meet the requirements of those projects, which call for more digitization, smart thinking, efficiency and reliability in terms of both products and solutions.
A5: People are the most valuable part of any company and organization. Our first mission is to keep our employees safe, healthy, motivated and fulfilled in their job inside the company. In that way, they will be also fulfilled in the society. Michelin's employees are key for conquering the economic effects of the pandemic and for restoring China's economic growth.
Since the outbreak occurred, timely actions and precautionary measures have been taken to protect employee safety and health, including providing masks and disinfection materials, sterilization of working place, strict meeting and canteen management.
Layoffs have not been an option. Moreover, at this moment, the stake for Michelin in China is our sustainable growth. We need to hire new talented people while developing our talented people already inside the company and retain them. We have an ambitious recruitment plan in China.
Alain Crozier, Microsoft corporate vice-president, chairman and CEO of Greater China region
A1: Since the novel coronavirus outbreak began, Microsoft has been providing technical and financial support to help front-line responders in the fight against COVID-19 while also enabling local companies to be productive remotely and resume production. From the upcoming meetings we hope to learn what measures the government will take to continue to support enterprises' and small- and medium-sized businesses' resumption of production in the post-epidemic era as it will help the technology community understand how we can continue to support businesses and organizations that have not yet resumed work.
A2: The outbreak has affected our planning and strategy to a certain extent, but we still maintain confidence in the Chinese market in 2020. The urgent demand for remote working solutions, for example, caused many enterprises and organizations to take notice of Microsoft Teams, which is a key element of Microsoft 365, an integrated personal and organization productivity solution offered by Microsoft. We're encouraged to see our technologies and products empowering millions of people and hundreds of thousands of business in their efforts to fight COVID-19 and revitalize productivity.
A3: During this difficult period, we experienced the challenges and urgent needs of our customers, especially SMBs and partners. We are pleased to see the National Development and Reform Commission has issued a series of supportive and preferential policies in the "Partner Actions" to help small- and medium-sized businesses not only resume production, but also achieve digital transformation so they can achieve even more business value in the post-pandemic era.
A4: The urgent demand for remote working solutions during the outbreak has caused many enterprises and organizations to take notice of Microsoft Teams. During the outbreak, we saw so many great examples of schools continuing their classes during quarantine using technology; doctors helping patients via video conferencing, companies continuing to operate with employees working from home in China using our technology. Obviously, China is leading the modern workplace evolution, and it also provides a valuable reference for companies in other countries and regions that are fighting the epidemic. We believe technology will play an essential role in the new normal, a hybrid working model that combines work-from-home and work-from-office to optimize productivity and balance for organizations and their employees.
A5: Microsoft has always put the health and safety of our employees and their families as top priority. When the outbreak first started, we immediately implemented a Work from Home policy. When we returned to work in our facilities, we continued to honor the principles of employee health and safety above all, and WFH still remains an option for most employees today. Microsoft employees in China remained and continue to remain on normal working status throughout the epidemic period, and many have also made their own contributions to combat the pandemic. Whether personally participating in the company's donation scheme where all donations are matched, volunteering for organizations helping their communities stay safe and recover, or providing technical support for customers and organizations to help them stay productive during the epidemic, we ensure every Microsoft employee in China can contribute.
Joost Vlaanderen, President of Mondelēz Greater China
A1: We are expecting top leaders to convey loud and clear messages that China remains committed to continue opening up, globalization, working toward a sustainable and fair business environment.
We also expect the government to elaborate more on how to construct a national strategy on food security.
We are expecting top leaders and legislators to convey strong confidence to its citizens that China's economy will stay strong, and present directions on how to ensure our economy keeps growing during the period of global economic slowdown.
A2: Thanks to nationwide relief policies and care we received from government at all levels and thanks to our strong business continuity plan, MDLZ China business is coming back and showing strong signals we can continue to deliver strong growth in China.
We are dedicated to the Chinese market, and will continue to invest in China's market, our brands and our people.
A3: Many of our business partners are small and medium-sized companies. The government has provided strong help to them, since these companies are essential to the success of our business, and helping SME's has also helped us.
Cuts to social security payments helped us in the first months.
A4: Online to offline business (home delivery) is growing faster than before COVID, and we believe this trend will stay.
Consumers have built a higher awareness towards health, well-being and food safety, this also represents big opportunities for our business.
In Mondelēz China we still have zero COVID-19 cases in our business, and many best practices about food safety and employee safety learned during COVID-19 are being reapplied in our businesses abroad.
A5: We are proud we were accredited as a Top Employer. We invest in our people and build capability to thrive in digitalization.
We keep expanding our frontline workforce to ensure we can offer our products to more and more stores in lower-tier cities and towns.
We keep our recruitment plans to attract young talents to join us.
Justin Sargent, CEO of Nielsen China
A1: The annual National People's Congress and Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference are not only a stage for representatives to make proposals, but also a platform to intensively release policy signals. They are a window for the world to observe China. Nielsen is paying close attention to the two sessions, hoping to capture policy signals that will be helpful to our business growth in China. We will pay special attention to proposals regarding consumption, including retail industry, e-commerce and market dynamics, which impact our business and clients' business.
A2: In the early stage of the outbreak, protecting our people is top priority. Under the government's guidance, we adopted the approach of working from home, gradually opening the office to return to normal operations. Like many companies, our business in China was affected by the outbreak, but China's economy showed great resilience. We are gradually returning to normal, and working closely with our clients by providing insightful data and analysis, and looking for the opportunities amidst the crisis. Looking ahead, I am confident in China and will continue to invest.
A3: To contain the impact of COVID-19 outbreak, Chinese authorities at all levels of government have been rolling out policies aimed at bringing Chinese society and economy back to normal. Policies include fiscal support for the fight against the coronavirus, measures to ensure resumption of businesses, tax waivers, relaxations in social insurance obligations, subsidies for firms, financial stimulus and offering medical aid and equipment. We think all these policies are helpful and in particular look forward to further loosening of the government fiscal policy, specifically in the area of taxation.
A4: Nielsen recently released extensive studies on consumer behavior amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Many retailers told us they see opportunity arising from this crisis, and the epidemic will accelerate the future development of the retail sector. There will be huge lessons for retailers from this epidemic, and retailers are already starting to formulate their growth and recovery strategies in the post-epidemic period.
Our studies showed a healthy and technology-driven "homebody economy" grows from the epidemic. COVID-19 will exert a profound impact on people's lives and consumption habits, and that definitely means new business opportunities for many brands.
A5: After 35 years of continuous operations in China, Nielsen China has six offices across the country with over 2,700 full-time employees. We are optimistic about China's future economy and are committed to long-term business development in China.
We have always been committed to providing our employees with a good working environment, comprehensive benefits and broad space for professional growth. For example, we launched a leader and development program aimed at offering new learning experiences for all levels across the company. We hope our talents will grow with Nielsen and help Nielsen grow.
Lily Ma, managing director of China business for Nutanix Inc
A1: As China rebounds, the country is focusing on enhancing and upgrading our national IT infrastructure to provide a reliable modern platform to help rebuild today and repel the threats of tomorrow.
Nutanix always welcomes policies that help innovation and investment flourish. The introduction of the Foreign Investment Law in January is a good example – as it helps simplify the business environment and reinforces China's commitment to further opening up its markets and boosting inbound foreign investment.
As alliances and collaboration become key, we look forward to the upcoming sessions, offering greater scope for international cooperation as well as more detail on the new national infrastructure implementation plan.
A2: Business as usual for Nutanix – as a modern, flat and cloud-based software company Nutanix was structured to navigate and operate (globally) during the pandemic and use our tech to help focus our efforts on ensuring our customers and partners were safe, secure, productive and efficient.
We remain enthusiastic and committed to China and will continue to invest and expand our partnership alliances and push forward with our localisation initiatives to help businesses in China have the access to the tools they need to re-emerge stronger, more productive and more resilient than before.
A3: Nutanix has long advocated accelerated digital transformation and the embracing of a multi-cloud environment. So we are happy to see the government promoting the construction of "new infrastructure" based on that philosophy.
The challenge ahead now is to ensure we develop a new modern infrastructure that ensures business efficiency and productivity as well as survivability, and that will require much greater cloud interconnectedness and interoperability – something Nutanix specialises in.
We are now moving rapidly to embrace the cloud, but let's make sure we optimize the cloud environment for China and its businesses. The cloud is a complex and siloed environment. We are ready, willing and able to help simplify it through our HCI and hybrid cloud solutions.
A4: What customers want and value, as well as what and how we deliver it has fundamentally changed – and Nutanix and our partners are ready to help match and adapt to this new business reality.
Acceptance of remote and flexible working: This has overnight become an acceptable new norm and enterprises are now being forced to fast-track their digital transformation efforts, so employees can continue working without compromising on security, safety and connectivity.
Intelligent automaton will become increasingly important as businesses seek to automate their processes and learning in the battle to do much more with less.
A5: Nutanix will always put the safety and security of its staff first. As such we continue to monitor the situation very closely and adapt accordingly during work resumption.
Our structure and work practices have been developed to enhance the services we offer, not reduce them. As we continue to invest in China and expand our alliances and offerings, we will invest in the staff and resources to deliver that.
We have always valued a healthy work-life balance, and place accountability and responsibility in the hands of our staff. In return they provide much greater drive, determination and productivity.
We also understand their professional and personal needs, so in China, we have provided a series of online trainings to our staff to enhance their industry knowledge and make them well-prepared to seize business opportunities as the economy rebounds from the epidemic.
Judy Marks, president and CEO of Otis Corp
A1: The Chinese government has signaled it will invest in new digital infrastructure and encourage the development of cloud-based business models to power the nation's COVID-19 recovery. We are excited to see how this directive will accelerate digital transformation across different industries and help China develop an even stronger and more innovation-driven economy for the future.
A2: We're in the life safety business, and therefore our teams have been providing essential services throughout the pandemic and recovery. Many of our field professionals have remained on job sites servicing critical facilities, such as residential buildings, infrastructure and hospitals. This commitment to keeping our customers and community safe – in all conditions - is part of who we are as a company.
Our business is backed by solid fundamentals and fueled by a growing maintenance portfolio as well as strong new equipment sales and modernization projects. We have invested heavily in our ongoing digital transformation and in developing our people. As a result, we are seeing our China business recover quickly and expect this to continue through the rest of the year. We will continue to invest in growth and innovation to maintain our momentum.
A3: China's focus on smart city infrastructure investment to revitalize the economy will benefit a wide range of industries and citizens for many years to come. This is especially important to Otis as our commitment to technology – specifically the Internet of Things - helps enable smart buildings, which are the foundation of smart cities. With today's connected elevators, we can offer condition-based monitoring and predictive maintenance, deliver a better passenger experience and help building managers analyze traffic patterns for improved efficiency.
A4: Rapid urbanization has made elevator and escalator technologies critical in China. As an industry leader, we're focused on offering technology and connected solutions for our customers and their passengers that enable a taller, faster and smarter world.
Otis is already providing application solutions such as eCall for contactless on-demand elevator service, and digitalizing elevator maintenance in cooperation with our customers and the regulatory authorities to deliver remote support and more efficient preventative repairs with less downtime and fewer onsite technician visits.
A5: We are extremely proud of the way our team responded to the challenges of COVID-19 and worked with our customers to keep their elevators and escalators operating safely through the crisis. At the same time, we were focused on the health and safety of our employees ensuring our field teams had the appropriate personal protective equipment. Our employees who were able to work remotely were encouraged to do so, only returning to work when conditions improved and government guidelines allowed for a safe return to on-site work.
Today, we have a strong presence in China with more than 15,000 colleagues, including 8,000 service technicians and more than 650 locations to serve our customers in both new equipment and services. We continue to invest in expanding our presence and innovation capabilities in China, and we remain confident in the future of our business here.
Andy Ho, president for Greater China of Royal Philips
A1: At a time when the overall situation of epidemic prevention and control in China is improving, the upcoming two sessions are of great significance to the trend of economic development and the operation of enterprises in China in such a special period. We look forward to the government's continuous effort to introduce strong measures on improving business environment and facilitating health technology innovation.
"Healthy China 2030" has become a national strategy, and the concept of "Big Health" is being integrated into the management concept of governments at all levels. As a leading health technology company, Philips is committed to local strategy that is fully aligned with the key initiatives defined by "Healthy China 2030". We're dedicated to more precisely addressing local customers' needs by leveraging global innovation assets with local insights, aiming to contribute to "Healthy China 2030".
A2: Although COVID-19 has made a great impact on some of our businesses, it has also brought great potential and opportunities. During the epidemic, we are exploring new business opportunities and growth points. For example, our B2C team keenly grasped the two major needs of "stay-at-home" and "health", deployed specific marketing plans for key categories and utilized the new digital marketing platform to ensure the supply and logistics of hot-selling categories to meet consumer demands.
In the area of professional market, Philips products and solutions are playing an important role in the treatment circle of screening, diagnosis, treatment, and disease follow-up. We have fully mobilized local and global resources to focus on our triple duty of care: ensuring the health and safety of employees, fulfilling critical customer needs, and ensuring business continuity.
Domestic production and business activities are recovering in an orderly manner. China's long-term economic vitality and potential, as well as the government's investment and commitment in the field of health technology, further consolidated our confidence to the Chinese market. As one of the first global enterprises in China, Philips has been growing with China for the past 35 years. We will remain committed to our original aspiration - "in China, for China, and with China".
A3: The strong prevention and control measures taken by the Chinese government have reached positive outcome in the containment of COVID-19 in China. Philips's medical supplies can provide direct support to fight the epidemic, and our resumption of work and production was highly supported by the government.
As early as the beginning of February, Philips's manufacturing facilities in China resumed production in an orderly manner under the guidance and support of local governments. With the synchronized resumption of upstream enterprises, our productivity has basically recovered, which is very crucial for the company to fulfill our commitment to customers and ensure our business continuity.
A4: In response to the epidemic, big data, cloud computing, intelligent manufacturing and digital economy have made a huge difference, showing a strong potential and a good momentum of development. This trend will continue to grow in the post-epidemic era.
The Chinese government is increasing input in public healthcare, emergency support and other fields, accelerating the construction of 5G network, data center, industrial Internet of things and other new infrastructure, and constantly expanding the new driving force of economic development.
Philips is actively driving the digital transformation of health technology industry. In the future, we will enhance close cooperation with the local ecosystem, continue to innovate and invest in talents, facilitate the development of smart healthcare, solve the pain points of uneven distribution of medical resources, and create value for the transformation of China's healthcare system.
In the process of working side by side with front line healthcare professionals, we gained valuable first-hand clinical insights. As a global company, Philips has businesses in more than 100 countries all over the world. At present, the Greater China team is working closely with the global team to share our insights and experiences obtained in the anti-epidemic process with other markets to help them better support local customers in the treatment of patients.
A5: At Philips, employees are considered our most important asset. In China, we are always committed to creating a diversified and inclusive environment for our employees. We seek talented people who share the same value and vision of Philips, and jointly to realize our vision to improve the lives of 3 billion people a year by 2030.
During the outbreak, Philips is focusing on our triple duty of care, and the safety and health of our employees is our first priority. Talents are always our most precious wealth. Philips has more than 8,000 employees in China; we will keep focusing on the "talent localization strategy", and be dedicated to our commitment "in China, for China, and with China".
Denis Depoux, Global Managing Director of Roland Berger
A1: We are expecting additional monetary policy measures, which will be certainly in line with previous communication and consistent with the global response. The government also announced fiscal and supply side measures, with a magnitude and targets that will be more precisely defined during the two sessions.
China is not short of large infrastructure development needs like 5G networks, new energy or massive regional developments like the Yangtze River Delta integration, or the Greater Bay Area. We could also see more unconventional measures targeting not only "hard infrastructure" like railroads, ports and trains, but also social infrastructure like healthcare, elderly care, education and a reinforcement of the social safety net to weather unemployment and lower incomes.
Poverty alleviation will also be part of this direction, to avoid a greater toll on already weak population. Roland Berger's multinational and Chinese clients are eagerly waiting for new directions, in particular in terms of innovative areas, consumer support and social infrastructure.
A2: Thanks to the very efficient handling of the health crisis by the Chinese authorities, our China business is already back to normal, but uncertainty remains. We believe this crisis will accelerate the existing trend of the Chinese economy toward domestic consumption, a service economy and a manufacturing economy driven primarily by domestic and regional needs and less by far-reaching exports. Productivity and added value will be even more important, driving faster modernization of Chinese production facilities.
Chinese innovation, design and engineering, new products and higher quality will find internationalization opportunities. This is more important than international acquisitions driven mainly by financial considerations, which will be increasingly difficult in a more protectionist world.
Finally, the acceleration of the modernization of the social infrastructure, in urban areas as well as in rural areas, will also drive domestic growth, and create new financing needs, that can be served by new types of players. The resilience of the Chinese economy is critical for the world, but this crisis is different from the 2008-2009 financial crisis: China this time will not fuel the world with massive infrastructure spending, but will be good to companies positioned to serve its domestic B2B and B2C market.
A3: Since the outbreak of the epidemic, Chinese government departments and local governments have focused on resuming work and production, and introduced numerous policies on fiscal, financial and material support which have helped enterprises tide over the difficulties. Quickly enabling the restart of our clients has helped us return to normal! Roland Berger also has accumulated a lot of "China experience" from the Chinese government's response to the epidemic, which we have been able to share with our international clients in Europe and America.
A4: China is a source of inspiration for Roland Berger's consultants and clients in multiple dimensions. First of all, this crisis has revealed again the incredible power of pragmatic, fast-go-to-market innovations. That has helped fight the crisis: tracking tools, contactless services applications, e-commerce and local delivery. We are not talking about hardcore technology but pragmatic innovations that change our lives and help recreate proximity, in a post-COVID-19 world where distancing might remain for a long time. Proximity is also a key Chinese inspiration for us: fighting the crisis has been possible thanks to the incredible mobilization of volunteers, local communities, party organizations and civil servants, served by innovative tools.
A5: We are continuously monitoring the situation, are following up on government instructions and collecting recommendations and learning from the experience of some who worked through the SARS crisis in 2002. We also use online telecommunications technologies to enable work from home and remote communications between our consultants and our clients. Beyond health and safety, we regard the resilience of our work force, and hopefully soon the growth of our headcount, as paramount objectives: our people are our assets.
Li Lei, SABIC Vice President and Regional Head, North Asia
A1: As China prepares to examine the most positive approach to the economic situation in the aftermath of the virus, it will look at mitigation efforts for SMEs and leveraging the market economy to inspire and support innovation, something that is vital for times such as this.
We are hopeful the government will be able to continue the work that was put into place last year. Points related to the promise of a fair and transparent legal environment, initiatives to further address oversupply, streamline administrative approval and tax cuts regarding big companies will have the heaviest attention from us.
A2: Ongoing economic recovery in China has brought hope to the world, and SABIC's operation in China is back to 100 percent capability after following the latest government guidelines.
For SABIC, about 20 percent of our revenue is from China. China continues to be a key strategic market for SABIC and a growth engine for the present and future. We remain optimistic about China's economic growth in the long term and will continue to respond to China's calls to improve development, remaining at the heart of the country's economic transformation.
A3: We specifically advocate the government's call to foster new growth drivers amid the crisis, such as "New Infrastructure" investment areas – digitalization, 5G communications and healthcare., which are also the focus of our materials solutions. China's firm standing on revitalizing the economy through its further opening-up is also especially relevant. SABIC manufactures products that are fundamental to people's lives, and we value policies with comprehensive visions and mindsets.
A4: Reflections on the outbreak are building up steam for a circular economy and demand has increased from industries that use SABIC materials, notably personal hygiene. The automotive sector has also reopened, so we are enabling car companies in China, and we are also seeing an increase in construction and infrastructure, with enormous investment being poured into "New Infrastructure". As evidenced by China's achievements during the outbreak, this trend of deepening collaboration will only benefit our business and shows great potential for the future.
A5: To ensure the stability and sustainability of our workforce, we are taking steps to mitigate the hardships our employees faced throughout this pandemic. Our continued human resource management efforts this year include rational annual salary increases and launching a new flexible benefits platform that empowers our employees to adjust their own plans for health insurance and medical care according to their specific needs. We are also continuing recruitment as usual, which should help to ensure economic growth.
Lothar Herrmann, president and CEO for Greater China, Siemens AG
A1: In an interconnected world, digitalization has become an unstoppable force for nearly all industries. As the physical world was paused temporarily due to COVID-19, the digitalization trend has been fast forwarded. Innovation, in particular, has become a decisive factor for countries to lead and win in the digital age.
"New infrastructure", with digitalization and innovation at its core, represents this promising future. For the short term, investments in "new infrastructure" will provide fresh impetus for post-epidemic economic growth in China. A new round of market opportunities will therefore emerge for related businesses.
For the longer term, spurring digital innovation in areas like 5G, AI, industrial internet and big data will provide technology capability for China's transformation and upgrade, and at the same time encourage new business models. This is also in line with China's long-standing vision for more sustainable and high-quality development. And we look forward to hearing more industry-oriented policies in this area.
A2: For Siemens, China is the second-largest overseas market, an unparalleled R&D base, a talent pool, and a pillar for our future. Here we have a localized value chain, over 35,000 dedicated employees and 21 research and development hubs. We have taken roots here, as a committed partner, an integral part of the economy, and most importantly, a local company in China.
As early as in 2013, we built our first digital factory outside Germany in Chengdu. Last September, we started building Siemens' most advanced factory for distribution transformer in Guangzhou. Next year our brand-new digital factory in Nanjing with the concept of "Industry 4.0" will come into operation.
Whether it's good times or challenging times, we remain committed to our customers, partners, the people and the society in China. And we will continue to further broaden our footprint here. In the meantime, we believe a more open, fair, transparent business environment and a level-playing field would benefit the country's future development.
A3: Siemens' strength well matches the demands of "new infrastructure". Over the years, Siemens has accumulated unmatched digital technologies, expertise as well as talent resources. More importantly, in ecosystems with Chinese customers and partners, we have delivered tangible values for the most promising fields including digital enterprise, smart cities, future of energy and digital healthcare.
For instance, amid the virus outbreak, Siemens' IoT technology enabled real-time remote CT scan guidance on COVID-19 case for Hubei hospitals through the connection of 5G. In another move, just within 26 hours, a Siemens team used intelligent manufacturing technologies to revitalize an outdated mask production line of Wenjianlikang in Chengdu to a capacity of 50,000 pieces per day. By far we have helped hundreds of Chinese industrial enterprises in dozens of sectors implement digital transformation and upgrade.
A4: COVID-19 outbreak has prompted us to explore more digital or virtual ways of teamwork and customer services, new business model in ecommerce, and most importantly, new technologies. With our leading software, product and solution portfolio, we are well equipped to be the best partner for the buildup of the "new infrastructure".
During the epidemic outbreak in China, our Corporate Technology in China developed an innovative disinfection robot in less than a week. With an omni-directional camera platform installed on top, the robot can transmit videos and images in real time, enabling the operator to remotely control the robot to sterilize affected areas. Within Siemens, we have received many inquiries on the products for its wide utilization. Our Digital Twin approach for manufacturing supports companies to ramp up production of critical devices allowing them to Simulate-Validate and Optimize their manufacturing process. This is currently very helpful in the process of manufacturing medical materials and products which are in huge demand worldwide.
A5: We strongly believe talents will shape our future. As one of the largest foreign companies in China, we have a workforce of over 35,000 passionate and motivated people.
Amid uncertainties and complexities nowadays, we are doing all we can to help our people weather the hardships, safeguarding their health and safety both physically and psychologically. Supported by digital technology, we are also encouraging virtual ways of communication and collaboration among employees.
Siemens has created a virtual continuous learning space covering comprehensive topics to enhance knowledge and competence of our people. Digitalization is constantly disrupting the business world, and the ability to learn will be a determining quality for future talent.
Joël Gosset, managing director, International SOS China
A1: The meetings will definitely mark a moment of critical importance especially as China has now almost entered the recovery phase of the outbreak and will need to refocus on addressing the resumption of business operations. Working closely with Chinese organizations in supporting the Belt and Road Initiative, International SOS is keen to see the government establish more policies and directions in setting up measures to oversee the overall wellbeing of its global workforce.
A2: With the mission to support organizations in protecting their global workforce, International SOS was immediately activated and engaged since the onset of the outbreak in China and then continued to provide support to organizations operating globally as the outbreak continued to develop.
The pandemic certainly had a profound and lasting impact on all organizations. International SOS is able to cope with challenges and was able to minimize disruption to its own business with our robust Business Continuity and Pandemic Plans. Our integrated assistance centers working seamlessly around the world have also ensured the continued operations and is providing consistent support to our clients throughout the development of the outbreak, even in the most complex or affected countries.
More than ever, clients recognize the value we bring to their organizations and to their people. We are also confident that our operations in China will continue to see stable growth. Our global infrastructure and network will become even more essential to support our Chinese clients continued overseas operations and/or supporting them to return to operations post the outbreak.
A4: Currently China is leading the way globally in resuming business operations, following rigorous efforts in containing the outbreak. Since the onset of the outbreak, we have been providing support and assistance mainly for organizations in China. As the outbreak developed, new challenges also emerged especially for our clients operating in challenging environments, both from a medical and security point of view. We then continued to work closely with our clients facing a quickly evolving situation by supporting them through our global medical and security infrastructure and local expertise to address their very unique challenges.
Through this outbreak, more and more organizations have come to realize the importance of ensuring the overall wellbeing of their workforce and recognize the effectiveness of preparedness, planning and prevention for risks such as infectious disease outbreaks. Through our globally established infrastructure, International SOS is very well-positioned to help them achieve their objectives, supporting their business continuity, and their commitment to Duty of Care in the post-COVID era.
A5: International SOS is a People company and looking after the wellbeing of our own people is our top priority. We have a robust pandemic plan which we activated very early. Since the onset of the outbreak, we have regular crisis management meetings at country, region, and even global level making sure we provide sufficient support to adapt to different local practices and policies as well as outbreak development phase. We regularly communicate and educate our staff with abundant online training and resources as well as providing mental support. We have virtualized a lot of our functions with the help of new technologies, the flexibility of working from home also supports employees to balance work and their family life especially in this challenging time.
Jiang Wei, executive vice-president and president of Bayer Pharmaceuticals Greater China & APAC Region, president of Bayer Group Greater China
A1: In a time when it is more important than ever to appeal to steadfast commitment to innovation and to international collaboration, Bayer hopes to see policy guidelines that stimulate more reforms, openness and international collaborations which encourage confidence of multinational corporations' investment in China. In particular, Bayer likes to see policies and measures that accelerate the upgrading of China's healthcare and agriculture industries, such as relaxing restriction and prohibition provisions in the seed sector in the current Negative List. Inspired by our vision of Healthy for All, Hungry for None, we are committed to bringing more innovative and high-quality products and solutions to empower Chinese people's lives.
A2: From the beginning of the outbreak, while we have taken the health and safety of our employees as top priority, we have been working at full steam to ensure business continuity so we can provide patients, consumers and farmers with the products they urgently need. Our organization, and especially our production facilities, have so far been operating largely uninterrupted.
The Chinese government has stressed it is able to maintain the economy's steady growth in the long term, and we believe great investment opportunities remain in China. With decades of presence and development in China as one of the first multinational companies to enter this market, we have been here in good times and in bad times and can always be counted on. Bayer remains deeply committed to China.
A3: In resumption of work and production, Bayer communicated with local governments proactively and appreciates the assistance we receive. The governments not only helped Bayer find necessary supplies including masks for work resumption, but also coordinated work resumption of upstream companies on the industry chains to make Bayer's continued product supply possible to meet the needs of patients, healthcare professionals, consumers and farmers.
We have seen the Chinese government issue policies and measures in various aspects in different periods.
We are grateful to both central and local government efforts to relieve enterprise operational burdens, and to boost economy and problem solving.
The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs encouraged technology extension and farmer training via mobile internet tools. Bayer cooperates with the National Agriculture Technology Extension and Service Center of MARA and provincial Plant Protection Station of Henan and Shandong for online training, which resulted in more than one million people in attendance and views from agriculture technicians and farmers. The training program was about preventing and controlling severe diseases of wheat to ensure a good summer harvest.
Moreover, the employee medical insurance (company payment by half within 5 months) and social insurance (by half within 3 months) reduction policies also help greatly to alleviate company operational costs.
A4: In China, digitalization has been a priority across Bayer's divisions of Pharmaceuticals, Consumer Health, Crop Science and other functions. The pandemic this time turned our digital ambition to reality, enabling us to continue to support customers and patients while ensuring the safety of our employees.
Bayer Pharmaceuticals in China moved all its customer engagement activities to digital platforms soon after we initiated the contingency plan. Bayer Consumer Health in China has also worked closely with digital platforms to reach tens of millions of consumers. Digital solutions were also used to interact with farmers for education and campaigns. In addition, we invited hundreds of candidates for artificial intelligence interviews instead of face-to-face interviews with human resources.
One more specific example is Bayer intends to help promote the establishment of internet hospitals in China. Bayer has joined hands with internet companies such as Jianke.com and MedLinker.com to provide patients with convenient and efficient online consultation and drug purchase services. This helps to establish and improve the service and support systems of "internet plus healthcare", to improve the accessibility of healthcare services and also to improve the modern management levels of healthcare.
A5: As one of the "Best Employers in China", Bayer always puts the safety and health of our employees as top priority. We have adopted numerous measures to ensure the safety and health of our employees during the pandemic. Apart from adequate disinfection and protective materials as well as the immediate policy of working from home at the peak of the pandemic, we also managed to give employees scientific education and emotional assistance to protect themselves against the epidemic.
We have also committed to ensuring new hires are not delayed for onboarding because of the pandemic. Instead of postponing the date of inauguration due to COVID-19, Bayer has retained job offers to new employees in order to ensure their salary and social security payments.
Howard Ozawa, president and CEO of Canon China
A1: In terms of economic recovery in the post-epidemic era, we feel confident about the recovery and development of our business in China. We hope that the government can introduce more policies to promote economic revival and steady growth, and provide more support and assistance to the business development of enterprises. Meanwhile, we also look forward to the full implementation of the new Foreign Investment Law and the relevant regulations, which will further improve the business environment.
A2: During the epidemic period, Canon paid close attention to the rise of new user needs. We carried out business innovations quickly and launched a variety of solutions such as facial recognition with masks. At the same time, we also provide uninterrupted service to users and partners through the strengthening of online communication.
China is a very important market for Canon. We are looking forward to greater investment and development in R&D, production and sales, and have great expectation of the recovery of China's economy as well as the continuous improvement of China's investment and business environment. Meanwhile, enterprises need to follow the trend of reform to maintain stable development in the wake of the epidemic.
A3: During the epidemic period, the government issued a number of policies to support small and medium-sized enterprises, and in the future Canon also looks forward to more policies to support large enterprises in terms of fee and tax reductions. Meanwhile, Canon has been paying close attention to the construction of the Greater Bay Area, and has been actively deploying strategic business layout. In the future, we hope to further expand our local business scope and scale with the support of specific policies of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area development plan.
A4: The outbreak has brought new changes in many industries. We have seen healthcare services, office work and education move from offline to online, which has provided Canon with new opportunities. At the same time, the surging demand for medical equipment and printing equipment is also driving the growth of Canon's relevant businesses. Especially the medical field may develop new growth points for Canon's business in the future, for example with infectious disease detection equipment, as well as sanitary sterilization and health protection.
A5: Although we have been facing great business operation challenges during the epidemic, Canon always puts the rights and interests of employees first, ensuring the physical and mental health of employees through various ways such as peak shift commuting, telecommuting, providing protective materials, and advocating our "Big Smile" culture. At the same time, the healthy growth of the enterprise can't be separated from the sustained development of China's economy. We look forward to get the support of the government in promoting economic recovery and optimizing the business environment, and will do our best to maintain stable company development and employment.
Curt Ferguson, President of Coca-Cola in China
A1: As a company with the mission statement "refreshing the world and making a difference", we have been paying special attention to the Chinese government's strategic initiatives of building a better shared future through stimulating domestic demand, building a green China and fighting poverty, as well as furthering reform and opening-up. We look forward to the announcement of more policies to drive the implementation of these initiatives during the two sessions.
Given the impact of COVID-19 on the country's economy, we are particularly looking forward to the much-anticipated proactive policies to generate domestic demand and boost consumption. I think policies to help small and medium businesses and alleviate poverty will be a highlight, and the Coca-Cola China system looks forward to contributing with our sustainability and social impact initiatives.
A2: As the situation improves in China, we are seeing encouraging signs of increases of away-from-home consumption. I feel confident this is the harbinger of a more robust economic recovery.
We are working with bottlers on initiatives to regain momentum and better position the Coca-Cola China system for long-term growth. These initiatives include investing in talent acquisition and development, upgrading our manufactory facilities and supply chain, enhancing our digital and innovation capabilities and supporting communities.
With firm confidence in the resilience of the Chinese economy, we remain unwavering with our long-term commitment to China. In 2020, the Coca-Cola China system has made a series of investments, including a partnership with Mengniu, building the first plant in Guizhou province by COFCO Coca-Cola and expansion of the Swire Coca-Cola Zhengzhou plant. Swire Coca-Cola's six new production lines are scheduled for operations in the second half of 2020.
A3: The government has made impactful efforts to revitalize businesses, which have benefited our business in three aspects, business environment, employment and consumption.
First of all, the government continues to open the market and improve the business environment, making it easier for us and our partners to invest and grow our business in China.
Second, the government has released a raft of measures to ease financing difficulties and reduce operation costs and other burdens. These policies have benefited our bottling partners, customers and small retailers during this challenging time.
Lastly, the government issued guidelines for phased opening of public venues and launched consumption promotion campaigns to stimulate spending, which is very helpful for regaining momentum in away-from-home channels.
A4: Though COVID-19 has brought challenges, it has also provided us with opportunities for expediting digital transformation in order to be more competitive.
Since the outbreak, we have experienced an upsurge in e-commerce and O2O delivery. We believe accelerating digital transformation is critical for us to drive long-term growth.
We are investing in digital capabilities enhancement to strengthen consumer connections and piloting several different digital-enabled fulfillment initiatives, whether B2B2Home, D2C platforms or new trends such as livestreaming, to capture online demand for at-home consumption in the future. Going forward, we are looking to scale similar partnerships with more customers and explore new ways to connect with consumers.
We are seeing good results from Coca-Cola China's strategies in business continuity and recovery, including supply chain management, stakeholder engagement and workforce management, which we believe are valuable experience for our colleagues worldwide.
A5: Coca-Cola China's talent acquisition and development programs remain unchanged, as investing in talent is investing for the future.
We highly value our employees' development and positive mentality. During the COVID-19 outbreak, we developed online skills training courses for employees to equip them with skills needed for long-term career development. We also launched several engagement activities to boost morale.
In terms of recruitment, we continue to open job positions and bring in talents. Since the outbreak, we have moved recruitment online to protect the safety and health of candidates and ensure a smooth hiring progress.
In July, a number of fresh graduates who have gone through the recruitment process by the end of 2019 will join Coca-Cola China as planned.
Since the outbreak of the epidemic, we have engaged the new hires via online engagement activities to better prepare them for the onboarding.
Zhang Zhuoping, chairman of John Swire & Sons (China) Ltd
A1: Swire pays great attention to China's annual two sessions, especially policies and regulations related to our businesses. For this year, due to the outbreak of COVID-19, Swire is concerned about favorable government policies to revitalize businesses and cultivate new drives of economic growth, which we believe will bring more opportunities for our business recovery and development in China. We also expect China's further opening-up policies on the continuous improvement of business environment for foreign investment, and we want to contribute value to China's higher level of opening-up.
A2: So far, Swire's businesses in the Chinese mainland have resumed production in an orderly manner, helping to restore normal economic life. For example, all our retail malls have now resumed normal operating hours. As people gradually return to normal work and life, traffic and sales in our malls have been increasing steadily since mid-February. Swire, as a group, always abides by the ethos of investing for the long term. The fact we have been operating in China for 154 years is a testament to our long-term view in business. The outbreak of COVID-19 will not change our plans for investment and development in the country.
A3: We appreciate the government's initiatives to support enterprises such as ourselves during this unprecedented, challenging time. For example, government support enabled our retail centers to stay operational even during the peak of the pandemic, and local governments have also provided favorable policies and subsidies to companies like us who had granted rental relief to many micro-, small- and medium-sized retail tenants.
Government measures have also enabled our aviation business to continue moving people and goods between China and the rest of the world – indeed, it will be critical for these vital travel and trade arteries to remain open to drive economic recovery and future growth in the wake of the outbreak. Subsidies from local governments have also helped maintain employment at our bottling plants, ensuring business continuity and future expansion.
A4: The outbreak of COVID-19 will not change our plans for investment and development in China. We will continue to increase our investment – in existing businesses as well as in new areas.
Swire Coco-Cola is constructing a new bottling plant in Zhengzhou, with an investment of over 600 million yuan ($84.4 million). The facility is expected to be completed and operational within two years. Our aircraft engineering company HAECO Xiamen has unveiled plans to relocate entire operations to a state-of-the-art facility at Xiamen's new airport. The facility is expected to open in late 2023, representing the largest single gross investment the HAECO Group has ever made.
A5: During the COVID-19 outbreak, Swire always prioritized the safety of over 37,000 employees in the Chinese mainland, especially those in Hubei province. We encouraged our employees to take care of themselves and support their families and colleagues as best they can. The group companies also provided adequate protection to ensure a hygienic and safe workplace.
We believe the economic fallout from COVID-19 will be temporary. Notwithstanding short-term challenges, China will continue its long-term growth and remain the engine of Swire's growth. We believe the best measures to ensure employment is to stick to the long-term view of doing business and continue to invest in the country.
Tetsuro Homma, CEO of China and Northeast Asia, Panasonic Corporation
A1: The annual two sessions are important ways for enterprises to understand the development goals of China's economic and social development. The spread of COVID-19 will have a huge impact on the domestic and international economy, and China's economic development is also full of challenges.
We are paying close attention to the government's setting economic and social development goals, including GDP growth, support for enterprises and formulating specific policies to boost domestic demand. We are also focused on the development plan for new infrastructure and China's efforts to cope with the aging society and get rid of poverty.
A2: During the epidemic, there was a halt in production and insufficient supply of a variety of products within three to four weeks. Our production in China was fully restored in mid-March, but the impact on overseas markets is still unclear. The COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant impact on the economic development of China and the world. China has a huge consumer market, outstanding technical talents and an increasingly sound business environment, I believe that the economy will gradually recover and we will not stop our continuous efforts in the Chinese market.
A3: In the process of resuming work and production, the government introduced subsidies and tax cuts for enterprises, which has eased the operating difficulties faced by enterprises during the epidemic. The government has also actively supported the approval of various procedures for the resumption of work and production, and helped solve the problem of insufficient temporary staff. Some local governments donated masks to our branches nationwide and even Japanese headquarters, and we sincerely expressed gratitude for this.
A4: After the pandemic, Chinese consumers will pay more attention to the health and quality of life, which is in line with the company's business strategy. We will continue to deepen China's market and launch healthy, safe and high-quality products and solutions.
In my opinion, one of the characteristics of the Chinese market is that the Chinese people have a strong ability to absorb all kinds of changes and like changes very much. So we will give priority to the Chinese market when launching new products. Our accumulated technology and experience in healthcare and cold chain logistics in overseas markets such as Japan will be introduced and implemented to China by integrating the needs of the Chinese market.
A5: We have 85 subsidiaries, 60,000 employees and 8,800 R&D staff, and provide a lot of employment and talent training opportunities for the development of regional economy.
For us, China is not simply seen as an important consumer market and manufacturing plant, but as a base for innovation. In June 2019, Panasonic signed cooperation agreement with Shunde district, Foshan city of Guangdong province, to continue the investment and construction in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.
In December 2019, we established a subsidiary in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, to conduct R&D and production of kitchen-related household appliances and kitchen supplies. We also announced to set up a plant to produce electronic materials in Guangzhou, the capital of Guangdong province during the epidemic. All these projects have contributed to the development of local economy and provided job opportunities for employees.
Pius S. Hornstein, general manager General Medicines and country lead, Sanofi China
A1: Sanofi is aligned with the national "Healthy China 2030" agenda, supporting the Chinese government's five healthcare priorities and focusing on the prevention and control of five major diseases, and will accelerate the research and introduction of new products.
Based on the Healthy China 2030 strategy, we would expect healthcare related topics and guidelines to be discussed in the meetings:
1) increase significantly the investment into health, chronic disease management and prevention especially for cardio-metabolic disease, gradually approaching the investment level of other countries with similar strong level of development, increasing the healthcare investment share in GDP;
2) improve the vaccination rate of the entire population and provide the public health services emphasizing prevention;
3) improve healthcare system for rare disease patients. By improving affordability via reimbursement, we hope more rare disease patients can get treatment and won't fall into or fall back to poverty due to illness;
4) we expect to further enhance the access to innovative products/solutions, perfect value appraisal system and protect IP in the process of making policies.
A2: In spite of declining growth of the pharmaceutical market in Q1, we remain optimistic of an upward trend in the coming quarters as the country is returning to normal. In healthcare, we can even expect this crisis to result in further investments in this area, and potentially reshape the healthcare ecosystem.
In the past months, we have ensured our production and supply continuity for Chinese people and achieved strong performance with two new products launched in record time of four weeks, another three new products to come in the rest of year. More than that, we aim to launch 25+ new medicines and vaccines in China by 2025.
Our commitment to continuous investment remains unchanged to fully support government's strategies. Key projects we're advancing or deepening include, a pilot Integrated Digital Health City and China's first vaccine innovation center in Shenzhen Special Zone, the first China-based global research institute in Suzhou Area of China (Jiangsu) Pilot Free Trade Zone, the Global R&D Operation Center in Chengdu Hi-Tech Industrial Development Zone, and the first MNC real-world research center in Boao Lecheng International Medical Tourism Pilot Zone of Hainan, etc.
A3: Since the outbreak of COVID-19, the central and local governments at all levels have launched a series of policies to support company development, such as periodically reducing and exempting social security fee covered by companies, refunding unemployment insurance, etc. Meanwhile, many local governments provided great supports in the sourcing of protective supplies for our employees, which helped us resume production in time to ensure continuous supply of medicines for patients.
In addition, we are very grateful that the government has established interventions to reduce face-to-face exposures while ensuring the medical and prescription needs for patients, including extending outpatient prescription durations to max of three months for patients with stable chronic diseases, as well as giving reimbursement for qualified "Internet Hospital" prescription refill for chronic disease patients. All these interventions have truly made impacts to patients.
A4.: In healthcare sector, we believe it is necessary to continue to innovate and further evolve emerging business models, in order to address the slowdown of market growth resulted by patient flow reduction during COVID-19.
Building on Sanofi's digital transformation we initiated last year, we have further strengthened our digital technology platform to ensure that online and remote engagement can be carried out in a high-quality manner.
- We carried out 100 percent remote/digital working model to keep business continuity during the lockdown period.
- We managed to deliver online trainings of about 250,000 hours.
- We collaborated with Internet Hospitals to offer online outpatient service, coupled with offline drug delivery to support chronic disease patients.
We aim to boost digital competency through full development of digital engagement capabilities, tools and backbone infrastructure throughout the organization in cross-functional collaboration.
- Consider implementing partial remote work for Sanofi employees to better serve the needs of society, company and employees.
- Further explore/seize emerging opportunities through digital channels with internal/external stakeholders.
A5: Sanofi has a strong and long-term commitment to China. We stay focused on developing the existing business, accelerating new product launches, increasing our investment in the Chinese market and driving digital innovation. All this aims at improving patient outcomes.
We continue to work hard to be a magnet of talents and we are recognized as a top employer in China with a strong track record when it comes to attracting and developing talents.
Not only didn't we take any measure to limit the employment or the benefits granted to our employees because of the epidemic, but we took a number of positive measures to enhance their capabilities and express care towards them since the outbreak, such as providing online trainings of 250,000 hours, 24x7 mental health hotline available etc.
Holly Lei, president of Covestro China
A1: We're pleased to see the pandemic has been quickly contained in China thanks to the government's effective measures. With these measures, together with the policies to aid enterprises on their operations, China stands at the forefront of economic recovery.
We expect the Chinese government to unveil more solid policies to continue optimizing the business environment that can make foreign companies feel more comfortable and enable them to be deeply engaged in the country's economic development. The government is also expected to announce more details about the "cluster development" initiatives to beef up integration in industry value chains.
Also, we expect China to cultivate new economic formats, foster new infrastructures and shore up innovation to improve economic sustainability and resilience. During the process, some emerging industries and sectors, which benefit from innovative and high-quality materials, will bring opportunities to Covestro. We are fully confident about the country's economic recovery.
A2: Despite the outbreak, Covestro remains confident that it is well positioned and equipped to address any market volatility through its customer-centric purpose, cost-conscious approaches and strong team spirits.
We've seen a good comeback in our China business, although exports remain sluggish given the worldwide situations. For example, some of our customers saw promising signs of recovery, such as electronic and electrical products that use our polycarbonate and coatings materials. Also, chemical and plastic industries are playing a key role in providing epidemic relief supplies and medical products, such as protective goggles made of polycarbonates.
Covestro's long-term commitment to investing in China remains intact. Last month, we upgraded our regional headquarters in Shanghai's Pudong New Area to oversee multiple functions such as investment, management, operations and R&D.
A3: We appreciate the various efforts that the Chinese government has made to revitalize business activities and aid enterprises. For example, Shanghai has granted Covestro preferential natural gas prices as a non-residential user, which reduced financial burden and bolstered our confidence while we were sustaining production during the epidemic. The national-level tax relief policies also helped us cut costs.
We are also inspired by the government's priorities to stabilize foreign trade and foreign investment this year, as well as the massive stimulus packages to both shore up new infrastructure investment and boost domestic consumption.
A4: Covestro never stops embracing innovation and digitalization, and the epidemic has served as a catalyst for this drive. Our staff members have leveraged webcasts and the digital show room to effectively interact with our customers as we remain customer centric, thus setting a great example within our global network. It also demonstrated that we have full capacity to address challenges in such an unprecedented period.
New business opportunities will emerge from innovation, which is always the lifeblood of Covestro. In China, we are adopting innovative models in investment, management, operation and research and development, which help pave the way for our future growth in Asia and even the entire world.
As we improve business models in China, we are working more closely with various partners under an open-innovation approach to explore innovation opportunities in our cutting-edge materials to better support China's industry upgrade.
A5: At Covestro, we regard our employees as the greatest treasure and protecting the health and safety of our employees is always the top priority. During the epidemic, the company has taken all possible means to provide protective supplies and a safe workplace. We are proud that none of our staff in China was infected by the virus.
Also, our front line colleagues worked day and night to ensure smooth production and reliable product delivery. And our colleagues at supporting functions also helped sustain our business operation and coordinate worldwide efforts in fighting the epidemic.
I always believe that solidarity is the key to help us go through this difficult time, and we are working very closely with the global headquarters to take necessary measures to sail through the rough water together. And we will continue to make the greatest efforts to provide a great work environment, promising career development opportunities and competitive benefits for our employees.
Hungchih Liu, senior vice president Asia Pacific, leader for strategy &development, cities market sector leader, Greater China, AECOM
A1: In April this year, the National Development and Reform Commission for the first time defined the range and direction of new infrastructure, and the investment in new infrastructure has become an important driver of China's economic development. The new infrastructure is based on new technology that has a strong driving force. The constantly innovative technology promotes the application of new infrastructure and promotes the creation of new products. Therefore, the development of the new infrastructure will help continue the reform of China's infrastructure-centered economy. We look forward to seeing more discussions on the topic of new infrastructure during the two sessions and hope specific policies and allocation of funds for new infrastructure construction could be implemented, putting forward concrete measures to mobilize social resources and technological development of enterprises.
A2: While facing challenges during the COVID-19 epidemic, we are also faced with some opportunities. The business stagnation due to the epidemic makes us understand risk management, and the inability of employees to return to work also makes us think about the dilemma of relying on human resources and traditional technology paths, so as to seek digital methods and practice the transformation of business models. We have also made new attempts in working methods, such as online telecommuting or flexible working to reduce the cost of renting office space. The outbreak has also made us learn about the prospects of multidisciplinary collaboration.
Under the current large-scale market impact, we see the uniqueness and advantages of the Chinese system. We think China's economy will be in a long process of growth and optimization. For AECOM, China is a positive market that can be expected to continue to grow. The government's determination and work performance during the epidemic also gives us more confidence in the steady development of China's business environment, so we will increase investment in the Chinese market in the future, and investment will focus more precisely on serving a living environment that places greater emphasis on the health and resilience of communities and cities.
A3: The COVID-19 epidemic has brought both negative impact and positive motivation to all sectors, and the new infrastructure will offer new opportunities. China has been investing heavily in new infrastructure and fostering innovative industries, which will create new economic growth points, bringing new investment opportunities, information flow, technological development, market vitality and comprehensive growth of commercial value to the city, creating huge market opportunities. In terms of urban development, the new infrastructure policy covers three aspects: informational infrastructure, integrated infrastructure and innovative infrastructure. From this we can see infrastructure starts its transformation from focusing on pure hardware investments to service functions hosted by hardware. The traditional urban infrastructure is the supply and demand system of public service, and the new infrastructure is about to change the system, helping cities to make a quick and efficient response to requirements via data information, so as to promote the healthy development of the city.
A4: The COVID-19 epidemic has exposed information and trust problems in urban governance. Under the opportunity of new infrastructure, improving the quality of information and trust, promoting the healthy and efficient operation of cities and building resilient and livable cities will become the goal of people in urban planning and design. After the epidemic, more horizontal integration of technologies and interconnection among various fields will emerge in the urban planning and design industry, and the longitudinal integration of technology will also be promoted so as to enable cities with science and technology and lead new possibilities in urban construction.
The COVID-19 epidemic has created new scenarios and demands in cities, and the new infrastructure policies has created new market opportunities, encouraging enterprises to seek change and innovation. In the future, AECOM will expand and transform to digitalization, platform, producibility, integration and specialization, and promote the public spatial asset capitalization and service products modularization. Through the stages of planning and design, development and implementation, and management and operation, we respond to different stages of urban development and requirements of various scenarios by combining three modules dynamically into a spatial asset operation portfolio scheme, which can be applied to specific projects.
A5: AECOM has always been concerned about the health and psychological conditions of all employees throughout the epidemic. We provided 24-hour EAP consultation service. Professional psychological counselors could answer staff questions at any time and help employees deal with the challenges of the epidemic. Responding to the epidemic, we detailed management units by grouping employees for layer-by-layer reporting, to get real-time information updated and understand the health condition of all employees. Meanwhile, the Safety, Health & Environment (SH&E) department followed up on the epidemic situation on a daily basis, updated employees and formulated office epidemic prevention rules. Now AECOM has mainly resumed production and work, and we advocate employees mainly return to work assisted by commuting staggered to peak hours, flexible working hours, rotational work and other methods, ensuring the safety and health of employees.
A1: We noticed that in 2019 China rose from 46th to 31st on the world business environment rankings. We believe that with the full implementation of the new Foreign Investment Law and the introduction of more relevant policies from this year's two sessions, China will create a fairer business environment. These laws will also protect the legitimate interests of foreign investors and intellectual property rights while enhancing the confidence toward long-term investment in China.
A2: The pandemic has affected the world economy greatly. Rockwell Automation China has seen delays, but our business will continue. For example, Rockwell Automation's manufacturing business in Shanghai has resumed work since early March.
As the Chinese economy is recovering from the pandemic, Rockwell Automation will accelerate our investment in China while focusing on innovating solutions to help Chinese manufacturers recover. With our information technology/operation technology convergency solutions and big data analytics, we will try our best to solve problems for Chinese manufacturing companies amid quarantine under the pandemic.
A3: The Chinese government has enforced strong and effective measures in prevention and control of COVID-19 outbreak. During the pandemic, both Chinese and foreign enterprises have enjoyed equal fiscal support from the government, which in turn has alleviated pressures on operations. We are strong advocates of the Chinese government's policy measures toward resumption of work and production.
China's high recovery rates and declining total number of diagnosed patients have guaranteed that companies can go back to work safely.
Rockwell Automation will continue to support measures against the pandemic and solve short-term challenges in the manufacturing sector. We will also meet to contribute to reform, work resumption, and economic renewal in China.
A4: As a leading smart manufacturing technology provider, we have noticed that remote services and virtual communications are crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our key measures have been to strengthen our core industry IT/OT solutions by transforming cross-functional collaboration models both internality and with our eco-system partners. To facilitate the transformation of China's manufacturing sector, we are focused on delivering SEEE or Safety, Energy, Environmental, and Efficiency values through our innovation and improved IT/OT convergency solutions. Rockwell automation's Information Intelligence Platform Solution can also improve short-term and long-term smart operation and maintenance capabilities.
A5: In addition to network infrastructure, feasible software and industry solutions with sufficient capacity for IT and OT integration, the crucial aspect toward realizing smart manufacturing is cross-industry talents. Our talent is the most important resource to Rockwell Automation.
With over 30 years of presence China, Rockwell Automation understands pain points in the industry. We continue to attract and retain talent. In addition to providing a competitive compensation system, Rockwell Automation's comprehensive training program cultivates our cross-industry talents so that they can integrate OT and IT to create solutions. Since 1988, the company has cooperated with more than 70 key universities in China to provide world-class training programs for the manufacturing industry. For more than 20 years, we have continued to provide equipment and support in contests as a strategic partner.
A1: Despite the impact of the COVID-19, we trust this year's two sessions will be successful. The pandemic has greatly raised public attention to health and nutrition. We believe this is a fantastic opportunity for promoting healthy lifestyles and build "Health China".
This week also saw the National Nutrition Week. Led by dairy industry associations, the dairy sector has been mobilized to promote healthy diet, especially drinking milk as one of the best ways to boost immunity. We look forward to stronger policy support to iconic nutritional programs, such as School Milk Program, which has run for 20 years in China and benefits over 20 million Chinese students.
A2: Tetra Pak was among the first batch of foreign companies to enter China, in 1979, right after China opened its door. Despite the COVID-19, our outlook of Chinese market and our commitment remain strong.
During the outbreak, to protect our employees' health and safety, we managed to secure supplies to our customers, so that they could secure essential food supplies to the market at the time of need. We will continue to grow with our customers in China.
A3: A market of strong consumption benefits all businesses, and eventually boosts the overall economy. We look forward to policies aimed at stimulating the consumption at large.
A4: The COVID-19 has profoundly changed consumer behavior, which in turn is changing the business landscape, especially at the consumer front. One strong trend is the boom of e-commerce. This is a good opportunity for our customers' ambient milk and beverage products that are of long shelf life and suitable for long-distance transportation. China has the world's largest e-commerce business. We are often asked by our global colleagues to share best practices from China.
A5: First and foremost, since the outbreak of the COVID-19, Tetra Pak has been putting the utmost priority on securing employees' health and safety. We lived up to our commitment and managed through the difficult months without having one single employee infected.
To protect our employees, during the outbreak, we also strived to secure supplies to our customers, who provide essential food products to people. Since last month, when the market started recovering, we've been working with all industry parties, including our customers, to revitalize the consumption.
We count on strong consumptions for strong businesses, which then bring opportunities for employment.
A1: The healthy development of the beer business relies on a robust economy and a dynamic society. What we most expect is the public policy directions for the country to further revitalize the economy, especially to further stimulate domestic demand, which is essential for a more robust rebound.
Most of our key markets and breweries are located in the western region of China, including Chongqing, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, Ningxia Hui autonomous region and Yunnan province. It's natural that we have a special interest in the government's renewed rallying call to advance the development of the western regions in the new era, which was just unveiled in the lead-up to the two sessions. We look forward to hearing about more information about detailed policies in this regard.
A2: During the outbreak, we saw dramatic negative impact on on-trade channels as outlets like restaurants, bars and KTVs were closed. Carlsberg China quickly adapted to the uncertain and continuously changing environment. We shifted our focus to some of our off-trade channels, such as supermarkets and groceries, which were still open during lockdown. This crisis also presented itself as an opportunity for businesses to expand their presence on major e-commerce platforms, takeaway platforms and the new retail chains. Our efforts, including recalibrating some of our marketing and sales investments, propelled us to gain share in these channels, and help offset volume loss in other channels, contributing to our longer-term business development in China.
All our breweries are among the first batch of local enterprises which have obtained reopening permissions, as well as transportation permissions for us to deliver beer to our customers.
With COVID-19 in China showing signs of easing, among many other countries, Carlsberg China is the first market entering the recovery phase. We remain committed to our long-term growth in China. We are going ahead with our plan to start building two production lines for can products in Yibin in Sichuan province and Dali in Yunnan province this year.
A3: We benefit the most from the policies that help with our cost reduction, especially the reduction of corporate social insurance premiums, which help cushion some of the financial impacts of COVID-19 on our business.
A4: We saw a significant increase in the volume of can beer products, as people shift their purchases towards more can beer products for home consumption instead of consuming bottled beer in on-trade channels. It's likely consumers will continue to buy more can beer products as a part of the "new normal" going forward.
Since Carlsberg China has continuously invested in enhancing production capacity for can products, we're ready to leverage this opportunity to further develop our business.
A5: First and foremost, the health and safety of our employees is our key priority. We have spent a lot of efforts in implementing prevention and control measures, and providing counseling and training for our team at this difficult time. We're proud to say that no one among our over 8,000 employees in China has been infected. In addition, we've been showing our strong support to China's fight against COVID-19 by contributing 5 million yuan in cash.
People is the most precious asset at Carlsberg. We are continuing to develop our teams and cultivate a winning culture of "alignment, accountability and action". We are rallying all employees behind our business rebound plans, and by working together to deliver a successful business recovery we can continue to contribute to a better local society.
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