Home » Zhiqing Youth, Overseas Chinese Youth Ode to the Development of a Powerful Country ⑪丨Xu Xudong: Telling Chinese stories in Italy and building a bridge between China and Italy – Xinhua English.news.cn

Zhiqing Youth, Overseas Chinese Youth Ode to the Development of a Powerful Country ⑪丨Xu Xudong: Telling Chinese stories in Italy and building a bridge between China and Italy – Xinhua English.news.cn

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Zhiqing Youth, Overseas Chinese Youth Ode to the Development of a Powerful Country ⑪丨Xu Xudong: Telling Chinese stories in Italy and building a bridge between China and Italy – Xinhua English.news.cn

Editor’s note:

The strong country is me, and the struggle is like a song. In recent years, young people from overseas Chinese communities in Jiangsu have turned their most beautiful nostalgia into the greatest passion of “serving the country with one inch of heart”, closely linking their personal future with the destiny of the country and local development, and serving the needs of the country and the country with the strengths of overseas Chinese. With the “Qiaoqing Power” to help the construction of a “strong, rich, beautiful and high” new Jiangsu.

Born in a prosperous world, follow your dreams. In order to show the style of overseas Chinese youth and overseas students in our province, and through their perspectives to gain insight into the pulse of regional development and witness the youth of the times, the Jiangsu Federation of Returned Overseas Chinese and the Junction News Client jointly launched the “Aspiration for Youth, Overseas Chinese Youth Ode to the Development of a Powerful Country” I” series of interviews. We invite 12 representatives of overseas Chinese youth and overseas students to talk about their achievements, express their voices, and draw their visions. They may come from the grassroots and the front line to cultivate a beautiful Jiangsu; or they will deeply cultivate the overseas Chinese community to jointly exhibit the charm of Jiangsu. They use the footprints of hard work and sincere language to describe the glory of the era when the overseas Chinese are committed to the party and build their dreams together, and play the youthful prelude of courage, perseverance, and relay struggle, inspiring and leading more young people from overseas Chinese to work hard, persevere, and forge ahead. A new journey, a new era of achievements.

Chapter 3 Non-governmental exchanges are my responsibility

Xu Xudong, President of Italy-China Entrepreneurs Association: “We must tell Chinese stories in Italy” “Changshu son-in-law” builds a bridge between China and Italy

On February 19, 2020, a batch of medical supplies containing 9,800 medical masks took off from Rome, Italy, with a voyage of more than 8,000 kilometers. When I packaged and sent this batch of supplies, the boulder hanging in my heart finally fell.

At that time, I was in isolation and retreat on the other side of the ocean. I heard that the domestic epidemic situation was very serious, and there was a shortage of medical supplies in some areas. I immediately contacted the country through various channels, hoping to do my best to help my hometown. In the end, this batch of medical supplies was dispatched in early February, and it took more than ten days to deliver to my second hometown, Changshu, Jiangsu.

Promote domestic products and bring “Chinese style” to “Fashion Capital”

In 1997, countless villagers in Jiangsu and Zhejiang took advantage of the spring breeze of reform and opening up, and set off a wave of going abroad to start a business. My parents also became part of the overseas “pioneers”. As a “second generation of overseas Chinese”, at the age of 17, I followed my parents across mountains and seas to Italy. The fathers chose to wander and struggle to improve their lives. Their entrepreneurial journey started from low-end manufacturing and imported cheap service trade products, and finally accumulated the first pot of gold.

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When I first arrived in Italy, I quickly discovered that the monthly salary of European workers is ten times that of Chinese workers. This made me realize that the domestic market atmosphere is very different from that of foreign countries. At that time, I secretly made up my mind to help us in China. Its own service trade brand has entered the Italian market and is in line with the international production and sales level.

After graduating from high school, I began to work in the service trade import industry, pulling orders, signing contracts, and sending my monthly savings back to my hometown. In 2006, I returned to China to invest and start a business, bringing Italian high-quality brands into China for processing and production, and promoting localization. At the same time, China’s service trade industry has entered a stage of rapid development. Traditional and old brands are innovating and emerging consumer brands are springing up like mushrooms after a spring rain. China’s service trade is no longer limited to low-end supply chain production. So under such an opportunity, I made a bold decision to help China’s high-quality clothing brands “go out” and let Rome, the “fashion capital”, feel the true “Chinese style” of the East.

With the rapid rise and renewal and iteration of Chinese clothing brands, they began to compete with global brands on the same stage and ushered in the most dynamic and growing stage. I set my sights on my wife’s hometown – Changshu, Jiangsu. For a long time, Jiangsu, as a major manufacturing province, not only has favorable investment treatment, but also cultivated many well-known clothing enterprises and has a complete manufacturing supply chain. In 2013, I reached a cooperation with Bosideng, a well-known local brand, to provide professional and systematic planning and promotion, and bring Bosideng abroad.

With years of business experience accumulated in the European market, I gradually see that Chinese clothing brands are better at high quality and low price, but marketing is a major shortcoming. If domestic apparel companies want to upgrade their brands and serve global consumers, they also need to establish an international perspective. Not only in terms of design, but also in terms of marketing strategies, it must be in line with the international trend, so that the positioning can be more diverse and the vitality can be more lasting.

I started with brand marketing to push the Bosideng brand into the international high-end market. One of the advantages of Bosideng down jackets is that the quality of the fabrics is good enough to compete with European brands. With the help of advertising, T-stage catwalks and other channels, my team and I have gone from nothing to excellence, and made the reputation of cost-effective made in China, and achieved good results. market effect. After eight years of hard work, Bosideng now has 400 brand-integrated stores in the European market, and has become a very influential and well-known Chinese brand in the European mainstream society, radiating new vitality.

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Building a nest and attracting phoenixes to help big European brands “bring in”

In addition to helping local Chinese brands “go global”, they must also “bring in” high-quality European brands. The increase in per capita income has made China a huge consumer market, and more and more European companies want to enter the Chinese market. Living in Italy for many years has given me a unique language advantage. After learning about the cooperation intentions of European brands, I took the initiative to act as a “bridge” to communicate with Chinese and foreign markets, bringing international brands to Chinese consumers.

China put forward the concept of “mass entrepreneurship and innovation”, which inspired the entrepreneurial spirit and innovative genes of Chinese children at home and abroad. Various supporting policies and measures of various domestic departments and Jiangsu Province have been introduced accordingly, which has created a good environment for overseas Chinese entrepreneurs to create a good environment for innovation and entrepreneurship. Not only are more and more Chinese companies going overseas, but also the policy of “bringing in” allows us overseas Chinese businessmen to build a platform for connecting Chinese and foreign industries with innovative models. Ding Ding Fu Neng Holding Co., Ltd. came into being under such a background. Its main business scope includes the introduction of overseas high-quality brands into China and localization transformation based on their characteristics.

Coinciding with the transformation and upgrading of Jiangsu’s service trade industry, the rise of e-commerce platforms has made offline sales encounter bottlenecks. In order to call on wholesalers to switch from offline to online, Changshu has begun to actively welcome foreign brands to settle in and improve the market awareness of Changshu Garment City. In order to allow Changshu and Italian brands to share the fruits of mutual benefit and win-win, taking advantage of this industry transformation, and relying on the two big trees of policy and market, we have changed the former first floor of Changshu Garment City to Dingding International Shopping Mall. , positioned to build Suzhou’s first luxury wholesale new retail mall. At present, the mall has attracted a number of European trendy brands including Gucci GUCCI and Saint Laurent, forming a new format of “5 collective stores + 1 private custom + 1 Italian restaurant”.

Seize the opportunity to tell the Chinese story in Italy

I briefly worked for a newspaper in Italy for two years, and also served as a tour guide to receive domestic government delegations. This experience made me deeply appreciate the close political and economic exchanges between China and Italy. Italy has a pivotal position in the world fashion industry, and by leveraging the “Belt and Road”, the strategic partnership between the two countries is also developing in a deeper and wider field. Being overseas, with my homeland in my heart, in order to be able to tell Chinese stories well in Italy, I always feel a heavy burden on my shoulders.

It shows the profound cultural heritage of a civilized country, and more and more Chinese elements are displayed on fashion items. Outside of work, I am also thinking about how to better bridge the cultural exchanges between China and Italy. During a visit to a conservatory, I learned that 30% of the international students in the European music education system are from China. And many families in China have begun to pay more and more attention to music education. How to promote the exchange and connection between Italian music and Chinese folk music? This question started to haunt me. To this end, I began to contact various associations to seek relevant exchange platforms such as the government and enterprises, to help Italian orchestras come to China for exchanges and tours, and at the same time to promote Chinese excellent music to Italy and Europe. The “warming” of culture promotes the “warming up” of economic and trade cooperation. In 2019, I was invited to participate in the high-level negotiation of the “Belt and Road” initiative initiated by former Italian Prime Minister Letta, and successfully brought together Taranto, Italy and Changshu City, Jiangsu Province to establish sister and sister cities.

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At the end of 2019 and the beginning of 2020, the new crown pneumonia epidemic swept the world, and China’s epidemic prevention and control situation also deeply affected the hearts of our overseas Chinese. At this moment, hanging on the other side of the ocean, there is only one thought in my mind: if the country is in trouble, we overseas Chinese should make contributions. In order to help my hometown fight the epidemic, I and my colleagues from the Overseas Chinese Chamber of Commerce raised medical supplies to help Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Even in the face of soaring material prices, we did not hesitate at all. Finally, with the help of Jiangsu Overseas Chinese Public Welfare Foundation and the cooperation of Changshu Overseas Chinese Federation, the Municipal Red Cross Society and the Bosideng Public Welfare Foundation, 9,800 medical masks were finally delivered from Rome to Changshu. After this battle, I am even more convinced that the more we face the difficulties, the more we can demonstrate the cohesion and fighting power of the Chinese sons and daughters to unite and overcome the difficulties together.

What separates the epidemic from national borders is the geographical distance, the spiritual roots and blood of overseas Chinese who are constantly separated.

Our personal growth experience is also a glimpse of the times and economic development under the wave of reform and opening up. Today’s motherland has become an important part of the global economy. In the future development plan, I will continue to focus on the domestic market, integrate European industrial and cultural resources, and help Chinese high-quality brand enterprises to “go global” while “bringing in”. Chinese brand stories and cultural stories. The times create responsible people. We hope that in the future, we can build a broader platform for the connection of Chinese and foreign industries, face the overseas Chinese at home and abroad, carry forward the energy of Jiangsu, and tell the story of China well.

Xinhua Daily · Junction reporter Zhou Xiaoyu / Wen Jinyong / proofreading

Image provided by respondents

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