Chris Pereira on China, trust and global brands

“We build businesses separately. We build trust together.”

“Innovation has been commodified. Human trust is the new moat.”

“China has innovation but needs trust. Europe has trust but needs innovation.”

“Chinese brands used to come to Berlin to be seen. Now they come to be trusted.”

“Success overseas depends on winning belief before you win business”

“trust functions as a multiplier sitting at the foundation of product and price.”

“Chinese companies are competing on trust as much as on hardware.”

“In overseas markets, the product is not the core issue. The biggest challenge is trust.”

在海外市场，产品不是核心问题，最大的挑战是信任。

“All business is built on trust. Overseas, a company has to deal with government, hire people, find customers and investors, and work with local associations. Behind all of it is the question of trust.”

所有的生意都建立在信任的基础上。企业到了海外市场，需要和政府打交道，需要招人、找客户和投资人，需要跟当地的协会进行合作，背后都是信任的问题。

“Many people shop on Temu, but that does not mean they trust the platform.”

很多人虽然在Temu平台上购物，但是并不意味着他们信任这个平台。

“If nobody locally really knows you, then when something goes wrong, it is hard to find anyone to explain on your behalf.”

如果当地没有人真正了解你，那么出现问题的时候，很难有人替你解释。

“This trust deficit means that they need to be extra competitive in terms of product and price in order for the market to choose them.”

“This is no longer simply about exporting products. We have entered the stage of deep localization.”

现在已经不是简单的产品出海，而是进入了深度本土化的阶段。

“Exporting products is one thing. Operating like a local company in New York, Berlin or Mexico City is something completely different.”

出口产品是一回事，但在纽约、柏林或者墨西哥城像一家当地企业一样运营，是完全不同的事情。

“the physical footprint (the office) is the easiest and least meaningful part of localization”

“Chinese officials and companies recognize that manufacturing needs to be localized to a certain degree. One reason is to assuage the challenges of exporting, another is to create trust locally.”

“What is actually happening is Chinese brands and companies are learning how to localize in overseas markets, from branding to team building," he said.”

“When Chinese companies run into problems overseas, it is often not because they are Chinese, or held back by some 'original sin'. I even think Chinese companies have advantages overseas. The problem is usually that they haven't built good local relationships.”

为什么中国企业在海外出现问题，往往不是因为它们是中国企业，也不是受到所谓‘原罪’的制约，我甚至认为中国企业在海外有优势。问题往往在于它们在本地没有建立好人脉关系。

“Our philosophy is to help Chinese companies going abroad achieve 'glocalization': not to help Chinese companies enter the North American market one by one, but to help each of them become a quality local brand in North America.”

我们所秉承的理念是助力中国出海企业‘全球本地化’，不是帮助一个个中国企业进入北美市场，而是助力一个个中国企业成为北美市场本地优质品牌。

“I suggest being decisive in delegating authority to the teams managing overseas operations, while making sure responsibility and authority are matched.”

我建议管理海外的团队放权要果断，同时做到责任和权力对等。

“Overseas expansion fails when a company treats it as only a sales or marketing problem,”

“The strong competition . . . in the local Shenzhen market is generating extremely efficient . . . companies that are going overseas now.”

“China is still making affordable products today. But the products are also high quality.”

“Shenzhen is exporting not just products, but entire industrial ecosystems.”

“I think it's clear that the 'brand moat' of most Western brands is currently eroding in the face of Chinese competition around the globe”

“The little gremlin doll made it clear that a brand being from China is no longer shorthand for cheap.”

“Future competition will not be on price. It will be competition between premium brands and on quality. That is where companies going global are heading.”

未来的竞争不是在价格上竞争，而是高端品牌的竞争、质量的竞争，这是企业出海未来发展的趋势。

“This wave of going global isn't because the domestic market is too competitive. I think it's because China's industrial upgrading has reached a point where we can out-compete many Western industries in technology, management and drive.”

出海这个潮流，不是因为国内太卷、压力大而选择走出去，我认为是因为中国的产业升级已经走到了一定程度，我们在科技、管理模式和奋斗精神等方面可以竞争得过欧美很多行业。

“What Europe is teaching Chinese companies is: you can move at Chinese speed, but in the direction of European laws and regulations.”

“If you want to win in the market, you have to react quickly. But fast does not mean ignoring the law.”

“China taught me speed. Europe taught me weekends. The winners will need both.”

“Chinese regulators tell you very clearly and quickly what you can do. That speed helps companies iterate and succeed overseas. If you're waiting weeks for a response, you're going to lose business.”

“The robot dancing on stage is marketing. The robot on the night shift is not.”

“There are restrictions, but it's better to have a clear no than maybe in business.”

“Rather than a complete decoupling, we're seeing a strategic rebalancing — diversification, not divorce.”

“The more connections we remove from the relationship, the easier it is for conflict to arise,”

“Tariffs are an issue on another level. They force us to climb toward the high end of the value chain and industrial chain, which is not a bad thing for brand building.”

关税则是另一个层面的问题，它逼着我们往价值链、产业链高端攀升，对品牌建设来说并不是坏事。

“Predictable leader contact gives governments and companies greater clarity and stability for them to make longer-term decisions.”

“The main constraints will be political rather than technical. Market access and trust will be key,”

“Selling fear is good for business, good for political careers and very bad for our future prosperity.”

“If you don’t have the third-party endorsement, you shouldn’t do advertising.”

“Design isn’t neutral, especially across cultures.”

“The question isn’t if your design will tell a story, but what story you’re telling.”

“One thing the companies have in common is struggling with branding and marketing.”

“The key to telling China's story well is having others tell it for you,”

“Promotion can be done with money, but making friends requires actions and wisdom.”

“You can't see your own culture from inside it.”

“Trust between nations starts between people.”

“Human connection matters more than the deal. Personal relationships are the foundation of business and what keeps it going.”

人的连接比生意更重要，人际联系是生意的基础，生意的持续。

“A good product is a given, but that is only 50%. I believe the other 50% is emotional intelligence overseas: how you make friends.”

产品好是必然的，但我觉得那个是 50%，另外 50% 我相信是在海外的情商、怎么交朋友。

“My advice is that, as a boss, you need to go overseas, drink coffee, talk about the weather, make friends and build an intuition for the local market.”

我的建议是，作为老板要走到海外去，喝咖啡，聊天气，交朋友，积累对本地市场的直觉。

“In fact, top talent is usually not attracted by salary. They are attracted by a company's passion, goals and mission.”

其实，高层次人才往往不会被工资所吸引，他们会被企业的情怀、目标和使命所吸引。

“If you're being hit in overseas markets, it means you've succeeded.”

在海外市场遭受打击，说明你成功了。

“The harder challenges you face, the stronger and better you get over time.”

“Be culturally fluent, not just bilingual. Empathy and context win in the long term.”

“I am an extreme optimist.”

我是一个极端的乐观主义者。