Beijing, July 7 (Zhongxin Finance, Gong Hongyu, Wu Jiaju) "With the recovery of China's consumer market this year, domestic and foreign enterprises in China will have more opportunities. We are full of confidence in China and continue to be optimistic about the Chinese market. Recently, Wang Yun, member of Signify's global management executive committee, global senior vice president and president of Northeast Asia, said in an interview with Zhongxin Finance.

In the interview, Wang Yun affectionately referred to China as Signify's "second hometown" and said that China is one of Signify's most important R&D, management and talent bases in the world. For this lighting company from the Netherlands, why does China play such an important role?

"100 years of history" and "second home"

Signify's predecessor was Philips Lighting. As early as 1920, Philips brand lighting products have been sold to China. In the century that followed, Philips became increasingly connected to the Chinese market.

"Philips is one of the earliest foreign companies to enter China", Wang Yun introduced, in 1985, Philips brand established the first joint venture in Shanghai, since then Philips investment in China has been deepening, forming a whole industrial chain coverage from research and development, production to sales and service. In 2018, Philips Lighting changed its name to Signify and entered a new stage of development. In 2022, Signify upgraded its Shanghai regional headquarters to the company's Asia-Pacific headquarters, becoming one of Signify's most important R&D, management and talent bases in the world.

Wang Yun said that China is not only one of the most important markets for Signify, but also the most important base for leading Signify's global application research and development. Signify now has 9 factories in China and the second largest R&D center in the world, where many new products are born and go global.

Wang Yun specifically said that Signify's ceiling lamp products were developed in China and subsequently sold to Southeast Asia, the Middle East, Eastern Europe and other places.

"Throw in the wood peach, repay it with Qiong Yao." In Wang Yun's view, China provides business opportunities for multinational enterprises, and the friendship between multinational enterprises and this land is also taking root.

"I came to work at Signify precisely because I saw Signify's feelings for China and its accumulation in China. At that time, China was one of Signify's four largest markets in the world, tied with Europe. Wang Yun recalled.

Referring to his most memorable work experience, Wang Yun said that he was deeply impressed by the donation of anti-virus ultraviolet lamps to Wuhan in the early days of the epidemic with Signify colleagues and agents. "Being able to help others gives us a sense of accomplishment." At the same time, after the epidemic situation in China gradually stabilized, the Wuhan government also extended a helping hand and donated tens of thousands of masks to Signify's European headquarters.

"Signify and China are not only a relationship of business investment and cooperation, but also mutual promotion and support." Wang Yun said that after repeated "two-way rushes", Signify and China have long been inseparable, and China has become Signify's "second hometown".

Green vitality brings new opportunities to multinational enterprises

The development and changes of the Chinese market and Signify in recent years are inseparable from the keyword of low carbon.

Under global challenges such as climate change, in September 2020, China officially proposed to achieve the "carbon peak" before 9 and the "carbon neutrality" before 2030, and comprehensively transform to low-carbon.

As an international lighting company rooted in China for nearly 100 years, Signify has also launched a sustainable development plan in the era of carbon neutrality and made efforts in the low-carbon field. China's green and low-carbon vitality is bringing new opportunities to Signify.

"In the past two years, from governments at all levels in China, to enterprises, to consumers, the awareness of 'dual carbon' has been greatly enhanced. With the support of the Chinese government for low-carbon environmental protection, foreign-funded enterprises, including Signify, have greatly improved their marketization and legalization. We can see that the Chinese market brings more and more opportunities to Signify. Wang Yun said.

In 2022, Signify released the white paper "Promoting China's "Dual Carbon" Development - Practice and Vision of the Lighting Industry", and launched the "Low-carbon Lighting Transformation" plan, hoping to promote lighting to play an important role in the five key areas of urban and rural construction, clean energy, green travel, circular economy and green agriculture, and promote the continuous low-carbon transformation of enterprises and lighting products.

"The opportunities offered by the Chinese market drive us to make low-carbon products and solutions better. At the same time, the products produced can flow to the global market and support the good development of other markets. Wang Yun said.

Continued additional investment Why are you optimistic about China?

In 2020, Signify invested 30 billion yuan to build a new LED lighting production base in Ruichang, Jiangxi Province. In April 2023, Signify's CEO and Chairman of the Board visited China, Shore Hong once again emphasized that Signify continues to be optimistic about the Chinese market and will continue to invest in China in the future.

Where does Signify's confidence in the Chinese market continue to change? Wang Yun said that Signify sees the huge consumption potential of Chinese consumers in the context of the "dual circulation" economic pattern and consumption upgrading. China is one of the earliest and fastest markets for LED conversion in the world. At present, Chinese consumers pay more attention to health, and Signify has also launched Philips smart LED lighting and other products in a timely manner to meet the needs of consumers for upgrades.

At the same time, Wang Yun mentioned that intelligent processing and lighting are not only increasing in the demand of the consumer market, but also in the government, enterprises and institutions. Signify has always been optimistic about China's urbanization process and the huge potential of low-carbon lighting products.

"With smart, connected lighting products, the proportion of lighting in urban energy consumption may be reduced to less than 10%. I think this is a great opportunity for Signify. Wang Yun said.

Not only that, as China's consumer market picks up this year, Wang Yun believes that domestic and foreign companies, including Signify, will have more opportunities.

At the same time, Wang Yun also mentioned that e-commerce is a market that has been growing in recent years, and the current consumer demand for e-commerce platforms is also upgrading, and consumers pay more attention to green and energy saving.

"In the future, Signify will continue to increase investment in home lighting and e-commerce, and further meet the needs of Chinese online consumers by building joint ventures with Baozun, Xiaomi and other enterprises to create healthy and energy-saving lighting products." Wang Yun said. (End)

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