● Robinhood’s China-owned rival 28 ● The oil boys of Essex 52 ●Facebook’splanforWhatsApp 24 December 14, 202 w to Live w to Live With the Virus With the Virus There’s still time to learn from There’s still time to learn from South Korea’s lockdown-free strategy South Korea’s lockdown-free strategy 44 44 For some of life’s questions, you’re not alone. Together we can find an answer. What else can we do for our children? The value of investments may fall as well as rise and you may not get back the amount originally invested. © UBS 2020. All rights reserved. Help make the world more sustainable? And our portfolio too? Inside the most successful supply chains are intricately engineered processes and solutions created to overcome any disruption, meet consumer demand, and foster business growth. At Ryder, we work behind the scenes creating the most detailed and smoothest running supply chains with customized warehousing, transportation services, e-commerce fulfillment, last mile delivery, and innovative technology. This way, you can focus on creating your products as we design ways to get them to market quicker. Discover how Ryder Supply Chain Solutions can make your operation Ever better™ at ryder.com/everbetter. Customized transportation and logistics solutions EVER ENGINEERING Sponsored by Learn more at www.ryder.com 2 An outsourced transportation network can be a competitive advantage. As business needs to shift instantaneously during these uncertain times, companies must be able to rely on their fleets to meet quickly changing demands. Ryder proved its reliability last spring when shipments to its consumer packaged goods (CPG) customers skyrocketed 150% as they stocked up on everything from toilet paper to thermometers. At the same time, as many of Ryder’s automotive clients shuttered temporarily due to shelter-in-place orders, Ryder was able to redirect its thousands of trucks, tractors, trailers and drivers from automotive routes to CPG runs. “That flexibility allowed us to support those food-and-beverage customers and keep those trucks running to their warehouses and to their retail storefronts,” Sensing says. 3 The shift to e-commerce has accelerated, along with customer expectations. Customers nervous about visiting stores during the pandemic have shifted more of their shopping to e-commerce, with sales expected to reach nearly $800 billion this year—a 32% increase over last year and a figure analysts didn’t expect to see until 2022. More than a thousand new retail customers have turned to Ryder since the pandemic hit to help them meet increased demand, particularly because consumers still expect total transparency in the status of deliveries. This is provided by Ryder’s RyderShare™ platform, which allows retailers to give their consumers real-time insight into the location and expected timing of each delivery. “Having that real-time visibility—to know exactly where the product is and when it will arrive—is critical to our customers and our operations team,” says Sensing. Ryder Last Mile delivery service also benefits retailers shifting into e-commerce, providing delivery of bulk items at whichever level a retail customer prefers—from simply dropping them inside the consumer’s front door to a full-service setup. Reactive data and technology evolve to become more predictive. In addition to providing transparency around delivery, the RyderShare™ platform also generates valuable data, which Ryder uses to automate its warehouses and find other cost savings for customers. “It’s helping us drive more waste out of the system and be more effective in moving out customers’ product on the right transportation mode and carrier,” Sensing says. While challenges remain as businesses rebound from the effects of the pandemic, ample opportunities exist for agile enterprises. Companies with operational flexibility, reliable partners and a focus on efficiency will adjust—and flourish— as the new normal takes shape. ADVE RTI S E M E NT Virtually no business has escaped the supply chain disruptions wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. In March, 95% of companies said that their supply chains had been or would be disrupted by Covid-19. But in the eight months since the pandemic’s emergence, forward-thinking businesses have been able to strengthen their supply chains and seize the opportunity to prove their dependability to their customers. Covid taught companies that they need to be flexible and quickly adapt to changing conditions across both their supply chains and transportation networks. Those that have managed to do so are poised to thrive, not only for the duration of the pandemic, but also in the “new normal” that lies on the other side of it. Here’s a look at three trends shaping supply chains now: 1 Diverse, regional supplier networks have never been more important. At the height of disruption last spring, companies that fared the best were those not dependent on a single supplier, and those in geographic proximity to their suppliers. “Step one to a resilient supply chain is not having all of your eggs in one basket, and step two is being in the region with your suppliers, as much as you can be,” says Steve Sensing, President, Global Supply Chain Solutions, Ryder System. “When the pandemic came, those companies that were positioned locally were in a much better position. Driving Business Forward: Three Trends Impacting Supply Chains During Covid-19 SPONSOR CONTENT F our nucleic acid tests, 14 days of quarantine with daily reports on body temperature and another 14 days of isolation in future. This is part of what Roy van den Hurk had to go through to attend the Third China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai in November. Van den Hurk is Product General Manager of Milk New Zealand, one of the largest dairy farm groups in New Zealand, and an “old friend” of the CIIE. “All I went through for the CIIE is worthwhile,” he told the media after signing a contract. “The market of dairy products has been struggling worldwide due to the pandemic, but China’s market has picked up for months. We have into a market for the world, a market shared by all, and a market accessible to all.” It was a heartening message for businesses. According to offi cial data, China’s GDP grew 4.9% in the third quarter of this year, when most other major economies contracted. Viewing China’s market pick-up amid the sharply declining world economy, over 80% of the Fortune Global 500 companies and industry leaders that had participated in the previous CIIEs returned to Shanghai this year. The deals made at this CIIE refl ected global confi dence in China. The value of intended deals signed reached $72.62 billion, an increase of 2.1% from 2019, as fi gures re- leased by the CIIE Bureau on November 10, the last day of the six-day event, showed. Safety First To ensure the safety of all participants, Shanghai took every detail into consider- ation. Everybody at the event was required to wear masks. Exhibitors and visitors com- ing from abroad had to go through 14 days of quarantine after arriving in China and two nucleic acid tests, one before and one after the quarantine. Volunteers, journalists and all domestic visitors were also required to get nucleic acid tests. Medical workers manned dozens of medical stations and temporary observa- tion and treatment sites in the exhibition areas, which were regularly disinfected. Hand sanitizers were placed everywhere, including in elevators. Strict measures were also adopted to disinfect the raw food displayed at the expo. A New Area The exhibition area was full of creative and stunning items, like the world’s fi rst all- carbon fi ber sports car, and the Korloff Noir, the 88-carat black diamond from Korloff Jewelers of France. However, what really stood out was the new display area showcasing new technolo- gies and products for pandemic prevention and treatment. The initial planned area for this section was 2,000 square meters. However, due to high exhibitor demand, it had to be expanded multiple times, before fi nally reaching 12,000 square meters. Fosun Pharma, a Shanghai-based biotech company, released the update on its experi- mental COVID-19 vaccine, the mRNA vaccine that it has jointly developed with Germany’s BioNTech. In July, the vaccine candidate was laid great importance on the Chinese mar- ket and the CIIE is a great platform for us. We can’t miss it.” While many large international events have been postponed or scrapped due to coro- navirus (COVID-19), the CIIE was not only held as scheduled but had a larger exhibi- tion area than last year. It demonstrated, as President Xi Jinping said in his keynote address delivered by video, China’s commit- ment to sharing its market opportunities with the rest of the world and contributing to global economic recovery. “China will stay committed to openness, cooperation and unity for win-win results,” Xi said. “Our aim is to turn the China market Shared by All, Accessible to All By Yuan Yuan Including: Michelin Abbott Nike Icona Uniqlo The Third China International Import Expo $72.62 bln 612,000 50 29 Worth of Intended Deals Made Fortune Global 500 Companies and Leading Enterprises Debuting Attending Future CIIEs 2.1% increase y.o.y. Visits toCIIE Exhibitorssigneddeals before the openingtoattend in the next threeyears 100 861 Offlineand OnlineTradePromotion Sessions Enterprisesregistered for the FourthCIIEon the fi rstday Total Exhibition Area 30,000 sq.m. more than in 2019 buyers exhibitors 674 1,351 360,000 sq.m. 64 countries attended from (Source: China International Import Expo Bureau; designed by Pamela Tobey) cooperation intentions were reached Chinese and Swiss partners celebrate after signing an agreement on hydrogen fuel cell vehicles at the Third China International Import Expo in Shanghai, November 6 X NHUA SPONSOR CONTENT out of the situation.” Maria Sferruzza, Senior Vice President for Asia Pacifi c at Baker Hughes, one of the world’s largest energy technology compa- nies headquartered in the U.S., said China is one of the few countries in the world that can hold large events like the CIIE. “It is also a sign that China is further opening to inter- national players including our company. This event has provided a great platform for us to socialize with our potential partners,” she said. Baker Hughes has over 2,000 employees and seven manufacturing sites in China. At the CIIE, the company showcased a wide range of innovative technologies across the oil and gas value chain. For U.S. medical device and consumer goods maker Johnson & Johnson, it was their third consecutive year at the expo. “Johnson & Johnson is confi dent in the new chapter of our growth in China,” Song Weiqun, the company’s chairman in China and Global Senior Vice President, told the media. The company expanded their exhibition space this year as a mark of that confi dence. ■ approved in China for phase-one clinical trial. Japanese biopharmaceutical company Takeda said it has collaborated with leading plasma companies to set up the COVID-19 Plasma Alliance to accelerate the treat- ment of the disease. Now an experimental therapy is in phase-three clinical trial. If suc- cessful, it may become one of the earliest treatment solutions for hospitalized adult COVID-19 patients. Roche Diagnostics from Switzerland brought a three-in-one reagent capable of simultaneously detecting infl uenza A, infl uenza B and COVID-19. Fujifi lm from Japan exhibited a genetic test kit that can shorten the detection time for the virus to two hours from four to six hours. Pharma fi rms had a fruitful CIIE. Leading U.S. biopharmaceutical company Pfi zer signed a collaboration agreement with Alibaba Health at the CIIE to build a complete and full-chain vaccination service online. “Pfi zer has great confi dence in China’s economy in the long-term. Our proactive participation in the CIIE reiterates our commitment to continuously developing in China, to fulfi ll our purpose of bringing breakthroughs that change patients’ lives,” Wu Kun, Chief Operating Offi cer of Pfi zer Biopharma Group in China, told the media. Players from the U.S. Despite China-U.S. tensions, exhibitors from the U.S. took up the largest area. U.S.-based commercial real estate services company CBRE joined the CIIE as an exhibi- tor for the fi rst time this year. “Although it is the fi rst time for us to be here as an exhibitor, we are not fresh here at all,” Ben Duncan, CBRE President of North Asia and CEO of Greater China, told Beijing Review. CBRE had visited the First CIIE and taken part in some activities in 2019. This year, it set up its own booth. “Shanghai is the commercial heartbeat of China and the CIIE enables us to make connections and know more about our partners,” Duncan said. Despite the rising uncertainties in China-U.S. relations, he said his com- pany has never thought of moving out of China. A survey by the American Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai and Beijing and business consultancy fi rm PricewaterhouseCoopers said in April that 70% of the American companies surveyed have no short-term plan to relocate any part of their operations out of China. About 40% said they would not revise their long-term supply-chain plan in China. Duncan said Xi’s remarks at the opening ceremony made him more confi dent about China’s market. He also said it is no surprise to see China’s market has seen a pick-up, given the govern- ment’s effective COVID-19 control measures: “Countries who control the spread of the virus are going to be the winners that come Scan QR code to visit Beijing Review’s website Comments to