Foreign companies showcase efficient, flexible office solutions for enterprises

Efficiency and flexibility of office spaces will be given greater attention due to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, said industry leaders attending the third China International Import Expo in Shanghai recently.

Japanese multinational conglomerate Toshiba demonstrated a smart guidance system at this year's CIIE, which is part of the company's latest progress made in smart building solutions. With its own algorithms, the system will guide passengers to their destinations in the most efficient way possible via elevators.

Also demonstrated by Toshiba during the CIIE was a new air conditioning system which takes up 40 percent less office space. While the exhibit was imported from Japan, Toshiba is expanding its Hangzhou, Zhejiang province facility at present, which will churn out the new air-conditioning systems in the near future, said Yoichi Miyazaki, general representative of Toshiba China.

"Weathering through the pandemic, we have become more confident in the Chinese economy. We would like to offer our products, technologies, experience and human capital to advance China's industrial upgrading," he said.

Multidimensional digitalized office spaces were featured by Japanese multinational technology company Konica Minolta's booth at this year's CIIE. The company's all-in-one IT solutions Workplace Hub, which mainly targets small and medium-sized businesses, was introduced to the Chinese market for the first time via the CIIE. A monthly package based on the Workplace Hub solutions will be offered to Chinese SMEs soon, allowing them to do unlimited scanning and printing without investing large amounts in printing equipment, said Tadahiko Sumitani, president of Konica Minolta Business Solutions (China) Co Ltd.

"SMEs face many challenges after COVID-19. But they also have to prepare for the future as long as they can survive the current difficulties. Therefore, technology investment is important so that companies can address their clients' pain points and scale up rapidly after the pandemic," he said.

US commercial real estate services and investment firm CBRE attended the CIIE for the first time this year. The company demonstrated its interactive real estate marketing and leasing tool at this year's show in hopes of localizing it in China in the near term. It also showcased CBRE Perspective, which combines images, PDFs, webpages and videos with virtual reality walk-throughs of projects.

As explained by Hu Guolian, digital and technology director of CBRE North America, such solutions can help customers in different regions to communicate and facilitate deals when business trips are still held up by the pandemic.

CBRE also said in a report released on Sunday that a growing number of companies are considering combining flexible working patterns with long-term leases after the pandemic. About 73 percent of Chinese companies said they will increase flexible office spaces while 70 percent said technology investment will increase after the pandemic to support teleworking.

This is the third year in a row that US commercial real estate company WeWork has attended the CIIE. Hub-and-spoke flexible office space solutions were the highlight of its booth this year, which combine companies' fixed operational demands with flexible office spaces.

Michael Jiang, acting CEO of WeWork China, said companies will face higher business volatility and more economic uncertainties due to the pandemic. Low gross profit margins, a difficulty that Chinese companies have faced for a long time, will be further aggregated by the contagion. Ever-increasing property costs and insufficient talent supply will also make companies' development more challenging.

"We have come to realize uncertainty after the pandemic. A company's strategic mapping, head count, working styles and even core talent are very likely to undergo multiple changes. Therefore, flexibility should be the top priority," Jiang said.

The third edition of CIIE ended in Shanghai on Tuesday, with the value of intended deals reached at the six-day exhibition up 2.1 percent year-on-year at $72.62 billion.