China leading in capacity and innovation

Editor's Note: As China steps up efforts to boost domestic demand and drive consumption-led growth, multinational corporations are uniquely positioned to seize the opportunities presented by this transformative period. China Daily examines how these companies are aligning with China's new round of high-standard opening-up policies, embracing emerging tech innovation trends, and expanding their presence in a market that increasingly values high-quality development and upgraded consumption.

Q1 Driving domestic consumption is a top priority for China's economic growth this year. With the country placing greater emphasis on consumption-led development, how is your company adapting its products, services, or localization strategies to meet evolving domestic demand and shifting consumer preferences?

CHEN: China is in a transformative era, marked by opportunities driven by consumption-led development. As China will continue to represent more than half of the world's chemical production, this offers significant growth opportunities for Syensqo as a specialty company.

To meet the evolving domestic demand and to seize opportunities, we decided to develop Syensqo's new regional strategy, which emphasizes localization and partnership with local players. We have framed the strategy to enable a sharpened regional focus to design and deliver for China, with faster decision-making, more local empowerment and higher responsiveness to local customer demands. We will look for partnerships and strategic alliances, which will enable us to adopt a more "China-for-China" model for select businesses.

With our China headquarters in Shanghai, six industrial sites across the country, and a major research and investment center in Shanghai, which is the largest R&I center in Asia that works with all Syensqo end-markets, we are confident about shifting consumer preferences and contributing to consumption-led development with our local customers.

XIA: China's consumption upgrade is not only expanding market volume, but also elevating industry standards. As a global chemical company headquartered in Germany, Evonik's products serve as foundational enablers across diverse sectors, ultimately reaching consumers and benefiting from the expansion of market capacity.

We see extensive opportunities in rising demand for high-quality raw materials across sectors like healthcare, cosmetics, advanced manufacturing, and green mobility. For instance, our advanced materials for electric vehicle batteries enhance performance and safety, while bio-based active ingredients for cosmetics align with consumers' growing focus on safety, sustainability, and premium quality.

Localization remains central to our strategy. We have established joint development laboratories and R&D strategic cooperation in China in sectors such as battery materials, oil additives, and personal care products. These collaborations foster win-win outcomes by accelerating innovation and market application, driving value for both Evonik and domestic industries.

MACHADO: China's focus on domestic consumption benefits not only its economy, but also global industries like ours. At Suzano, we're responding by intensifying our focus on quality and sustainability — exactly what Chinese consumers now demand. This means we provide products that first, offer better functional properties for daily life, and second, meet growing expectations for environmental responsibility. Our Shanghai innovability hub embodies this dual approach, developing innovative bio-based materials with minimal carbon footprint. We're seeing particular success with our fully FSC-certified pulp products that enable downstream manufacturers to create more sustainable and premium tissue products. This aligns perfectly with Chinese consumers' increasing preference for eco-friendly options.

ZHAO: As a global pharmaceutical company, Astellas has been committed to the "in China, for China" strategy and wholeheartedly dedicated to providing high-quality innovative medicines and services to patients since entering the Chinese mainland in 1994. China has become one of the prioritized markets of Astellas, which has been included into the most early stage of Astellas clinical R&D. For instance, the world's first CLDN18.2-targeted therapy has achieved simultaneous development and approval in China, offering a new treatment option for China's gastric cancer patients.