We’re finally here. After months of preparation and planning, I’m more than excited that our K5 X-PEDITION China Retail Innovation has officially started. In the next week, we’ll be immersing ourselves in the culture and will learn first-hand, how Future Retail is lived in China. I’ll be covering our journey as well as my thoughts and learnings in this “diary”. Follow along as we take a deep dive into retail innovation in China.
Day 1 - An introduction to Chinese Culture
Day 2 - Deep Dive into the Rise of China
Preparing for the expedition, Ed Sander and Jessica Sun showed us how essential it is to reflect on how trust functions in Chinese society. China is often considered a low-trust society—trust in government, authorities, and institutions can be limited. But this has given rise to a powerful alternative: personal networks of trust, or 关系guān xì.
Guān xì represents the deeply woven web of connections that we build through mutual support and reciprocity. It's about giving before you expect to receive, creating bonds that are strengthened by the exchange of favors, loyalty, and respect.
In this context, events like the K5X-PEDITION are more than just professional meet-ups. They are opportunities to weave a new web of connections, build trust, and create lasting partnerships. We are coming together to not just network but to build meaningful relationships.
As leaders from Germany and the Netherlands, we’re immersing ourselves in the Chinese way of building trust through Guān xì. We have gathered for our first lunches and dinners, shared stories, and truly gotten to know each other beyond just professional titles. It’s fascinating to see how the level of trust rises as we dive into meaningful exchanges, especially because many of us were only acquaintances at first.
I find it outstanding how Chinese culture nurtures trust. Instead of greeting each other with "How are you?" the common phrase is, 你吃了吗？ nǐ chī le ma?: "Have you eaten?" or "What have you eaten today?" This highlights the cultural focus on building connections through shared meals, whether with relatives, friends, or your trusted network. Sitting together at the table, eating, and building trust—it’s how personal networks are strengthened, even in a society where institutional trust may be lower.
For us, this experience offers a remarkable perspective on how trust is built from the ground up, through personal interactions, care, and reciprocity. Let’s continue to grow these networks and deepen our understanding of one another.
Looking forward to more shared meals, moments and conversations.
It’s day two of the K5X-PEDITION to China. Today, Ed Sander kicked off with what felt-like a 200-slide presentation on the rise of China as an economic superpower. And one of the main reasons we organized this K5 tour was to get an unbiased view on three things:
1. China as a country
2. China as a culture
3. China as an economy
And if you look at China more closely, there are a lot of conflicting ideas about what this country and its people are all about.
You will soon find yourself holding opposing or even conflicting ideas about China in your head and trying to balance them. China itself describes its economy as socialism with Chinese characteristics. And this is no wonder, because after the so-called century of humiliation between the mid-1900s and mid-20th century, the Chinese came up with the idea that – as their current leader Xi Jinping put it – they want to fulfill their own Chinese Dream until the year 2049. Exactly 100 years after founding the People's Republic of China in 1949.
It is impressive to look at what China has achieved over the last seven decades. In my opinion, China is on a very good way to actually fulfill their own Chinese Dream and to become one of the world's leading economic superpowers – and maybe they’re already there yet. Why am I so confident? Here are some facts we have gathered in the masterclass:
But let's face the facts from the other side. China also has a lot of domestic challenges, which starts with a high Gini index saying that the inequality is still very high in comparison to other developed countries.
In short, richer people get richer, which means that also many people are on the low end of the receiving buying power when it comes to, for instance, platform workers, people who work as riders or drivers in the delivery economy.
Another challenge is the gender imbalance between male and female in the population, which is one of the effects of the one child policy. Another effect is that in Chinese culture, the male was always valued higher than the female child, which has changed now over time. But of course, this cannot be corrected because this mistake has been made.
The morning was packed with theoretical input on the rise of China. In the afternoon, we were able to experience one of the reasons for that rise in the retail scene with a visit to the JD.com headquarters and one of their warehouses.
Visiting JD.com this afternoon, two concepts stung and stuck with me
1. Their vision of "Being the most trusted company in the world"
2. Their ambition to really think BIG!
The first one stands out because as I have laid out yesterday, China is in general a low trust society. So hearing this value based mission from the 150 billion Dollar revenue juggernaut caught me by surprise. So we discussed this slogan and circled around the business model which is – compared to younger and faster chinese ecom players – old-fashioned and very traditional.
Why traditional? JD.com comes mainly from physical operations, owning the stock in their warehouses, providing a full logistics service to customers and other retailers with their own last mile delivery service. A business model we call “asset heavy”. But exactly there lies a lot of potential for building and maintaining trust. You own and control the full value chain. And moreover you control the quality of the inventory. Which is a rising concern among consumers buying from marketplaces and platforms – and regulators from the EU looking at Chinese platforms.
Their ambition to think BIG is mind boggling. It is just impressive to hear and watch the ambition and the velocity with which a company like JD.com scales and tackles the opportunity lying ahead. On the one hand, there are the hard numbers and goals they set themselves – numbers that will make your head turn in many many ways.
35711 is a number - or rather a row of numbers - that will continue to stay with me. It signifies JD.com’s vision for the next 20 years – set in 2023. Keep in mind, this is one company.
3 - JD.com wants to establish three enterprises with over RMB 1 trillion in revenue and RMB 70 billion in net profits
5 - JD.com aims to have 5 JD enterprises rank on the Fortune Global 500 list
7 - JD.com is bringing seven publicly listed companies that started from zero to a market value of RMB 100 Billion
1 - JD.com aims to contribute RMB 100 Billion in taxes
1 - JD.com aims to create over 1 million jobs
On the other hand, we were able to experience the sheer vastness of that company at their headquarters that boasts its own subway station, numerous shops and even instant delivery options. They are continuing to build the headquarters with kindergartens, helicopter pad, and more. Looking at the model of the JD.com campus made the company's ambition even more tangible. Many things are still in a very early stage. But beware ...The company is 20+ years old and still on the rise.
