HONG KONG, June 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Zhang Jindong, chairman of Suning Holdings Group ("Suning" or "the Group"), China's leading retail commercial enterprise, has told students from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University that his company's growth will create more opportunities for them.
His comments came during a youth communication session held today as part of the visit by an All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce (ACFIC) delegation at the invitation of the Hong Kong Trade Development Bureau.
As one of the earliest mainland-based enterprises who have engaged in the local retail industry of Hong Kong, Suning's HKD 215 million acquisition of Citicall Retail in 2009 marked the start of Hong Kong Suning's business story as part of the Group's globalization strategy. Having expanded the business to provide both online and offline retail, with local and international trade services, Suning now owns 26 brick-and-mortar stores in Hong Kong and Macao.
Zhang, who is also vice chairman of ACFIC, said: "In the past nine years, Hong Kong Suning has invested in the localization of our management and operations. We now have over 350 employees at Hong Kong Suning and more than 97% are hired locally. We have for a long time positioned Hong Kong as a strategic market within Suning's international development. In 2015, Suning saw notable achievements in online-to-offline (O2O) delivered by our Internet-based transformation -- and our in-depth understanding of the local market enabled us to quickly start the construction of the O2O retail model here in Hong Kong."
By taking Suning's advantages of both expertise and omni-channel resources in the field, hksuning.com was launched in 2016 to serve local consumers and promote the industry development to a new era.
"Suning's commitment to Hong Kong is long-term oriented," Zhang added. "With the strong support and broad prospects brought by 'The Belt and Road Initiative' and 'Great Bay Area' development, we will continuously strengthen the critical importance of Hong Kong in Suning's future development strategy. Development generates more opportunities -- and Suning is looking forward to the development of both the business and local community."
Based on its Concentric Diversification strategy, Suning has established its unique business presence across multi-industries including retail, logistics, financial services, technology, real estate, media & entertainment, sports, and investment. Suning.com, the retail subsidiary of Suning, has achieved omni-channel sales of HKD 82.78 billion in the first quarter of 2018, up 46.33% year-on-year, demonstrating that the innovative Smart Retail first developed by Suning in 2017 has almost transformed to the profit model and will super-charge the Group's further growth in the future.
Since 2012, Hong Kong Suning has already cooperated with several universities such as The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, City University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Baptist University to import local talent. Suning's '1200 Management Trainee Program' has already provided positions to hundreds of Hong Kong graduates.
"The rapid growth of Suning will bring even greater demand for a new generation of talent, especially those with an international outlook," Zhang said. "Hong Kong graduates have demonstrated their advantages of a professional background, global thinking and good understanding of the Chinese market, which perfectly meets Suning's development needs. Our diversified industrial ecosystem and growing international expansion will provide them with abundant opportunities to develop their strengths and achieve their individual ambitions."
In 2018 Suning plans to increase the recruitment of overseas graduates by 30% to achieve a total of 400 people, focusing on students from US, UK, Hong Kong or Singapore universities with an education background in Investment, Finance, Information Technology, Logistics or Corporate Communication.
The ACFIC delegation will also attend the third 'The Belt and Road' Summit held in Hong Kong, and will be meeting with the local commercial and industrial organizations to share business insights and boost cooperation opportunities for the region's future development.
About Suning
Founded in 1990, Suning is one of the leading commercial enterprises in China with two public companies in China and Japan respectively. In 2017, Suning Holding ranked second among the top 500 private-owned enterprises in China with annual sales of 65.7 billion USD (412.95 billion RMB). With the mission of "Leading the Ecosystem across Industries by Creating Elite Quality of Life for All", Suning has strengthened and expanded its core business through eight vertical industries: Suning.com, Logistics, Financial Services, Technology, Real Estate, Media &Entertainment, Sports, and Investment, among which Suning.com was listed on the 2017 list of Fortune Global 500.
For more information see www.suningholdings.com
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