Yang Qingqing, COO of DHgate: In the Era of Global Restructuring, the Road to Going Global through Collaborative Co-creation | 2025 Going Global Conference

On July 25th, guided by the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, the Secretariat of the China Cooperation Center for Special Economic Zones of BRICS Countries, the Hangzhou Bureau of Commerce, and the Qiantang District Bureau of Commerce, and jointly hosted by 36Kr and Qiantang Construction Group, the 2025 "From 'Ingenuity' to the 'World'" Going Global Conference will grandly kick off at the Hangzhou Qiantang Junlan Hotel. As a brand - new IP event created by 36Kr focusing on the fields of globalization and going global, the conference will set up a main venue and a sub - venue, the "Investing in BRICS" - Country - to - Country Cooperation and Matching Meeting. The main venue of the conference will be divided into two chapters: "Finding Certainty in Uncertainty" and "Doing Business Globally", focusing on popular going - global fields such as consumption, technology, e - commerce, finance, and new energy. It will cover more than 10 keynote speeches, 5 round - table discussions, and the release of the East Forward 2025 Going Global Globalization Innovation List, decoding the certain logic of the coordinated growth of "product - technology - ecosystem" and providing a referable global development path for enterprises to navigate through the fog of globalization and build sustainable going - global capabilities.

On that day, Yang Qingqing, the COO of DHgate, will bring a keynote sharing titled "Collaborative Co - creation: Making Going Global a Win - win and Sustainable Good Business".

The following is the content of Yang Qingqing's speech, edited by 36Kr:

Good morning, everyone! I'm Yang Qingqing from DHgate. I'm very honored to have the opportunity to communicate with you.

We are now in an era full of uncertainty and drastic changes. Today, I'd like to discuss with you: What will the future of globalization look like? And what possibilities are there for going - global enterprises?

For many cross - border practitioners, the current period may be a difficult one. We are facing many challenges such as tariffs, regionalization of the supply chain, and geopolitical conflicts. It seems that globalization is ebbing. However, DHgate, which has been deeply involved in the field of cross - border digital trade for more than 20 years, doesn't think so. We believe that globalization is not ebbing but being reshaped. In the new era of globalization, going global can become a good business featuring collaborative co - creation, win - win results, and sustainability. Under this new business logic, enterprises should not only focus on upgrading their tactical capabilities but also attach great importance to building the underlying system for collaborative win - win results. This is also the core content that DHgate wants to communicate with you.

Before specifically introducing our practices, let me take one or two minutes to briefly introduce DHgate. Founded in 2004, DHgate has always been committed to providing one - stop services for small, medium, and micro cross - border e - commerce enterprises. After 20 years of accumulation, big - data precipitation, and AI - capability upgrading, we can now efficiently provide Chinese merchants with full - link services from store opening, marketing promotion to cross - border logistics and payment.

Our "multi - dimensional ecological layout" has four major supports: the cross - border e - commerce platform DHgate founded in 2004; the decentralized social e - commerce platform MyyShop; the intelligent logistics platform DHLink; and the cross - border financial payment platform Tuotuo Digital Technology. Over the past 20 years, we have had more than 2.78 million registered suppliers, over 34 million online products, and hundreds of millions of registered sellers, and can provide full - link cross - border services to 225 countries and regions around the world.

As a platform, we have been reshaping our own value. We not only want to connect buyers and sellers but also hope to bring together all the roles in the ecosystem, including factories, domestic and foreign distributors, content creators, influencers, service providers, and users, so that they can see each other, grow together, and participate equally. We are committed to being the coordinator and organizer of the ecosystem, creating a decentralized value network and a collaborative ecological community empowered by technology.

The first step in collaboration is to connect real people.

We are not creating a social function but aiming to enable all roles to establish real relationships, which is achieved through communities. Communities can achieve real connections and build real trust, which is the value of the community economy.

When it comes to communities, we have to mention Inner Mountain, an international community founded by Ms. Wang Shutong, the founder of the DHgate Group, in 2023. Chinese going - global entrepreneurs and practitioners participate in it domestically, while distributors, channel partners, content creators, influencers, etc. join from abroad. In this community, people can share information, resources, and discuss future opportunities. In just two years, the community has more than 4,000 members. Different from the traditional shelf - e - commerce model of listing, searching, and purchasing, this is a transparent and co - built environment where many sparks can be generated. For example, a jewelry factory in Guangzhou hit it off with an overseas influencer product - selector who sells clothing and jewelry in the community. Combining the factory's strong production and manufacturing capabilities, they jointly developed new products, created new brands, and created new business opportunities. This is the value of the community.

This is not an isolated case. We often hold offline meetings for buyers, sellers, service providers, and influencers, and we also go to source factories to do live broadcasts. In April this year, we held a buyers' conference in Los Angeles, where all the roles in the ecosystem gathered to display products and jointly discuss how to deal with issues such as tariffs. At this time, the platform no longer acts as a high - handed rule - maker but appears as a coordinator. There is another example in the community. An American small - business owner who suffered a severe burn is very popular for his excellent clothing and accessory matching skills. Factories are willing to provide him with goods, forming a small - scale cooperation in the community. He not only realizes his self - worth but also enables factories, influencers, etc. in the ecosystem to earn income. In this community, every role is seen, respected, and empowered. Therefore, people are not only willing to stay but also willing to contribute, forming a powerful energy.

In April this year, the DHgate App reached the top of the shopping list in more than 90 countries and ranked second only to ChatGPT in the United States. This is not by luck but is closely related to our long - term focus on the community economy and the stimulation of the grassroots innovation power from the bottom up.

Empowered by AI, make collaborative co - creation large - scale and automated

In terms of AI empowerment, we are constantly exploring and using AI to achieve digital transformation and many innovations. This not only improves efficiency but also makes each participant more independent and powerful.

Through AI empowerment, we optimize product presentation and achieve convenient and efficient translation, making the text, pictures, and videos of products of extremely high quality and increasing the conversion rate by 20 - 50%. AI can also quickly discover social - media hotspots, help create shopping - guide robots, achieve personalized recommendations, and optimize advertisements. It can be seen that AI technology makes the entire collaborative ecosystem more large - scale and automated.

Localized operation, the core of the new globalization is local contribution

Finally, I'd like to share an observation with you: Against the backdrop of the continuous change of the old globalization order, the core of the new globalization must be local contribution.

In the past, traditional globalization often entered the market in a "predatory" manner, only thinking about taking away more profits, seizing more market share and resources, and rarely considering the real contribution to the local area.

In the new era of globalization, we believe that we should return to the value of people themselves. We need to enter the market in an altruistic manner, truly connect with local people, build communities, stimulate local creativity, and make every role live better. We should not only take away profits but also actively participate in it, make real contributions, and leave the soil for common growth and the possibility of local development.

Therefore, when making global layouts today, we should no longer be entangled about which market still has more dividends but should think more about what real local contributions we can make when entering a market. By cooperating with local partners, co - creating brands, exploring new opportunities in complex environments, and jointly formulating rules, this is the sustainable way of going global that we understand, and it is also what DHgate has been practicing.

Finally, I'd like to share three beliefs with you: We firmly believe that only real connections can bring real trust; we firmly believe that long - term relationships can build stable resilience; we firmly believe that rooting in the local area and making continuous contributions can support a sustainable global future. Creating value through collaboration and going further through win - win results. This is what we understand by making going global a good business featuring collaborative co - creation, win - win results, and sustainability.

Thank you all!