Food delivery arrives at your doorstep, 5G signals are widely accessible, and mobile payments are "omnipotent"... Since the implementation of the 144-hour transit visa-free policy, an increasing number of foreigners have experienced the convenience of modern life in China through "China Travel," sparking a trend of "Becoming Chinese." These seemingly everyday service scenarios vividly illustrate the vigorous development of "China Service." May 10th coincides with the 10th China Brand Day. What is the deeper meaning behind cultivating more "China Service" brands?
Brands are a comprehensive reflection of a company's competitiveness. Currently, there are many service enterprises in China, but relatively few truly possess internationally competitive leading enterprises and well-known brands. From the first proposal in the "Government Work Report" to "cultivate the 'China Service' brand" to the latest issuance of the "Opinions on Promoting the Expansion and Quality Improvement of the Service Industry" for further deployment, policies have continuously released important signals: leveraging national platforms like China Brand Day, China will shift from a "single-point breakthrough" in products to a "dual-wheel drive" of products and services, aiding the construction of a brand powerhouse.
Cultivating the "China Service" brand is an inevitable choice for economic transformation and aligns with the global trend of industrial competition. Take toys, for example: pure manufacturing yields minimal profits, while "Labubu," which focuses on emotional value, has reaped the benefits of the fan economy. Strengthening service brands is precisely the key for Chinese enterprises to break away from low-price competition and advance towards the mid-to-high end of the global value chain.
Currently, the added value of China's service industry accounts for over 57% of GDP, and per capita service consumption expenditure constitutes more than 46% of per capita total consumption expenditure, gradually moving beyond the development stage of "emphasizing products, neglecting services." The previous extensive model relying on capacity expansion and low-price competition not only easily leads to homogeneous internal competition but also struggles to meet the demands of consumption upgrading—from the transformation towards service-oriented manufacturing on the production side to the upgrade towards experiential services on the consumption side. Both industry and market pressures are compelling service to become the core competitiveness of brands.
Cultivating more "China Service" brands relies on a robust manufacturing sector as the foundational base. Leveraging its comprehensive industrial system, China has taken the lead in developing new models of service-oriented manufacturing. For instance, a certain home appliance brand established the "Smart Home Innovation Lab," implementing 63 "Good House" smart scenario solutions, transitioning from "selling home appliances" to "selling smart home service solutions."
Upgrading consumer demand serves as a crucial driving force. Today, high-quality, personalized, and professional services have become essential. Life services such as housekeeping, elderly care, and cultural tourism are advancing towards standardization and branding. Cultural and creative products are creating immersive cultural tourism services, while the health and wellness sector is promoting smart elderly care and other brand-building initiatives, precisely filling gaps in niche markets and activating a trillion-yuan service consumption market.
Technological empowerment is the core driving force. Big data, artificial intelligence, and the Internet of Things are comprehensively empowering service upgrades, using digital means to break the time and space constraints of services, and utilizing "China Service" to achieve dual improvements in efficiency and quality.
Looking at the global market, the overseas expansion of Chinese brands is undergoing a paradigm shift from product supply to value delivery, gradually moving away from the old model of simply "selling products." An increasing number of brands are embarking on a path of coordinated overseas expansion with "products + services." For example, a certain railway vehicle company exports rail transit projects overseas while simultaneously providing integrated services including construction, operation, maintenance, and training. A smart cleaning appliance company, by expanding its self-operated channels and improving its localized after-sales system, offers integrated services such as equipment debugging, fault repair, and software upgrades, bringing cleaning robots into overseas households. This new "product + service + standards" model for going global allows Chinese brands to gradually gain pricing power in the global value chain and shed the low-end label.
Strengthening the "China Service" brand is not only a practical measure to address the shortcomings in China's brand development but also a core lever for promoting high-quality economic development. Building upon the new starting point of China Brand Day, continuously expanding the service brand matrix will give Chinese brands greater voice in the global market, steadily advancing from a manufacturing powerhouse and product powerhouse to a globally renowned brand powerhouse.
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