Miao Wei: Treat every day as 'China Brand Day'

On May 10, the first China Brand Day became the focus of heated public attention, especially in the automotive industry where Chinese brands hold a significant share. Today, Miao Wei, the Minister of Industry and Information Technology, published a signed article titled 'Treat Every Day as China Brand Day', stating: 'Chinese enterprises should treat every day as China Brand Day.'

Currently, in the Chinese automotive sector, public opinion categorizes Chinese brands into three types. The first type includes demonstration enterprises like Changan and Geely, which are rapidly developing and can be described as 'daring to speak, think, and act', achieving significant results and even using top global automotive companies as benchmarks for long-term development. The second type consists of enterprises that 'have thought about it, are doing it, and are doing quite well'. These companies have formed correct development ideas through internal reforms; although they have not yet shown results in terminal sales, they are on a good trajectory. The last type of enterprise is 'riding the wave', always having a mindset of 'making a quick profit and leaving'. These companies earn short-term benefits by copying popular models in the market.

Miao Wei pointed out in his article: 'The real economy needs enterprises to enhance their ability to create value and achieve profits. Enterprises invest resources to endow products with value through the entire process of design development, production manufacturing, and marketing services, including both material and spiritual value. However, this value needs to be converted into currency through market exchange to complete the 'daring leap' and become the enterprise's profit.' This is precisely the core that Chinese automotive brands need to focus on and learn from.

China Brand Day excites Chinese automotive brands, but as Miao Wei emphasized in his article, brand building is a long-term and arduous task that requires Chinese enterprises to treat every day as 'China Brand Day'. This is also something that Chinese automotive brands need to contemplate.

The full text presents Miao Wei's signed article 'Treat Every Day as China Brand Day'. Through careful study, we aim to highlight its core ideas and viewpoints, hoping to provide insights for future brand building and development in the automotive industry and foster a correct understanding of the development of Chinese automotive brands.

'Treat Every Day as China Brand Day'

Minister of Industry and Information Technology Miao Wei

Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Central Committee and the State Council have made a series of major deployments to revitalize the real economy and strengthen manufacturing. They have put forward clear requirements for accelerating quality brand construction. General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized that 'we should promote the transformation from Chinese manufacturing to Chinese creation, from Chinese speed to Chinese quality, and from Chinese products to Chinese brands.'

In 2016, the State Council launched a special action for consumer goods called 'Three Products', issuing opinions on leveraging brand leadership to promote supply-demand structure upgrades, making 'creating brands' a strategic focus from both supply-side and demand-side efforts to improve effective supply quality and meet people's consumption upgrade needs.

Recently, the State Council approved the establishment of 'China Brand Day', further highlighting the leading role of brand construction in promoting economic and social development in our country, reflecting society's expectations for Chinese brands, and pointing out the direction for building a strong manufacturing nation.

1. Brand construction is an inevitable requirement for becoming a strong manufacturing nation.

In the era of economic globalization, brands reflect the comprehensive core competitiveness of enterprises and even nations; they represent national credibility and image. Brand development is an essential path for a country to transform from large to strong; a large number of internationally competitive brands are an important symbol of a country's powerful manufacturing industry.

Brand construction supports the strategy of becoming a strong manufacturing nation. Our country is truly a major manufacturing power; accelerating the construction of a strong manufacturing nation has become the core task for our manufacturing industry's development in the coming period. In facing dual pressures from developed countries' high-end manufacturing returning home and middle-income countries competing for low-end manufacturing transfer, our traditional advantages characterized by cheap labor and resource input are gradually weakening. Industrial transformation and upgrading are imperative; there is an urgent need to accelerate new-old kinetic energy conversion and cultivate new competitive advantages aimed at mid-to-high-end industries. Economic development laws, market competition realities, and experiences from major economic powers all prove that brands are an important connotation of core competitiveness for becoming a strong manufacturing nation; cultivating brands provides strong and lasting momentum for building such a nation.

Brand construction promotes supply-demand structure upgrades. Advancing supply-side structural reform is a major innovation that adapts to and leads new normal economic development; its key task is to enhance supply system quality and improve supply structure adaptability to demand structure. Brands serve as a link between supply and demand; cultivating brands helps guide supply-side optimization of resource allocation while leading demand-side consumption upgrades, improving efficiency in matching both sides.

Brand construction promotes revitalization of the real economy. Economic construction focuses on improving quality and efficiency; real economies require enterprises to enhance their ability to create value and achieve profits. Enterprises invest resources throughout design development, production manufacturing, and marketing services processes to endow products with value—both material value and spiritual value. However, this value must be converted into currency through market exchange to complete this 'daring leap' into enterprise profit. Whether one can jump high or far depends on customer trust in enterprises as well as their recognition of product value. Brands serve as carriers of value and credibility that will provide strong momentum for completing this 'leap'.

2. Adhere to a path of industrial brand development with Chinese characteristics.

General Secretary Xi Jinping's discussion on 'three transformations' scientifically clarifies the relationship between innovation, quality, and brand—three core elements for becoming a strong manufacturing nation. From the perspective of brand construction, brands require 'Chinese creation'; without innovation, there is no differentiated charm in brands. Brands require 'Chinese quality'; without high quality, brands lose their foundational value. In recent years, facing severe domestic and international economic situations, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has resolutely implemented major decisions made by the Central Committee and State Council while carefully studying our industrial development stages and characteristics; thus choosing a path for industrial brand development with Chinese characteristics.

Grasping laws while identifying key points: We must promote quality brand work comprehensively while guiding enterprises in establishing an all-encompassing quality management system throughout design development, production manufacturing, marketing services processes—marking competitive brand cultivation—and jointly promoting industrial brand cultivation concepts with relevant departments.

Actively fulfilling responsibilities while coordinating deployments: In 2011, together with seven other departments including the National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Commerce, we jointly issued guidelines on accelerating brand construction among our industrial enterprises further promoting brand building efforts. In 2015 we pushed forward with 'Made in China 2025', listing strengthening quality brand construction as one of nine strategic tasks. Last year we implemented 'Made in China 2025' alongside special actions for consumer goods; we collaborated with relevant departments to formulate action guidelines and plans aimed at enhancing quality branding within equipment manufacturing industries as well as consumer goods industries deploying coordinated actions across entire industry chains focused on quality branding support actions for advantageous strategic industries along with initiatives like ‘Chinese brands going global’ among others.

Persevering while advancing steadily: We must combine routine work with special actions to solidly promote quality brand construction.

After years of unremitting efforts, our country's brand construction work has progressed smoothly with initial results achieved. Currently nearly ten thousand enterprises nationwide have initiated brand cultivation pilot projects resulting in 251 demonstration enterprises emerging. According to surveys conducted on these demonstration enterprises their main products' domestic market share has increased from an average of 17.8% to 31.4%, while industrial added value rates rose from 21.8% to 26.2%, significantly improving operational quality and efficiency within these enterprises. At the same time customization within key consumer goods has notably increased along with mid-to-high-end product supply proportions; customized clothing consumption growth has exceeded 30%, with over 90% safety technical indicators for consumer goods aligning with international standards set by standardization organizations.

3. Strive to create a new situation in industrial brand construction

Brand construction is a strategic task related to economic and social development, requiring the joint efforts of all sectors of society. In the next step, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will leverage industry advantages, deepen brand construction efforts, strengthen close cooperation with relevant departments, and jointly create a favorable social atmosphere and market environment for brand construction, striving to open up a new situation in industrial brand construction.

Adhere to the main role of enterprises and enhance brand cultivation capabilities. Guide enterprises to enhance quality and brand awareness, strengthening quality and brand management throughout the entire process from raw material procurement to production and sales. Insist on pilot projects first and demonstration leadership, deepen the cultivation of enterprise brands and regional brand construction, and promote the interactive development of enterprise brands and regional brands. Accelerate the formulation of brand management system standards and organize standard promotion. Strengthen quality and brand publicity, promote the spirit of craftsmanship that pursues excellence, expand the social influence of independent brands, and stimulate enterprises' intrinsic motivation to cultivate brands.

Implement quality first and increase support and guidance efforts. Implement 'Made in China 2025', adhere to the basic principle of quality first, and accelerate the promotion of quality brand enhancement actions. Leverage the support role of major projects such as manufacturing innovation center construction, intelligent manufacturing, and industrial strengthening, guiding enterprises to accelerate the deep integration of industrialization and informatization, using new generation information technologies such as 'Internet+', big data, etc., grasping the development directions of industries and technologies such as intelligent manufacturing, green manufacturing, flexible manufacturing, and accelerating the cultivation of independent brands.

Encourage innovative design and enrich brand differentiation positioning. Improve the innovation system in manufacturing, strengthen research and development of key core technologies, and promote the construction of enterprise technology centers. Promote advanced design technologies characterized by green, intelligent, and collaborative features in key areas. Build an innovation design cluster with global influence, cultivate a number of specialized industrial design enterprises, encourage OEM companies to establish research design centers, and accelerate the cultivation of independent brands.

Implement key actions to promote development in key areas. Implement special actions for consumer goods 'three products', supporting the consumer goods industry towards intelligent, green, flexible, and efficient manufacturing. Increase the supply of mid-to-high-end consumer goods and promote products towards high cost-performance advantages. Vigorously develop intelligent and healthy consumer goods while supporting the development of ethnic characteristic consumer goods. Implement quality brand protection actions for advantageous and strategic industries, strengthen industry market research and demand forecasting, scientifically plan industrial layout, supply positioning, and variety structure. Implement actions for Chinese brands to 'go global', implement the national 'Belt and Road' strategy, and promote international brand co-construction and sharing.

Improve public services to support quality brand progress. Build a specialized service platform for quality brands based on small and medium-sized enterprise service systems to enhance service platform capabilities for quality brand services. Construct a quality brand information sharing platform to strengthen monitoring and evaluation of brand reputation and competitiveness. Improve knowledge and talent open sharing platforms based on projects that enhance business management talent quality and update professional technical personnel knowledge to cultivate management personnel and professional technical personnel in the branding field. Build a number of public service platforms that promote collaborative innovation in manufacturing to facilitate technological innovation, achievement transformation, and application promotion.

Strengthen technical support to solidify the foundation for quality brands. Improve technical foundational capabilities such as industry standards, industrial measurement, industrial quality control, and technical evaluation. Support process optimization efforts and key common quality technology breakthroughs to promote quality upgrades. Guide enterprises to enhance R&D innovation and system integration capabilities, innovate manufacturing methods and service formats, develop customized production to meet personalized needs. Encourage enterprises to develop modern sales systems while innovating in areas such as brand communication, customer experience, and sales models.

Establish 'China Brand Day' to vigorously promote well-known independent brands, marking that the spiritual wealth contained in traditional Chinese culture—such as innovation spirit, excellent quality, and valuing reputation—is becoming the core value of Chinese brands. Brand construction is a long-term arduous task that requires us to treat every day as 'China Brand Day', leading new development with new concepts while making unremitting efforts persistently together to advance Chinese brands into a new era.