The third China International Consumer Products Expo, also known as the Hainan Expo, is currently under way in Haikou, Hainan Province. Among the expo participants are Swiss watch manufacturers looking to expand their footprint in China, thanks to the strong rebound in luxury product demand this year. Our Huang Fei has more.
HUANG FEI Haikou, Hainan Province “Asia last year accounted for 40 percent of all Swiss watch exports. There were some declines in the China market itself because of the COVID-19 restrictions, but now that the country has opened up, how do you see things progressing?”
NIELS MØLLER Group CEO, Mondaine Watch Ltd. “Well, we actually see quite a good trend. Even during COVID-19, we were satisfied with the sales we had in general. But we changed our distribution partner last year. And we have really seen a huge explosion in sales this year as well. We have doubled our sales from what we used to have.”
HUANG FEI Haikou, Hainan Province “Are there anything specific that you’re doing to target the Chinese demographic?”
NIELS MØLLER Group CEO, Mondaine Watch Ltd. “We as a company we’ve been very proud of being very sustainable over years. So fifty years we’ve dedicated to sustainability. So everything what we do is try to reduce and reuse and you know, basically be that company that creates a lot of newness in a sustainable matter. So we used the leather from the grapes and the skins, so please drink wine because you can make twelve straps out of one bottle of wine.”
HUANG FEI Haikou, Hainan Province “From a manufacturing perspective, how does a watch company become climate neutral?”
NIELS MØLLER Group CEO, Mondaine Watch Ltd. “So eighty percent of all our power consumption is generated from a solar system on your roof. And you also use the power from the stream, because we are based very close to a river, so we put a lot of effort into that you see it’s also a trend coming in China as well. And we’re very pleased about that.”
HUANG FEI Haikou, Hainan Province “You have manufacturing presence here in China?”
NIELS MØLLER Group CEO, Mondaine Watch Ltd. “We have sourcing presence, so we have 25 people working in China and sourcing close to the border of Hong Kong. So a lot of the products are being partly manufactured in China, shipped to Switzerland. And we do the magic. And then you’ll finalize the product and send it back.”
HUANG FEI Haikou, Hainan Province “In the last few years, you know, with the potential between China and the US, there’s a bit of decoupling happening. European and American firms moving their supply chains out of China.”
NIELS MØLLER Group CEO, Mondaine Watch Ltd. “We all had that evaluation, simply due to the fact that you had a hard close down and it really did impact our whole supply chain and so it really did force us to look outside. But we came to the conclusion we have to stay, simply because of the quality and also the commitment we have to the people who are working here.”
HUANG FEI Haikou, Hainan Province “Hainan is going to have its own customs system in 2025. What does this mean for your company?”
NIELS MØLLER Group CEO, Mondaine Watch Ltd. “Extremely important because it makes it easier to get into China. And that’s also the reason why we are present here at the fair because we want to make sure that it’s the right place to be. I’m actually going to visit some stores afterwards to see locations. So we may want to open stores here as well. And the aim is to at least double the sales or maybe even treble within three years.”
Source: CGTN