Zhang Jianqiu, executive president of Yili Group (3rd from right) speaks at the 2018 Summer Davos Forum in Tianjin, on Sept 18. [Photo/Yili Group]

Yili Group aims to be a frontrunner in the dairy industry and develop with a digital mindset, said Zhang Jianqiu, the company's executive president, speaking on Sept 18, at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions 2018, also known as the Summer Davos Forum in Tianjin.

Companies thinking about the bigger picture need to transform themselves with digital technologies, he said.

The world is becoming smaller and a sound digital strategy can enable companies to thrive, Zhang argued.

Zhang revealed that Yili had introduced its own digital system using big data technologies to analyze consumer and market data, with the system covering five million retail points in more than 300 cities across the country.

All data collected by the company enables it to organize its business more efficiently and stay ahead of future trends. By focusing on analyzing consumer data, the company enjoys a leading consumer penetration rate.

And Yili's tactics are working –– data from Kantar Worldpanel, a marketing consultancy, revealed that the purchase amount of the firm's products reached 1.35 billion times last year.

But the company is not standing still.

The digital transformation of our business will never be complete; we must continue to innovate and explore new strategies, said Zhang.

The Summer Davos Forum, which is expected to focus on innovation in what has been termed the “fourth industrial revolution”, will include 200 meetings to be held from Sept 18 to 20. More than 2,000 guests from over 100 countries are expected to attend the event.