"The Chinese market is open and attractive." The CIIE is continuing to send this strong signal to the world. Ichiro Yubaraki, who has just become general manager of Tokyo Marine Nichido Fire Insurance (China) Co. (hereinafter referred to as Tokyo Marine), has already felt the value of the signal. In his view, leading enterprises to participate in the 7th CIIE is his priority after taking office in 2024.

"By participating in the CIIE, we can learn the latest initiatives of various industries, understand the most cutting-edge technological trends, and build new business models in combination with our own business." Ichiro Yubaraki believes that in order to create a win-win situation, the expo is "an excellent platform to inspire thinking".

Cultivate deeply in China

Tokyo Marine was founded in 1879 as the first property insurance company in the history of Japan. As a Fortune 500 company, Tokyo Marine has been operating in China for more than 30 years.

Many multinational companies regard the CIIE as a "new channel" to understand and enter the Chinese market, and for "established" foreign companies that have been deeply engaged in China for many years, the CIIE has a deeper meaning.

"The CIIE opens the door for us to seize cooperation opportunities and access to the Chinese market, helping us to enhance social value while realizing economic value." Said Ichiro Yubaraki.

Ichiro Yubaraki, director and general manager of Tokyo Marine Nichido Fire Insurance (China) Co., LTD. [Photo/Kang Yuzhan]

In 1992, Shanghai became the first pilot city in the Chinese mainland to open up to the outside world in the insurance industry, and many foreign-funded insurance companies successively settled in Shanghai. In 1994, Tokyo Marine opened a branch office in Shanghai, which was the first foreign property insurance company in China.

After 30 years in Shanghai, Tokyo Marine is not only a witness and beneficiary of the development of China's insurance industry, but also a participant and promoter.

The priorities

Reviewing the development trajectory of the past 30 years, Tokyo Marine took "four consecutive years of participation in the CIIE" as a landmark event and record the development of enterprises in China. There are countless exhibitions attended by established foreign enterprises. Why is participation in CIIE a priority?

"The CIIE provides a platform for Tokyo Marine to show its strength and achievements." In Ichiro Yubaraki's view, the CIIE is also a vindicator for enterprises to appreciate the global development trend and adjust their development strategy in China.

"China has a huge market size, rapid economic growth and a constantly improving business environment." Having worked in Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Shanghai, Ichiro Yubaraki has his own observation and understanding of the Chinese market. In his view, with the increase of Chinese residents' wealth and awareness of risk protection, China's insurance market demand shows a trend of diversification and personalization, coupled with the continuous improvement of the policy environment, "all of which provide a broad space for the development of foreign insurance companies".

Years of working experience in China have made Ichiro Yubaraki feel the rapid changes in the Chinese market and the continuous technological innovation, "in such an environment, enterprises need to participate in solving social issues to adapt to the growth of the Chinese market".

Energy conservation and low-carbon have become an important direction of enterprise operation, health care industry and aging innovation have become a new incremental space for business, and a large number of enterprises are carrying out industrial upgrading...... The "frontier wind" at the CIIE is an excellent opportunity for foreign companies to grasp the pulse of the Chinese market.

In 2021, under the theme of "Providing Peace of mind, Security and Contributing to a Sustainable Future", Tokyo Marine made its debut at the CIIE. In 2022, Tokyo Marine Nippon Motor (China) incorporated the "sustainable development strategy" into the company's business strategy, and combined with China's national strategy and market trends, identified four priority areas: green transformation, health and elderly care, disaster prevention and mitigation, and industrial upgrading.

Cross-border cooperation

"At this time, we are facing more and more complex social issues, such as climate change, aging population and so on." Ichiro Yubaraki feels that these social problems cannot be solved by one company alone, but require broader cooperation among enterprises to discuss solutions.

"By continuing to participate in the CIIE, Tokyo Maritime Nippon Motor (China) has met new partners and "our 'circle of friends', as we say in Chinese, keeps expanding," Mr. Ichiro Yubaraki said.

On the big stage of CIIE, "co-creation" is not only taking place between enterprises, but also new sparks of cross-border cooperation are emerging between different industries.

At the 5th CIIE, Tokyo Marine Nippon (China), Panasonic Electric Equipment (China) Co., LTD., and Omron (China) Co., LTD., which belong to three different industrial fields of insurance, electrical manufacturing and automation solutions, signed a contract to establish a health promotion industry alliance. The three Japanese enterprises in China have reached cross-border cooperation on the stage of CIIE, giving full play to their respective product and service advantages, and jointly building a big health service ecosystem.

At the 5th CIIE, the Health Promotion Industry Alliance was established. [Photo /Tokyo Marine]

As an in-depth continuation of cross-border co-creation, at the 6th CIIE "China-Japan Health Promotion and Innovation Technology Development Forum", Tokyo Marine Nippon Motor (China) and China Association for Rehabilitation Technology Transformation and Development joined hands to launch a government-industryuniversity-research cross-border dialogue, and jointly explore a new path for the integrated development of smart health industry in multiple fields.

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Tokyo Marine's investment and business in China. [Photo/Tokyo Marine]

"By participating in the CIIE, we can not only conduct in-depth exchanges and learn from domestic and foreign counterparts, but also discover more cooperation opportunities and potential markets, so as to realize the simultaneous improvement of the company's economic value and social value." The enlightenment of the CIIE is that enterprises can achieve steady progress by working together, said Ichiro Yubaraki.

The 7th CIIE coincided with Tokyo Marine's 30 years of investment and business in China. Ichiro Yubaraki said that participating in the 7th CIIE is a milestone for the development of Tokyo Marine in China and a new starting point for win-win cooperation.

Li Shuzhi

(Translated by Zhang Youchao)