The second China International Import Expo (CIIE) is over and it's been insightful to have spoken to many foreign businesses, government officials and related stakeholders.

The consensus that emerged from my interviews and conversations was that multilateralism is the way forward (despite still lackluster global growth); developed and developing countries are happy to partake in China's continued opening-up.

One of the quotes which struck me was from Bruno Lannes, a partner at management consulting firm Bain & Company that focuses on consumer goods and retail sectors.

The Chinese market is challenging, but it's the "best consumer story in the world. It's an attractive market; it's a competitive market, but you have to be there if you want to be successful globally," Lannes said ahead of the second CIIE.

Amidst the rise of Chinese home-grown brands, Lannes said, foreign brands have to become "more Chinese", and essentially to adopt the "4D model” (design, decide, deliver, digitize).  

International brands must "design for China, for Chinese consumers, as opposed to having global products that they think they will sell in China as well as elsewhere. You need to decide in China and empower the local team to make the decisions locally because it goes so fast that you don't have time to escalate up and down your hierarchy," he said.

"You have to deliver at China's speed because of course, this is such a rapidly evolving market, and then ... you need to digitize your business as this again (is) the country where digitalization is happening much faster," he added.

Lannes, who has been in China since 2006, said that if multinationals take heed of the 4Ds, they then have a higher chance of succeeding and beating local competitors.

When asked about the potential growth of China's rise in consumption, Lannes quipped: "The size of this market is still growing at five to six percent every year, that is a tremendous opportunity.

"This is driven by the largest middle class in the world, it's driven by increasing income per-capita growth and millennials. All of those fundamental factors are driving consumption in China which is attracting brands from outside the country."