SINGAPORE: Local brands seeking to enter China retail market will now be able to do so in under three months, as compared with the usual two years, following the launch of end-to-end e-commerce platform Kinofy.
Kinofy, which means "to move" in Latin, according to the company, was founded to respond to the meteoric rise of mobile commerce in China in recent years.
It offers a range of services to support the entry of merchants into China through an eight-step programme, from business advisory and product registration to logistics, warehousing and mobile commerce store creation.
Speaking at the launch on Wednesday (Apr 18), Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran emphasised the importance of internationalisation.
“Companies’ growth can only be sustained if they are venturing into new and diverse markets and expanding their international footprint,” said Mr Iswaran.
Created in partnership with government agencies, Kinofy - which is built on the WeChat platform - can give companies access to more than 1 billion Chinese shoppers, it said.
When Kinofy’s parent company Kino Biotech tried to enter the Chinese market in 2007, the challenges were tremendous including issues with product registration regulations.
AdvertisementAdvertisementUsing Kino Biotech’s experience with the Chinese market over the last decade, Kinofy was created to ease other Singaporean companies’ entry into the market.
Kinofy CEO Kawee Chong said he hopes the platform will empower Singapore companies to tap on China’s possibilities.
“Through this platform, we hope to create an ecosystem for Singapore companies to come together for a share of the market,” said Mr Chong
International Advanced BIO-Pharmaceutical Industries (IABPI) was one of the Singaporean companies that used a beta version of Kinofy to enter the market about two months ago.
Chief executive officer of IABPI Lee Chee Cheow said that Kinofy eased the process for the company to enter China, especially with regards to the legalities involved.
“As a small company it would have been impossible for us to do something like this on our own,” said Mr Lee.
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