In 2006, the Ministry of Commerce implemented the "Revitalization of Time honored Brands Project" and officially launched the recognition of "Chinese Time honored Brands". The definition of "Chinese Time honored Brands" is: brands with a long history, products, skills or services that have been passed down from generation to generation, distinctive traditional Chinese cultural background and profound cultural heritage, widely recognized by society, and forming a good reputation. Subsequently, local governments in various provinces (regions, cities) have also successively introduced recognition rules for local time-honored enterprises.
Based on its profound historical accumulation, Beijing has a huge number of national and municipal time-honored brands. In 2006 and 2011, the Ministry of Commerce twice recognized 1128 "Chinese Time honored Brand" enterprises nationwide, with a total of 117 in Beijing, second only to Shanghai's 180. As of September 2022, Beijing has recognized seven batches of 223 municipal level time-honored enterprises. These time-honored enterprises are mainly distributed in food processing, catering services, cultural and artistic services, retail services, pharmaceuticals, clothing and apparel, and other industries. Among them, the food processing industry is famous for Tianfuhao, Liubiju, Wang Zhihe, etc.; the catering industry is famous for Quanjude, Donglaishun, Wonton Marquis, etc.; the cultural and artistic service industry is famous for Rongbaozhai, Yidege, Dai Yuexuan, Beijing Gongmei Group, Beijing Enamel Factory, etc.; the retail service industry is famous for Wangfujing Department Store Dong'an Market, Xidan Mall, etc.; the pharmaceutical industry is famous for Tongrentang, Henian Hall, etc.; the clothing industry is famous for Ruifuxiang, Neiliansheng, Buyingzhai, Sheng Xifu, etc.; other industries are famous for Wang Mazi, Wu Yutai, Zhang Yiyuan, etc. It can be seen that Beijing's time-honored brand resources are extremely rich, with a wide range of industries, which are closely related to people's lives and carry rich historical and cultural connotations, and have a profound influence at home and abroad.
The internationalization process and challenges of a Beijing time-honored brand
（1） Exploring the Path of Actively Promoting International Operations for Time honored Brands
Beijing's time-honored brands have rich historical heritage and cultural connotations, which are concrete manifestations of China's excellent traditional culture and cultural symbols of the capital and the country. The internationalization of time-honored brands is not only a necessary path for their own business development, but also an important bridge for the dissemination of national image and Chinese culture. Since the reform and opening up, with the improvement of China's level and openness to the outside world, internationalization has become an important direction for famous time-honored brands to invest and operate abroad.
As a leader in the internationalization of Beijing's time-honored Chinese medicine brand, Tongrentang Group has opened over 150 retail terminals in 28 countries and regions overseas and registered the Tongrentang trademark in over 100 countries and regions as of April 2023, after 30 years of international development. This has promoted Tongrentang Group's brand to the world and gradually achieved a leap from "Tongrentang in Beijing" and "Tongrentang in China" to "Tongrentang in the world".
The famous catering time-honored brand Quanjude has established an international business path of scale, modernization, and chain operation. It has gone through three stages of development: "going out", "going in", and "going up". Through franchise models, it has set up multiple franchise stores in countries such as Japan, Myanmar, Canada, Australia, and France. The oldest and most influential group in history, Jianyifang Group, has explored a new path of brand internationalization by first "going out" to regions with a high degree of internationalization of Chinese culture such as Taiwan and Hong Kong, and then seeking to "go out" to broader international regions. With the help of partners with international perspectives in Taiwan and Hong Kong, it has promoted its internationalization strategy and achieved significant results.
In the process of internationalization, Beijing time-honored brands have always highlighted the inheritance and promotion of excellent traditional Chinese culture, closely integrating it with product promotion and commercial operations, and achieving good commercial and cultural dissemination effects. For example, the retail terminals, traditional Chinese medicine clinics, health centers, medical centers, etc. established by Tongrentang Group overseas are not only economic entities but also cultural carriers. People can not only experience Chinese health services here, but also learn traditional Chinese health methods such as Tai Chi and Ba Duan Jin. These institutions have become important windows for spreading traditional Chinese medicine culture. In addition, for tea brands such as Wu Yutai and Zhang Yiyuan, as well as cultural brands such as Rongbaozhai, the promotion and dissemination of traditional culture are important features of their internationalization.
（2） Time honored brands participate in cultural exchanges with foreign countries through diplomatic activities, expanding their international influence
Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, Beijing's famous time-honored brands, as representatives of traditional Chinese culture, have mostly participated in very important reception work in national foreign affairs and diplomatic activities. For example, Rongbaozhai was identified as one of the key places for foreign guests to visit in foreign affairs activities by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other departments as early as the early 1960s. According to its official website, Rongbaozhai has received heads of state from Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, France, Israel, and other countries. According to the official website of Quanjude, as of 2020, Quanjude Group has also received over 200 heads of state and political figures from around the world. Neilian Sheng cloth shoes enjoy a high reputation abroad, mainly due to Neilian Sheng's active participation in foreign affairs activities, such as the heads of state of countries like North Korea and Australia, who have been customers of Neilian Sheng.
Time honored brands are still important providers of Chinese gifts in foreign affairs and diplomatic activities. Since the 1950s, Rongbaozhai has repeatedly hosted the national gifts used by Chairman Mao Zedong and Premier Zhou Enlai. For example, the "Beijing Rongbaozhai New Poetry Annotation" was presented to members of the Czech film delegation. The cloisonn é handicrafts from Beijing Enamel Factory have also been given as national gifts to foreign guests for a long time. In September 2015, the United Nations held a series of summits to celebrate its 70th anniversary, and China presented a giant cloisonn é "Peace Zun" as a gift; In January 2017, the United Nations held a high-level meeting on "Building a Community with a Shared Future for Mankind" in Geneva, and China presented the "Song of Prosperity" cloisonn é bottle as a gift. At the 2014 APEC meeting, the cloisonn é bottle "Four Seas Rising Flat" produced by Beijing Gongmei Group was presented as a national gift to foreign leaders attending the meeting. The "Rose" brooch and "Flower Blossoms" handbag made by Beijing Filament Factory with filigree inlay technique were also presented as national gifts to foreign guests. The famous calligraphy and paintings of time-honored brands, as well as national gifts such as cloisonn é and filigree inlaid handicrafts, are not only rich in Chinese cultural heritage, but also carry beautiful meanings, which have enabled time-honored brands to gain international reputation through foreign affairs and diplomatic activities.
（3） Time honored brands serve international political, economic, and cultural events, promoting international exchanges of folk culture
At such international political, economic, sports and cultural events as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games, the "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum, the China Africa Forum, the World Expo, the Expo, the World Expo and the World Trade Fair, Beijing time-honored brands are deeply involved in international exchanges and spread Chinese traditional culture. During the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Wu Yutai exclusively provided bagged tea and established a "Chinese Tea Art Room" in the Olympic Media Village, allowing athletes from all over the world to taste Chinese tea and promote tea culture. In 2010, Wu Yutai, as a licensed tea producer and retailer for the Shanghai World Expo, once again pushed Chinese tea onto the world stage, providing the world with an opportunity to understand and appreciate Chinese tea culture. Quanjude has served for many sports events such as the Beijing Olympic Games, the Winter Olympic Games and the Asian Games, as well as major international events such as the "the Belt and Road" International Cooperation Summit Forum and the Forum on China Africa Cooperation, and is responsible for food supply, which not only promotes and spreads the catering culture with Chinese characteristics, but also expands the international influence of enterprises.
（4） Deep integration of time-honored brands with the tourism industry to enhance internationalization
The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated: "Adhere to shaping tourism with culture and highlighting culture with tourism, and promote the deep integration and development of culture and tourism." This has pointed out the direction for the high-quality integration and development of the cultural and tourism industry. As an important tourist city in China, before the COVID-19, Beijing received at least hundreds of millions of tourists every year, including about 4 million inbound tourists. It is also an important way for foreign tourists to learn about Beijing and love Beijing in a short time. It is inseparable from the participation of time-honored brands, and to promote the deep integration of culture and tourism in a broader, deeper and higher level. It is also an important way for time-honored brands to internationalize.
Firstly, time-honored brands have become an important part of Beijing's tourism industry. For example, Quanjude has become a shining business card for Beijing roast duck. When foreign tourists come to Beijing, they must try Beijing roast duck, and of course, Quanjude is the first choice. In addition, the Qianmen Dashilan area and the Houhai area are also important tourist destinations for foreign tourists due to the concentration of time-honored brands. Beijing's time-honored brands are internationalized, and we should fully utilize the opportunities brought by the recovery of the inbound tourism market. Secondly, integrating the management of time-honored brands into tourism enterprises can fully leverage the cultural attributes of time-honored brands and the tourism attributes of tourism enterprises, achieving complementary effects through the integration of culture and tourism. For example, the time-honored brands under the First Travel Group include Quanjude, Donglaishun, Wangfujing Department Store Dong'an Market, etc. This combination can enhance the operational vitality of tourism enterprises and promote the internationalization of time-honored brands through group operation.
（5） Challenges and Opportunities Faced by the International Development of Beijing's Time honored Brands
The internationalization of Beijing's time-honored brands presents a rich and diverse development path, but there is still a problem of low overall internationalization and uneven development, with significant differences in internationalization levels among different types of enterprises.
Some enterprises have early international strategic layout, high degree of internationalization, and significant results. For example, Tongrentang, Quanjude, Wu Yutai, etc., with their long history and reputation passed down from generation to generation, attempted to carry out international market business since the beginning of the reform and opening up, and formed a new path of internationalization that combines commercial promotion and cultural dissemination. However, some consumer oriented time-honored enterprises, such as Ruifuxiang, Tianfu Hao, Wang Zhihe, Duyichu, Yitonglong, etc., have small business scales, distinct local characteristics of their products, a relatively fixed consumer audience, and greater difficulty in internationalization. Although they have made efforts, the internationalization effect is still insufficient.
In recent years, under the trend of globalization receding, the internationalization methods and paths of time-honored brands have encountered difficult problems, and the promotion of internationalization is facing numerous challenges. Time honored brands need to quickly adapt to the international competitive environment, including changes in quality standards and consumer environment, as well as consumer psychology and culture that are different from those in China. For example, the internationalization of time-honored tea brands such as Wu Yutai and Zhang Yiyuan faces many difficulties. Chinese food and agricultural product standards have not yet been in line with international standards, and the regulations on pesticide residue limits for tea in countries such as the European Union, the United States, and Japan have become obstacles to the export of time-honored tea brands; In addition, there are significant differences in tea consumption habits and tea culture between the East and the West. The tea culture inherited by China's time-honored brands is not well promoted abroad, and it will take a long time for the West to accept Chinese tea.
However, the concept of internationalization for Beijing's time-honored brands is constantly changing and updating, reflecting a proactive attitude towards expanding their internationalization path. After the COVID-19, Beijing time-honored brands are also facing a rare opportunity to restart internationalization. In recent years, Beijing's time-honored enterprises have collectively appeared at the China International Import Expo and the Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services, promoting their internationalization strategy. Existing time-honored brands with a high degree of internationalization, such as Tongrentang and Quanjude, continue to promote internationalization. Zhang Yiyuan has also completed brand registration in more than ten countries and regions, including the United States, Germany, and Australia, and actively developed franchise chain stores in overseas cities. Some old brands that did not have a strong sense of international market development before have also taken a positive step forward. At the 2021 International Forum on Trade in Services, Neilian Sheng, Ruifuxiang, and Beijing International Studies University formed an international communication strategic partnership to assist in the internationalization of time-honored brands and overseas brand promotion. Neilian Sheng, together with Beijing International Studies University, participated in the Christmas flash mob in London, bringing China's time-honored brands to the high-end commercial streets of the UK. This fully reflects the strong awareness and positive trend of these time-honored brands' internationalization.
How digitalization empowers the international development of time-honored brands
After entering the digital era, consumption presents new prominent characteristics such as personalization and experience. Information technologies such as mobile Internet and big data enable the development of time-honored brands, which provides new opportunities for time-honored brands to glow with vitality, and also provides new impetus for their internationalization, opening up a new path.
（1） The digital transformation of time-honored brands requires policy support
To achieve digital transformation and promote international development of time-honored brands, it is necessary to protect and support national and local policies, improve and standardize relevant systems, and optimize and empower the digital environment.
In recent years, the national strategic level has vigorously promoted the digital transformation and international development of time-honored brands. The Ministry of Commerce, in conjunction with the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and other relevant departments, is deeply implementing the protection project for Chinese time-honored brands, and has successively issued relevant guidance to actively promote the digital development of time-honored brands. In March 2022, the "Opinions of the Ministry of Commerce and 8 other departments on promoting the innovative development of time-honored brands" were officially issued, which clearly stated the need to "promote the internationalization of time-honored brands", guide representative field time-honored brand enterprises to carry out service trade in accordance with market-oriented principles, promote high-quality services of time-honored brands to enter the international market, and point out that one of the ways to stimulate the innovation vitality of time-honored brands is to guide them to combine traditional business models with modern information technologies such as big data and cloud computing, upgrade marketing models, develop new formats and models, and create new consumption scenes. As for this path, in the Notice on Strengthening the Linkage between time-honored brands and Historical and Cultural Resources to Promote Brand Consumption jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce, the Ministry of Culture and Tourism and the National Cutural Heritage Administration in January 2023, there is a more explicit expression: "Promote the digital transformation of time-honored enterprises, use modern information technology such as big data and cloud computing to upgrade the marketing model, and create a new consumption scene."
On this basis, Beijing has successively issued relevant documents and implemented corresponding policies to support the digital transformation of Beijing's time-honored brands. Among them, the "Implementation Plan for Cultivating and Building an International Consumer Center City in Beijing (2021-2025)" issued by the General Office of the Beijing Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the Beijing Municipal People's Government specifically proposes to promote the development of time-honored brands by adhering to integrity and innovation, and accelerate the digital transformation of time-honored enterprises in cultivating the consumer brand matrix. At the same time, relevant departments in Beijing also provide channels for the digital transformation of time-honored brands through large-scale exhibitions such as the Beijing Service Trade Fair. Since 2021, dozens of time-honored brands have participated in the Beijing International Fair for Trade in Services every year, with digitalization and internationalization being important display contents. In recent years, the Ministry of Commerce has actively organized and carried out the "Time honored Brand Carnival" activity, gathering major e-commerce platforms to assist in the online sales of time-honored brand products. In March 2023, the "Time honored Brands Carnival" event hosted by Tiktok Life Service will help time-honored brands transform digitally by building time-honored brands' time corridors and traditional skills renewal exhibition areas, displaying time-honored brands' historical photos, characteristic devices and intangible cultural and creative products. The policy support and guidance from the government and Beijing Municipality are quite helpful for the digital transformation of time-honored brands. The current problem is that time-honored enterprises with different industries, sizes, and development models have different focuses and priorities for digital and international development, and need to be classified and refined for guidance. Consumer oriented enterprises with high levels of technology and large production scales have significant differences in their specific directions and implementation paths for digitalization and internationalization compared to small and medium-sized enterprises that focus on manual skills. They need to highlight their own characteristics in order to truly achieve digital empowerment and promote international development.
（2） Time honored brands should actively promote international dissemination through digital means
The profound connotation of Chinese culture and the exquisite traditional Chinese skills are richly reflected in Beijing's time-honored brands. To promote their internationalization through new media communication methods and make them more widely understood and accepted by domestic and foreign audiences, it is necessary to fully explore innovative ways and paths of integrated media communication.
1. Innovatively using short videos and social platforms to broaden new paths for international dissemination of time-honored brands
Research has shown that in the era of integrated media, video content websites/apps and social media websites/apps are one of the main ways for foreign people to obtain information related to Beijing and China. Through Tiktok, Station B, especially TikTok (Tiktok International Edition), Twitter (Twitter), Facebook (Facebook), Instagram, Youtube and other influential international social platforms, we can build a social media communication system involving multiple accounts, and identify the unique advantages of private blogger accounts that have long been active in different vertical segments such as tourism and food, which can improve the breadth and depth of time-honored brands' cultural communication. Cultivating "internet celebrities", especially "foreign internet celebrities", unleashing their creative vitality and enthusiasm, can have a better dissemination effect on promoting the cultural skills and intangible cultural heritage of time-honored brands. It is particularly noteworthy that this type of dissemination method can better attract the younger generation as internet natives, which is more meaningful for the international dissemination and future development of time-honored brands.
For example, in June 2020, the Wellington Chinese Cultural Centre in New Zealand, with the support of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism, launched the "Cloud · Tour China" column through its own media platform, accompanied by English commentary to introduce the culture and history of old Beijing, which had an impact on social media platforms commonly used by overseas people such as Facebook, Youtube, TikTok, etc. During the 2022 Spring Festival, Beijing International Studies University collaborated with China.com to produce a series of short video programs titled "Celebrating the New Year with Intangible Cultural Heritage". These programs introduced the intangible cultural heritage of time-honored brands such as Beijing cloisonn é craftsmanship, Tongrentang handmade pan water pill craftsmanship, and Long Shuncheng's hardwood furniture manufacturing skills. Through the perspective of international students, they discovered a different China, a different Chinese culture, and a unique time-honored brand, which had a remarkable international dissemination effect. According to statistics from China.com, the first season of the program was pushed to all platforms with a total playback volume of over 8 million times, and was reposted by over 3000 mainstream media outlets both domestically and internationally, reaching over 300 million users. There are also many other successful cases, which can illustrate that in the era of integrated media, the internationalization process of time-honored brands has put forward new requirements for communicators, communication methods, and communication forms, and provided unlimited possibilities for them.
2. Utilize virtual reality technology to expand the new space for international dissemination of time-honored brands
2021 is regarded as the first year of the "metaverse", and some museums have begun to try to use virtual reality technology and metaverse technology to better showcase Chinese cultural relics and spread Chinese culture to audiences at home and abroad. On December 24, 2021, the fully immersive interactive digital cultural exhibition hall "The World of Gods and Humans - Sichuan Ancient Shu Civilization Special Exhibition" jointly constructed by the collections of Sichuan Museum, Sanxingdui Museum, and Jinsha Site Museum was opened to global audiences. Within 5 days, more than 70 mainstream media outlets from 13 countries continued to report and pay attention to it. In December 2022, the "Digital Dunhuang Open Material Library" jointly created by Dunhuang Academy and Tencent was opened to the public worldwide, attracting attention.
The "Opinions on Promoting the Innovative Development of Time honored Brands" jointly issued by the Ministry of Commerce and 8 other departments clearly states the need to strengthen the excavation and organization of cultural resources of time honored brands, and build a "Time honored Brand Digital Museum", with the aim of revitalizing cultural resources of time honored brands, displaying and promoting intangible cultural heritage of time honored brands. Taking Jianyifang as an example, it currently has up to 10 intangible cultural heritage projects, and its data and content are sufficient to support its digital museum construction. The museum can not only demonstrate and experience the skills of intangible cultural heritage on site, but also fully utilize VR virtual reality and other technologies to restore the production techniques of braised duck, or present celebrity anecdotes and traditional scenes, showcasing the history and culture of time-honored brands. In the future, cutting-edge digital technology can be used to create a "metaverse" virtual tourism experience platform in the central axis, Dashilan, Houhai and other areas where Beijing's time-honored brands are concentrated. In addition to promoting Beijing's central axis for World Heritage application, it can also allow foreign audiences to immerse themselves in the core cultural essence of time-honored brands online.
3. Actively utilizing digital platforms to support the international development of time-honored brands
In recent years, with the support and guidance of the government, time-honored enterprises have utilized new technologies such as 5G, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence to achieve intelligent manufacturing and digital management operations, greatly promoting the innovative development of time-honored brands and giving them new vitality.
(1) Time honored enterprises are accelerating their digital transformation
The "Report on Digital Transformation and Innovative Development of Time honored Brands" released by the Circulation Industry Promotion Center of the Ministry of Commerce in 2021 mentioned that the country's promotion of new infrastructure such as 5G networks and data centers provides basic support for the digital transformation of time honored brand enterprises, further reducing their digital transformation costs. At the same time, large e-commerce platforms such as Taobao and JD.com leverage their advantages in technology, supply chain, logistics, finance, and other aspects to provide convenient digital services for time-honored enterprises. This enables time-honored enterprises to seize the development opportunities of consumer upgrading, accelerate digital transformation, and build a distinctive consumer service system. For example, Daoxiang Village focuses on building an omnichannel management and operation platform, connecting marketing systems with backend systems, achieving synchronization of product information, inventory information, and order information, effectively improving the management and operation capabilities and efficiency of channels. Long Qingxiang establishes a complete user profile, deeply interprets user needs through big data, refines user group classification, connects the digital marketing sales service loop, and reactivates user value. Several time-honored enterprises such as Quanjude and Donglaishun have reached digital development agreements with Meituan, comprehensively enhancing their online operational capabilities.
(2) E-commerce platforms help time-honored brands achieve digital marketing transformation and upgrading
Time honored enterprises can utilize the massive customer base samples of e-commerce platforms such as Tmall, JD.com, and Pinduoduo, relying on massive consumption data to fully investigate user behavior characteristics and taste preferences, make consumption trend predictions, provide big data support for developing new products and iterative upgrades, continuously enrich product categories, and deeply explore the needs of users in different regions. They can also carry out extended marketing for special holidays and festivals to help brands achieve online sales growth. According to statistics from the Ministry of Commerce, during the "Double 11" period in 2021, the sales of 220 Chinese time-honored e-commerce platforms doubled. Beijing time-honored brands such as Caibai, Wangmazi, Ruifuxiang, and Quanjude saw year-on-year growth rates of 362%, 258%, 200%, and 167%, respectively. During the "618" shopping festival on Tmall in 2022, the sales of 214 time-honored brands in China increased by over 100% year-on-year, with the transaction volume of Beijing time-honored brands increasing by 20.3% year-on-year. It can be seen that it has become a consensus for time-honored brands to expand their marketing channels and market space through e-commerce platforms, and have achieved outstanding results.
(3) Live streaming e-commerce has become a new direction for marketing innovation of time-honored brands and a new model for brand consumption
According to statistics, there have been nearly 350 Chinese time-honored brands live streaming on major platforms in recent years. In 2022, the number of live broadcasts exceeded 50000, with a turnover of over 3.5 billion yuan, an increase of more than five times compared to 2019. Among Beijing's time-honored enterprises, Caibai has established a Caibai stock live streaming base, forming a pattern of both self broadcasting matrix and influencer matrix. In 2021, online sales accounted for over 10%; Neilian Sheng established a live streaming team in 2020 and completed over 2000 live streams in just over two years, with live streaming sales accounting for more than 30%. The time-honored enterprises have also used new media platforms such as official account, microblog, Tiktok and Xiaohongshu to promote. According to the data from the Research Institute of Big Engine Cities, by March 2023, the number of time-honored brand related videos has exceeded 400 million times, the number of related topics has reached 880 million times, and the number of "China time-honored brand" catering businesses have clocked in Tiktok 58000 times, with more than 37000 related talents. It can be seen that utilizing various new media platforms for online live streaming has become the main breakthrough point for innovative marketing models of time-honored brands, and has also exploded with astonishing influence.
(4) How digitalization truly empowers the international development of time-honored brands
In summary, digital transformation, e-commerce platforms, and live streaming models can minimize spatial and regional limitations, achieve deep integration between physical industries and the digital economy, and play a positive role in promoting the international development of time-honored brands. However, currently, e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo mainly target the domestic market. How to expand the booming online and live streaming marketing to the international market will be a new challenge for the internationalization of time-honored brands.
Firstly, expanding into foreign markets requires further effective utilization of international e-commerce platforms. This not only relies on the strengthening of cooperation awareness and exploration of cooperation ideas between time-honored brands and existing foreign cross-border e-commerce platforms such as Amazon and eBay, but also on the replication and updating of successful marketing models of time-honored brands on domestic e-commerce platforms to international e-commerce platforms. It also puts forward higher requirements for the ability of domestic cross-border e-commerce to promote time-honored brands abroad and assist the development of time-honored enterprises.
Secondly, time-honored enterprises with conditions can achieve international operations by building their own cross-border sales platforms. For example, in 2016, Tongrentang launched the cross-border e-commerce platform "Tongrentang International", which directly provides traditional Chinese medicine and plant health products and services to global consumers. This self operated platform covers seven countries including the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and Singapore, selling both its own brand products and products from other domestic pharmaceutical brands, and has become an important window for the dissemination of traditional Chinese medicine culture. Although the initial investment for building a self built platform is large, its advantages lie in having better brand credibility and specialized and scalable services, which are not possessed by general third-party platforms.
Finally, for time-honored enterprises to explore international markets through digital transformation, they need to actively update their business philosophy, align with international standards, and attract and cultivate international talents to participate in international competition. Otherwise, the lack of ideas and talents will become the biggest obstacle to the internationalization of time-honored enterprises.