Tony Ng, Managing Director, Greater China, Adobe. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Editor's note: The Third Qingdao Multinationals Summit will take place in Qingdao, Shandong province, from June 20 to 21, as part of the country's efforts to accelerate high-level opening-up and boost global economic recovery. Participants' expectations for this year's summit and their insights into China's endeavors to promote a higher level of opening-up and encourage high-quality growth under the new "dual-circulation" development pattern are being featured in a series of reports by China Daily.

Q1. Is this your first time to attend the Qingdao Multinationals Summit? What development opportunities did the last summit bring to your company? What are your expectations for this summit?

A: While this is not Adobe's first time at the Qingdao Multinationals Summit, this year does mark my first appearance as an Adobe spokesperson. I am thrilled for this opportunity to connect with government officers, industry associations, academic professionals and MNC peers at the conference.

I will be joining the Yicai Summit Dialogue at the event to share Adobe's observations around the personalization of the digital economy and the learning that may help MNCs – both global and Chinese – to better operate a global business under the booming digital economy.

I am very keen to glean new insights from industry experts on the development priorities of China's digital economy, the latest policies for MNC operations in China and the business opportunities that we can explore together in the future. It would be great to hear from MNC peers about their development strategies in China and their inspiring best practices.

Q2. Regardless of the impact of COVID-19, the fundamentals of China's long-term sound economic growth will remain unaltered, as will its commitment to progressively open up. The Chinese market is becoming increasingly important for the growth of global corporations. What are your thoughts on the prospects for multinational firms' development in China in this context?

A: As an MNC in China, Adobe's perspective is defined by our over 20 years' presence in the China market, where we have always been dedicated to the development of digital media and digital experiences in the market. In our opinion, China has a stable development roadmap, a fast-growing digital transformation outlook, as well as a forward-looking plan to support the digital economy to thrive in the future. China remains one of our key markets for the long-term.

Data from CAICT (China Academy of Information and Communications Technology) showed that China's digital economy in 2020 made up 16.43 percent of the global digital economy. Driven by emerging trends – such as Chinese companies going overseas – we can see that cross-border e-commerce is about to hit 2 trillion yuan ($297 billion) by 2022. Meanwhile, according to data from the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade this March, almost 80 percent of Chinese companies remain or plan to expand their reach towards global markets.

Adobe continues to hold a positive outlook for the China economy in achieving sustainable growth in the future. As an MNC, we believe our success in China is rooted in supporting our customers to transform their business into digital business. Adobe is committed to supporting China's digital economy, including enabling the creative economy, accelerating document productivity and collaborating with Chinese companies in their global expansions through great customer experience delivery.

In the process of going global, MNCs need to understand the unique local demands of their target markets, become an integral part of the local ecosystem, and comply with local regulations. With years' of experiences serving local and global customers as well as the technology platform for Customer Experience Management, Adobe has never been as relevant as it is now in empowering MNCs to grow together.

Q3. In the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, "digital transformation" has entered a new period of ecological development. How do you think enterprises can accelerate their development in the digital economy?

A: As digital transformation enters the next phase, companies need to answer a call to action to accelerate their development – make the digital economy personal.

With the digital economy growing at an unparalleled speed, there are a fast-increasing number of customers pursuing seamless, real-time and relevant experiences through interactions. They expect content to be delivered consistently at scale through multiple channels; they expect experiences to be real-time and to deliver the right message to the right customer in the right context and through the right vehicles, and they expect their customer journeys to be seamless across numerous touchpoints and across whatever channels customers use to connect with brands. To succeed in the digital economy, companies must make the customer experience personal. It is how leading B2C and B2B brands command loyalty and drive business growth.

Adobe's latest Trust Report jointly released with Advanis also proves the significance of personalization when it comes to customer trust. About 74 percent of APAC customers say that poor personalization damages brand trust.

To further strengthen the trust bonding between customers and brands, companies have to reconsider the new stand of customer experience, which is the ability to achieve Personalization at Scale – delivering these relevant experiences in real time for every customer on every channel, both online and offline, including the immersive experiences that continue to grow in prominence.