Masterclass: Jeremy Hunt

Are the heady days of "limitless" growth in cross-border e-commerce (CBEC) and Daigou trade gone for good? How does that square with Chinese consumers' previously insatiable demand for Australian and New Zealand brands? What happened to the market through two years of lockdowns, closed borders and political brinkmanship? What does CBEC and in-country China business look like now, where is the model heading, what do brands have to do to keep winning in Tier-1, 2 and 3 cities, where do the regulations stand, and should brands focus on export-only instead?

We wanted the answers too, so we asked Jeremy Hunt, Chief Executive of The Common Good Company. Jeremy was a key member of the Swisse team under Radek Sali, one of the first people on the ground for Swisse in China, and spent more than seven years as Chief Operating Officer of Health More, a pioneer of CBEC and Daigou trade. The first contact, fittingly, was a WeChat message rather than a phone call.

In the conversation Jeremy walks through his career and sets out in clear detail the scope of the China opportunity and how brands can adapt their strategies. The main takeaway, reinforced by President Xi Jinping's address at the 4th China International Import Expo: China remains firmly open for business.