Bailian Group VP: Shanghai's Haipai culture drives global retail innovation

Shanghai's homegrown retail giant is doubling down on cultural authenticity, immersive experiences, and seamless services for international visitors to support the city's efforts to become an international consumption center, according to Sun Wei, vice-president of Bailian Group.

Sun delivered the message at a panel discussion titled "Global Executive Dialogue: Global Demand, Shanghai Style" in the city on Aug 26.

The event brought together five executives from the retail, outdoor lifestyle, wellness, beauty, and jewelry sectors to discuss Chinese culture, Shanghai-style products, experiential consumption, and services for international visitors.

Sun said Bailian Group, as a leading Shanghai-based retail enterprise, has noted a profound shift in how younger generations overseas perceive China.

"We're seeing that overseas young people are moving beyond traditional symbols like the Forbidden City, the Great Wall, the Terracotta Warriors, and kung fu," he said. "They increasingly want to experience China's everyday lifestyle firsthand."

This shift, Sun observed, aligns with the growing popularity of guochao (China-chic) brands in Shanghai, rising cultural confidence, and the city's broader efforts to build itself into an international consumption center.

Bailian Group, he emphasized, is not chasing short-lived online fads but focusing on long-term, structural changes — including the expansion of China's visa-free transit policy to more countries, growth in consumption by inbound tourists, and the increasingly localized needs of its customer base.

Sun outlined three strategic pillars: creating immersive Chinese lifestyle experiences, driving innovation while preserving heritage at the group's time-honored brands, and improving the full-service chain for inbound consumption.

Sun said Bailian uses Haipai (Shanghai-style) culture to help local brands tell Shanghai's story in a global context.

In Sun's view, the essence of Haipai culture, or "Shanghai Style", is "first and foremost about integration — the blending of East and West, tradition and modernity, space and time".

What makes Shanghai Style globally appealing, Sun said, is that it is never a one-way expression of Chinese culture, but rather a product of dialogue between Eastern and Western aesthetics.

"What we do is provide the stage, the setting, and the commercial pathways for that dialogue," he said, adding Bailian actively supports domestic and international brands in co-developing globally resonant Shanghai-inspired products through debut launches and collaborative creation.

Sun detailed a four-dimensional approach to product design — urban texture, Eastern aesthetics, emotional value, and co-creation — to incubate Haipai products "with Shanghai roots and global wings".

Bailian has spent five years developing fragrance as a key product category. One example is Huaihai 471, a perfume named after the street number of the historic Bearn Apartments and inspired by the white magnolia.

Sun also highlighted how Bailian transforms the crowds drawn by major events — such as Formula 1, the Shanghai Marathon, and the CIIE — into sustained citywide consumer activity. The group actively links retail with major citywide events, offering value-added services including ticket-stub perks, tax-refund facilitation, and exclusive shopping vouchers.

For example, in cooperation with the ongoing exhibition On Top of the World Tree: Ancient Civilizations of the Americas at the Shanghai Museum, Bailian has opened a theme-based store inside Wuliangcai's historic flagship space, combining Maya-inspired merchandise and VR exploration with heritage retail.

"We turn the foot traffic from individual events into city-level consumer flow through benefits across business formats, immersive thematic scenes, and convenient services for inbound travelers," he said.

Sun praised International Services Shanghai, an official multilingual platform available in 10 languages that provides practical information on business, travel, shopping, and daily life for expats and foreign visitors, for its detailed information and international-facing design. He suggested promoting the portal more widely to reach more international visitors and residents.