In 2019, Den Digitala Draken brought Chinese commerce to D-Congress. Now Jacob Lovén and Tom Xiong return with guests from China to explore AI, emerging brands and robotics, and what European retailers should understand next.
In 2019, D-Congress looked closely at a market where social shopping and connected platforms were developing new ways to engage customers. Den Digitala Draken brought that conversation to Gothenburg. A special episode of Digitally China, partly recorded at the event, asked whether Chinese innovation could disrupt Amazon. Among its guests was Shenyi Wu, former CFO of Pinduoduo and RED.
A few years later, Pinduoduo’s corporate group launched Temu internationally. The relevance of Chinese commerce was no longer a distant question for European retailers. At Svensk Handel, that development has reinforced the need for competition under the same requirements on product safety, chemicals and responsibility.
Those concerns remain important. They also leave a wider question to explore: what else is changing in the market, and which developments may matter beyond it?
China’s connected commerce environment offers one place to examine how AI could change shopping. When discovery and transactions sit closer together, an assistant may be able to help a customer move from expressing a need to choosing a product. The business question is who influences that choice—and how a brand earns a place in it.
A different shift is taking place in consumer brands. Laopu Gold, BYD, Songmont and To Summer offer examples of businesses developing value through craftsmanship, design and cultural references. Their ambitions invite a question about the next sources of competition: what happens when more of the country’s creative and commercial value is built under Chinese brand names?
For European businesses, it is worth examining how a brand rooted in one culture can earn preference in another. China’s manufacturing strength is familiar. Its capacity to create products people seek out for their meaning deserves a closer look. That is where this story meets Powering Fandom – Creating Icons, the D-Congress 2027 theme.
Robotics adds a physical dimension. Products still need to be made, handled and delivered. As AI becomes more capable, the relevant question is which tasks machines can perform reliably at a workable cost. China’s industrial ecosystem makes it a market to watch as those capabilities develop.
Jacob Lovén and Tom Xiong built Den Digitala Draken around the curiosity needed to examine these changes. Their approach connects what is happening inside China with questions that businesses elsewhere should consider. At D-Congress 2027, they reunite for one day with guests from China to explore AI, brands, ecosystems and robotics.
The value of looking early is not knowing exactly what will happen. It is having a better set of questions before the consequences become familiar. Which changes in Chinese commerce should European retailers and brands understand now?
What Happened to China While We Weren’t Looking?
ICONS · D-Congress · 10–11 March 2027
Svenska Mässan · Gothenburg
A perspective on connected retail and the development of social and live commerce in China.
