by ZHOU Fangying

For global and Chinese companies alike, Shanghai is becoming more than a sales market. It is a place where brands test ideas, build language, connect with consumers and turn products into culture.

In the "Shanghai 2035: Answers for the Future" fashion and consumption session, speakers at the roundtable argued that Shanghai's advantage lies in its dense concentration of consumers, media, supply chains, public spaces and international visibility — making the city a platform not only for launching products, but for shaping brand identity.

Zhong Wei of Botanee described Shanghai as a city that offers both a global benchmark and a local language. For companies trying to speak to sophisticated Chinese consumers while maintaining international standards, the city provides a rare testing ground.

As consumption becomes more experience-driven, products can no longer rely only on function or visibility. They also need context — communities, spaces and stories that give them cultural meaning.

BROMPTON's Shanghai story shows how this works for an international lifestyle brand. By holding the BROMPTON World Championship China at the West Bund, the company connected British cycling culture with Shanghai's industrial heritage, waterfront public space and local riding communities.

The event became more than a race. Cycling, fashion, social interaction and urban exploration were placed in the same scene, allowing consumers to experience the brand as part of everyday Shanghai life.

That is Shanghai's deeper value for brands. The city does not simply provide traffic or retail space. It offers an urban context in which brands can become more localized, more culturally relevant and more emotionally legible.

As Shanghai looks toward 2035, its role may be defined not only by how many brands it attracts, but by how many are reshaped by being here.

Editor's note: "Shanghai 2035: Answers for the Future" is a multimedia series produced by the Shanghai Municipal Government Information Office and Jiemian News. The project explores the city's long-term development across key sectors through documentaries, expert roundtables and interviews. The fashion and consumption chapter examines how Shanghai is reshaping urban consumption through culture, community and experiential retail.