2023年，促进消费在重振中国经济过程中无疑扮演着举足轻重的角色。ALB对话消费品领域的总法律顾问，探讨中国消费场景、模式不断变化下法务团队对业务模式创新的支持；他们如何面对数据合规等监管挑战；以及2023年，他们又将如何以法律人的智慧支持消费振兴。
中国是全球最大的消费市场之一，消费者需求不断增长。中国政府一直在推动消费升级，通过一系列政策措施和改革举措来促进消费品市场的发展。
诸多咨询机构在近期发布的报告中强调了提振消费对于下一阶段中国经济发展的重要性。波士顿咨询公司指出，“随着疫情扰动因素减弱，为更好释放经济新活力，‘扩内需’‘促消费’已成为加速全年经济增长的重要抓手。多项指标显示 ，2023 年中国经济活动将持续复苏；加之消费物理场景得以修复 ，线下接触型、聚集性消费也逐步回归常态”。
与此同时，过去几年，中国的消费模式经历了快速变化。电子商务市场迅速发展，为消费者提供了丰富多样的商品选择和便捷的购物体验。社交媒体和短视频平台也成为了消费者获取产品信息、参与购物决策的重要渠道。未来，新增中产、年轻一代和下沉市场，将继续为消费韧性提供源源动力。
张俊鑫是立白科技集团法务总监，他所在的立白科技集团是日化行业最早且规模最大的中国本土企业之一，旗下拥有涵盖日常生活方方面面、中国消费者耳熟能详的诸多品牌。
谈到过去几年及今年迄今为止的消费品板块情况，张俊鑫指出，后疫情时代中国经济增速略有放缓，但已呈现站稳复苏迹象，社会消费品零售总额增幅也在快速恢复。“去年，快消品全渠道销售略有下降，但整体趋于平稳。不过受疫情影响，居民消费更加谨慎，线下零售商经营出现不同程度的困难。因此，法务合规团队今年会重点关注企业应收账款的风险管理，预防债权风险。”
成进是蔡司大中华区法律合规负责人，作为一家德国企业，蔡司在中国的业务领域十分广泛，聚焦消费板块，则主要关注消费者光学，如近视防控镜片市场。
成进坦言：“疫情对消费品市场的打击是巨大的，整个行业面临着重新洗牌。疫情期间很多实体眼镜门店被迫关闭歇业，尤其是一些小品牌因业务严重萎缩而退出市场。去年12月大规模感染期间，眼镜市场业务同比急剧下跌。”
不过，和其他许多行业一样，消费品行业今年一季度也迎来了回弹。“今年1月，随着疫情趋于平稳，市场迅速恢复，基本上恢复至历史同期的七成至八成水平。1月和2月的寒假旺季，更是为市场带来了较大的增长，同比增长超过40%。”
在消费业务快速恢复的背景下，成进指出， 2023年法律合规部将“进一步了解业务策略和需求，助力业务团队的商业模式转变，提升公司品牌影响力”，同时也会继续关注消费品领域的营销和广告方面的法律合规风险，保障业务在活跃市场下的平稳发展。
聚焦新消费场景
诚然，消费者在回归，然而他们并没有回归到曾经的消费渠道中去。在中国，消费这件事正在与新的场景、技术不断结合，消费品企业也必须推陈出新，不断尝试“新玩法”。
“中国的零售市场呈现大卖场发展持续收缩，便利店和社群等新营销业务渠道快速发展的趋势。法务合规团队积极参与新渠道经营模式的共创，并赋能新营销渠道的开拓。例如为新兴渠道部门设计各种合作条款，并发布了多个业务合规指引，同时作为多个项目的法务项目经理，直接参与解决业务开拓中的问题。”
张俊鑫，立白科技集团
立白的张俊鑫告诉ALB，在日化领域的线下销售方面，“中国的零售市场呈现大卖场发展持续收缩，便利店和社群等新营销业务渠道快速发展的趋势”。
与此同时，新兴线上渠道对于日化领域影响也不小。实际上，立白早在2018年就启动了加速数字化转型升级的企业战略，建立了自己的数字中心，开发了“数字订货会”、直播等面对C端消费者和B端经销商、分销商及零售商的不同数字化产品。
在此过程中，张俊鑫说，“法务合规团队积极参与新渠道经营模式的共创，并赋能新营销渠道的开拓。例如为新兴渠道部门设计各种合作条款，并发布了多个业务合规指引，同时作为多个项目的法务项目经理，直接参与解决业务开拓中的问题。此外，我们还高度参与了集团‘省区联营公司’的运营和管理”。
在蔡司，其消费者光学业务也面临着变化。过去，蔡司的近视镜片产品在销售层面面对的主要是B端渠道。不过，成进告诉ALB，配合蔡司全球总部战略、尤其在大中华区构建总部职能的不断推进，“公司在大中华区将持续提升品牌以影响更多消费者，因此积极参与其中并发挥价值，也成为法律合规部不可忽视的职责”。
为此，法律合规部着重开展了两方面的工作。“一是助力公司向B2C2B商业模式转变，团队逐步构建本地商标战略能力，以期更加积极地影响消费者。我们积极主动地参与业务团队对商业策略和商业模式的探索和讨论，协助其分析法律合规风险，在防范风险的同时提供解决方案。”
第二，未来与消费者更为频繁的互动也意味着需要愈发强化公司品牌。因此，“从公司品牌提升角度，我们在广告合规领域和业务紧密合作，赋能业务在合法合规的范围内加强品牌宣传和推广；借助内外部资源，我们组织了各种形式的广告合规相关的专业培训和分享，提升消费品板块业务团队的法律和合规意识”。
强化数据合规
与消费者更为频繁的互动，尤其线上互动，也意味着大量数据将汇集到消费企业手中。面对中国数据领域“三大法”的落地，数据合规也持续成为消费领域总法律顾问关注的话题。
对此，立白的张俊鑫观察到：“2022年是我国数据合规迅速发展的一年，也是《个人信息保护法》和《数据安全法》正式实施的一年，众多配套的标准、法规正在逐步落地实施，司法和执法也在不断强化。”
与此同时，立白也在持续贯彻“1+2”战略，即以一个品牌为引领、提高中台赋能、同时发展to B和to C两大平台的战略，并继续完成集团数字化转型升级，“我们也着力做好网络安全和数据合规工作”。为此，立白在2022年建立了数据合规和网络安全委员会，“全面统筹和推进网安和数据合规工作。截至目前，已建立了基本的合规体系，今年将进一步强化有关工作”。
“蔡司中国法律合规部的数据合规团队，近年来一直在致力于构建完善的数据合规管理体系。目前，我们已经建立了一系列包括个人信息保护政策、数据保护影响评估流程、个人信息主体权利申请流程等在内的数据合规政策和流程。 跨境数据传输的监管要求也给企业的法律合规管理带来了新的要求和挑战。”
成进，蔡司大中华区
在蔡司，成进告诉ALB，“蔡司中国法律合规部的数据合规团队，近年来一直在致力于构建完善的数据合规管理体系。目前，我们已经建立了一系列包括个人信息保护政策、数据保护影响评估流程、个人信息主体权利申请流程等在内的数据合规政策和流程”。
面对中国企业国际化程度不断提升、在华外资企业业务不断活跃的情况，近期，数据出境成为数据合规领域新的热点话题。张俊鑫告诉ALB，去年《数据出境安全评估办法》《数据出境安全评估申报指南（第一版）》相继实施，今年则有《个人信息出境标准合同办法》正式落地，“对数据出境提出了具体、明确的规则和要求，法务合规团队也在持续关注业务变化和跨境数据传输的监管趋势”。
蔡司的成进对此也颇有感触：“跨境数据传输的监管要求给企业的法律合规管理带来了新的要求和挑战。我们团队将进一步提高公司的数据跨境合规管理能力，加强相关专业知识和技能的提升以及经验积累。同时，我们将开展有效的安全评估，结合不同的场景和业务实际，对相关数据跨境合规风险进行分级管理，以有效地管控数据跨境传输的风险。这也是预防跨境数据合规风险的前提。另外，针对可能出现的企业数据跨境合规危机，我们将从制度建设和操作流程层面，切实建立并持续完善危机应对能力。”
关注科技赋能
伴随数智化成为企业，甚至经济整体发展的关键词，总法律顾问指出，2023年，以科技工具赋能法务部工作、继续推动法务部的数字化转型，也成为他们工作的重心之一。
对此，成进告诉ALB：“作为一家以科技为驱动的公司，蔡司的每个部门从未忽略技术这一要素。法律合规部同样应该与时俱进，拥抱新技术，赋能我们的业务，提升法律合规风险管理水平和效率。”
他进一步介绍道，目前，蔡司正聚焦于公司内部的流程优化、系统提升及法律合规部的整体数字化升级改造。“例如，我们去年已开发并上线了蔡司中国电子签章申请系统，实现公章申请和审批的电子化，确保申请和审批记录的可追踪性。”
“未来，我们将继续强化对于新技术工具的应用，探索升级第三方风险防控、电子公章、合同生命周期管理等数字化工具。我们的目标是，伴随数字化的应用和发展，将更多基础性工作交给工具来处理，同时借助系统化、数字化工具的力量，进一步提升日常管理效率和法律合规风险防控水平。”成进分享道。
过去几年日化业务的快速变化也让立白对于数字化的重要性有了更深刻的认识。张俊鑫说：“企业的数字化转型是面向未来构建核心竞争力的发展方向，也是企业高质量发展的重要保障。我们集团早在几年前已开启了数字化转型工作，作为集团后端支持部门，法务合规团队对数字化转型工作也高度重视。”
基于这样的认识，立白法务合规团队在积极探索和上线能降本增效的系统和工具。“目前，我们已经上线了合同电子签系统、档案管理系统、知识产权管理系统和案件管理系统等，今年还在实施合同全生命周期管理系统。”张俊鑫说。
今年人工智能技术的迅猛也给法务部的技术探索指明了新方向。张俊鑫说，立白团队已经在持续观察和研究ChatGPT、Midjourney、DALL.E等生成式AI产品的应用情况。“AI可以在某些业务场景中帮助我们提升工作效率和业务创新。如果时机成熟，我们可能会考虑开展智能合同审核和智能广告审核等相关工作，以帮助专业人员提升人工效能。”
构建能力全备的团队
在支持业务发展的同时，法务团队也没有放松自身成长，不断寻求建设能力更为全备的团队。
在立白，张俊鑫坦言，立白虽是一家中国民营企业，但业务却是全球化的。因此，“我希望法务合规团队扎根中国但具备全球视野；既拥有扎实的法律功底又具备商业思维，成为业务的好伙伴”。
最近几年，立白法务合规团队在团队培训方面可谓投入了大量资源。“我们举办了许多专场法律培训，包括数据合规、跨境电商、知识产权和国际仲裁规则等，未来还会持续增加这方面的投入。此外，我们也将在适当的时候上线或更换更先进的业务办公系统，持续提升工作效率。”
在蔡司，蔡司大中华区法律合规部则在过去几年见证了团队职能的不断拓展，并因此对团队未来角色有着更大的想象。
成进告诉ALB：“目前，蔡司大中华区法律合规部已经发展为全面涵盖蔡司大中华区法务、合规、出口控制、数据安全、知识产权及公司治理六大领域的专业团队。我们期望团队能在整个大中华区承担起对于公司的治理职能，成为一支积极赋能业务的专业高效的团队。”
谈及未来，这支团队为自己设定了两大发展目标。“一方面保护公司的核心利益不受损害，防范法律合规风险；另一方面基于对本地市场法律合规风险的理解，促成业务增长、赋能业务。”成进说。
GC CONVERSATIONS: BOOSTING CONSUMPTION
China is one of the largest consumer markets in the world, with ever-growing consumer demand. The Chinese government has been encouraging consumption upgrades through a series of policy measures and reform initiatives to develop the consumer goods market further.
Many consulting firms have recently emphasised the importance of boosting consumption in developing China's economy going forward. According to the Boston Consulting Group, "as pandemic-triggered disturbance weakens, to better unleash the new vitality of the economy, 'expanding domestic demand' and 'promoting consumption' have become important means to accelerate economic growth for the whole year. Multiple indicators point to the continued recovery of China's economy in 2023. In addition, the resumption of physical consumption scenarios means that consumption characterised by in-person contact and gathering will also gradually return to normal."
Meanwhile, China's consumption patterns have rapidly changed over the past few years. The exponential growth of e-commerce provides consumers with a wide variety of products and a convenient shopping experience. Social media and short video platforms have become important channels for consumers to obtain product information and make purchase decisions. Going forward, the growing middle class, the younger generation and consumers in lower-tier cities will continue to steadily power consumption resilience.
Zhang Junxin is the legal director of the legal department of Guangzhou Liby Group, one of the earliest and largest local Chinese companies in the daily chemicals industry, which owns many brands that are familiar to, and that cover all aspects of the daily life of Chinese consumers.
Speaking of the performance of the consumer goods sector in the past few years and so far this year, Zhang points out that although China's economic growth has slowed down somewhat in the post-pandemic era, signs of sustained recovery can already be seen, and the growth of total retail sales of consumer goods is rebounding rapidly.
"Last year, the omnichannel sales of FMCG declined slightly, but the overall trend remained stable. However, affected by the pandemic, consumers have become more cautious with spending, causing varying degrees of challenges to offline retailers. Therefore, the legal and compliance team will focus this year on risk management of accounts receivable to prevent credit risks," says Zhang.
Cheng Jin is head of legal and compliance at Zeiss Greater China. German-headquartered Zeiss has a wide range of business interests in China, focusing on, among others, consumer optics such as the market for myopia prevention and control lenses. He says the pandemic has dealt a huge blow to the consumer goods market, and the entire industry faces a reshuffle.
“During the pandemic, many physical optical stores were forced to close, as a result of which some lesser-known brands exited the market due to severe lack of business. Further, the eyewear market saw a sharp year-on-year drop in business last December when infection peaked,” Chen notes.
However, like many other industries, the consumer goods industry rebounded in the first quarter of this year. "With the pandemic subsidising this January, the market recovered swiftly, largely back to 70 percent to 80 percent of the historical level in the same period. The peak winter holiday season in January and February was an added boost to the market, leading to year-on-year growth of over 40 percent."
As consumer goods business recovers at full steam, Cheng says that in 2023, the legal and compliance department will "better understand business strategies and needs, help business teams with business model transformation, and enhance the company's brand influence.” Meanwhile, the team will continue to focus on legal and compliance risks for marketing and advertising consumer goods, and support the steady growth of business in an active market.
NEW SCENARIOS
Although consumers are back, they are not returning to the old channels. In China, consumption is constantly being integrated with new scenarios and technologies. As a result, consumer goods companies must also constantly innovate and try "new ways to play the game.”
Zhang Junxin, Guangzhou Liby Group
Zhang shares with ALB that in terms of offline sales of daily chemical products, "the trend in China’s retail market sees the continued contraction of hypermarkets and the rapid development of new marketing channels such as convenience stores and communities."
At the same time, emerging online channels have a considerable impact on the field of chemicals for everyday use. In fact, as early as 2018, Liby already launched a corporate strategy to accelerate digital transformation and upgrading, established its own digital centre, and developed different digital products targeting C-end consumers as well as B-end dealers, distributors and retailers, such as "digital business fairs" and livestreaming sessions.
According to Zhang, during this process, "the legal and compliance team has been actively participating in the co-creation of new channel business models and been empowering the development of new marketing channels. For example, we designed cooperation terms for emerging channel departments, released multiple business compliance guidelines, and directly got involved in addressing issues in business development as the legal project manager of multiple projects."
Zeiss has also noticed changes in its consumer optics business. In the past, the sales of its myopia lens products were mainly targeted at B-end channels. However, Cheng tells ALB that in line with the group's global headquarters strategy, especially the continuous progress made by the Greater China region in building up its headquarters functions, "the company will continue to enhance its brand in Greater China to influence more consumers, so it has become imperative for the legal and compliance department to actively play its role in this process."
To this end, the team has been focusing on two aspects. "The first is to help the company transform to a B2C2B business model. The team is gradually building up local trademark strategic capabilities to more actively influence consumers. We proactively participate in the exploration and discussion of business strategies and models by business units, assist them in analysing legal and compliance risks, and offer them solutions while preventing risks."
Second, more frequent interactions with consumers going forward also mean a heightened need to build up the company's brand. Therefore, "from the perspective of brand promotion, we work closely with business units in advertising compliance to empower business teams to step up brand promotion within the scope of legal compliance. Leveraging internal and external resources, we have organised various forms of professional training and sharing sessions concerning advertising compliance to enhance the legal and compliance awareness of business teams in the consumer goods segment."
REINFORCING DATA COMPLIANCE
More interactions with consumers, especially online interactions, also mean that consumer companies will come into possession of a large amount of data. With the implementation of the three key data-related legislation in China, data compliance remains a topic keenly watched by general counsel in the consumer sector.
"2022 saw rapid development of data compliance in China. It was the year when the Personal Information Protection Law and the Data Security Law officially came into effect. Many supporting standards and regulations are gradually being promulgated and implemented, and judicial administration and law enforcement are also being constantly strengthened," says Zhang.
At the same time, Liby is pressing ahead with its "1+2" strategy, which is to use one brand as the lead and to simultaneously develop two platforms that target B-end and C-end channels, and to continue with the group's digital transformation and upgrading journey. "We are focusing on cybersecurity and data compliance work in this process." To this end, Liby set up a data compliance and cybersecurity committee in 2022 to "comprehensively coordinate and drive cybersecurity and data compliance work. As of now, we have already established a basic compliance system, and will further strengthen relevant work this year.”
"The data compliance team of Zeiss China's legal and compliance department has been working on building a comprehensive data compliance and management system in recent years. At present, we have already established a series of data compliance policies and procedures that cover personal information protection policies, the data protection impact assessment process, the process for applying for rights of personal information subjects, etc. Regulatory requirements on cross-border data transfers have also brought about new requirements and challenges."
Cheng Jin, Zeiss Greater China
According to Cheng of Zeiss, "the data compliance team of Zeiss China's legal and compliance department has been working on building a comprehensive data compliance and management system in recent years. At present, we have already established a series of data compliance policies and procedures that cover personal information protection policies, the data protection impact assessment process, the process for applying for rights of personal information subjects, etc."
The increasing internationalisation of Chinese enterprises and the active business of foreign-invested enterprises in China have made data export a new hot topic in recent years. Zhang tells ALB that the implementation of the Measures for Data Export Security Assessment and the Guidelines for Application for Data Export Security Assessment (First Edition) last year and that of the Measures for Standard Contract on Personal Information Export this year have "put forward clear rules and requirements on data export, and the legal and compliance team watches business changes and regulatory trends in cross-border data transfers with ongoing interest."
Cheng also has much to share: "Regulatory requirements on cross-border data transfers have brought about new requirements and challenges to the legal and compliance management of enterprises. Our team will further uplift the company's capabilities of cross-border data compliance management, step up relevant professional knowledge and skills and accumulate more experience. At the same time, we will carry out effective security assessment, so as to effectively manage risks of cross-border data transfers. In addition, in response to possible cross-border data compliance crises, we will effectively develop crisis response capabilities by both formulating rules and tightening operational procedures."
TECHNOLOGY EMPOWERMENT
With digital intelligence becoming a key word for the development of enterprises and even the economy, general counsel mention that in 2023, empowering the work of in-house teams with technological tools and continuing to promote digital transformation of the teams will also be one of their priorities.
"Zeiss being a technology-driven company dictates that technology is never neglected by any of its departments. The legal and compliance department should also keep pace with the times, and embrace new technologies to empower our work and improve the level and efficiency of legal and compliance risk management," says Cheng.
He adds that at present, Zeiss is focusing on internal process optimisation and system improvement, as well as the overall digital upgrading of the legal and compliance department. "For example, we developed and launched the Zeiss China electronic seal application system last year to enable online application for official seals and online examination and approval of such applications and ensure the traceability of the whole process."
"Looking ahead, we will continue to beef up the application of new technological tools, and explore digital tools such as third-party risk prevention and control, electronic signing, and contract life cycle management. Our goal is to hand over more basic work to technology, while leveraging systematic and digital tools to further improve the efficiency of daily management and the level of legal and compliance risk prevention and control."
Rapid changes in the daily chemicals industry over the past few years have also given Liby the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the importance of digitisation. "Digital transformation is the direction for enterprises to build the future-ready core competitiveness. Our group embarked on the journey of digital transformation a number of years ago. The legal and compliance team also attaches great importance to digital transformation efforts."
That is why the team is actively exploring and launching systems and tools that can lower costs and increase efficiency. "At present, we have introduced the contract e-signing system, the file management system, the intellectual property management system and the case management system. This year, we are scheduled to adopt the contract full life cycle management system," Zhang introduces.
The booming of artificial intelligence this year has also pointed to a new direction for the technological exploration efforts of the department. Zhang says that the Liby team has been observing and researching the application of generative AI products such as ChatGPT, Midjourney and DALL.E on an ongoing basis. "AI can help us improve work efficiency and business innovation in certain business scenarios. When the timing is right, we may consider smart contract review and smart advertising review to help raise productivity."
ALL-AROUND TEAM
While supporting business growth, in-house teams are not slacking in their efforts to seek self-growth.
Zhang says that although Liby is a Chinese private enterprise, its business is global. Therefore, "I hope that the in-house team can become a team that is rooted in China but has a global vision, and that has not only solid legal knowledge but also business acumen to be an excellent business partner."
In recent years, the team has invested a lot of resources in team training. "We have held many training sessions, including those on data compliance, cross-border e-commerce, intellectual property and international arbitration rules, and will continue to increase investment in this area. In addition, we will also launch or switch to more advanced office systems to continuously improve work efficiency."
On the other hand, the legal and compliance department of Zeiss Greater China has witnessed the continuous expansion of its functions over the past few years, and therefore has greater aspirations for its future roles.
As Cheng puts it: "At present, the legal and compliance department of Zeiss Greater China has developed into a professional team that is capable of comprehensively covering the six major areas of legal affairs, compliance, export control, data security, intellectual property and corporate governance. We expect to undertake the corporate governance function in the entire Greater China region, and become a professional and efficient team that actively empowers business."
The team has set itself two key development goals going forward. "On the one hand, we must protect the company's core interests from being harmed and guard against legal and compliance risks. On the other hand, we should facilitate business growth and empower business based on our understanding of the legal and compliance risks on local markets," says Cheng.