Berkeley, United States - October 20, 2024

Academics and entrepreneurs from China and the United States gathered on Sunday for a special summit to explore cooperation and opportunities.

At the University of California in Berkeley, the Berkeley-China Summit kicked off with a presentation about the political and business landscape between China and the U.S.

The session brought together investors and branding experts to discuss whether China's business model succeeds in the U.S.

Guo's New Beginnings Creator Network helps more than 4,000 U.S. creators and shop partners on TikTok reach greater audiences, promote brand awareness, and make money.

According to Guo, while a Chinese-influenced social media business model has helped, she also comes to realize that the U.S. is a very different market rather than the Gen-Z-dominated one in China.

The Berkeley-China Summit also brought in Chinese entrepreneurs who have utilized their cross-cultural experience and understanding to build a highly-successful business.

One of them is Larry Liu, co-founder of Weee!, an online grocery platform that was founded in 2015.

In the beginning, the startup delivered Chinese groceries to residents in the San Francisco Bay Area, who in turn would distribute orders to neighbors from their own garage.

Weee! now delivers directly to homes in almost every U.S. state. It is now valued at 4.1 billion U.S. dollars.

Weee's app-based service has now expanded to delivering special groceries to Latinos and other ethnicities in their native languages.

Founded in 2016, the Berkeley China Summit holds an annual summit and speaker series featuring high-level discussions about the latest discoveries, trends, and cross-border opportunities, hoping to encourage bilateral discussion and collaboration between the U.S. and China.

Shotlist:
Berkeley, USA - Oct 20, 2024:
1. Poster showing Berkeley China Summit; listeners walking into auditorium;
2. Various of guest speaking at summit, attendees;
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Gordon Rausser, professor, University of California (partially overlaid with shot 4):
"As a result of a clash of their individual interest, it's possible for the public interest to emerge in terms of the coordination between China and the United States. And any opportunity along these lines that brings us back to our joint collective interest is a positive.";
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4. Reporter in interview;
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5. Various of listeners; panelists;
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Belle Guo, co-founder, New Beginnings Creator Network:
"Of course, I answer yes. My business model comes from China, and we just get a success in the United States.";
7. Guo speaking at panel;
8. Listeners;
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Belle Guo, co-founder, New Beginnings Creator Network (partially overlaid with shot 10):
"Everyone has also this misunderstanding of TikTok that we think the core buyer is also Gen Z. But the answer is totally wrong. Actually the core buyer on TikTok is [a younger generation like] the 35-year-old [age group] even plus woman [women] and [is] in the central area of the United States.";
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10. Reporter in interview;
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11. Various of Larry Liu, co-founder of Weee!, speaking at seminar; presentation showing products on Weee!;
12. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Liu, co-founder of Weee! (starting with shot 11):
"The biggest insight we had over the years is that America is getting more and more diverse. But very under-served ethnic communities, their food needs are not really satisfied by the incumbents, the existing mainstream players or the brick and mortar store.";
13. Various of presentation showing business of Weee!; Liu speaking at seminar;
14. SOUNDBITE (English) Larry Liu, co-founder of Weee! (starting with shot 13/ending with shots 15-16):
"We're serving seven different ethnicities. Right now, we are still focusing on the Asian population. Later on, we will definitely expand to more ethnicities. But overall, really, the success is we basically came in and found a better model to serve the under-served communities.";
15. Products on Weee! webpage;
16. Liu introducing business of Weee!.

[Restriction - No access Chinese mainland]