Targeting at A Hidden Champion in the Digital World

by Lily Wang

For modern foreign trade enterprises， the support provided by digital technology is necessary， with foreign trade big data being particularly important.

When discussing leading a top foreign trade big data enterprise in China， Li Jingze， President of BTD （Big Trade Data Ltd）， has many things to say： “In the future， big data will become an important strategic resource for both enterprises and for society in general， and data will be a core corporate asset. Enterprises will pay more attention to the quality of data， since it is key to the success of business intelligence （BI）. The next few years will certainly be an important period of opportunity for the development and transformation of big data in China.”

Decisively embarking on the entrepreneurial path

Li Jingze， a self-confessed rebel， had the idea of starting his own business when he was at school. In order to realize financial independence， he started to earn money as a tutor in his first year at Xian Jiaotong University. Later， in order not to delay his studies or give up the extra income， he came up with an idea： selling information about tutoring positions. In order to expand his business， he rode a bicycle all over Xian， posting flyers everywhere to collect information about positions. In the summer holidays， he also rented classrooms from the university to give students private lessons together. Throughout his college years， Li Jingze did not cost his family a cent， and when he graduated， he had even saved in excess of RMB 10，000， becoming known as a“moneybag” in the eyes of his classmates.

This was just a small test for Li Jingze. While his classmates considered this to be a really hard way of life， by contrast， Li Jingze felt happy and satisfied with his business， and felt more confident in his aptitude for entrepreneurship. After graduation， he got a secure job at Sinopec， but refused to give up his dream of entrepreneurship. He kept seeking out high-tech projects with good market prospects requiring continuous innovation and technological updating and iteration， and made this a career for him and his team to fight for.

In 2003， Li Jingze found that there was no concept of data technology and digitalization in China， let alone a talent pool in this area. Believing it was a great opportunity to start a business， Li Jingze decided to improve and enrich his knowledge first. He enrolled in a graduate program at the School of Economics and Management of the Beijing Institute of Technology.

In 2004， while at school， Li Jingze developed software for data analysis and return on investment（ROI） calculations with the knowledge and information he had just acquired， which could automatically complete 60% of the reports needed for project investment and financing. Using this software， he wrote a project investment and financing report for the petrochemical industry. After that， Li Jingze then developed independent data analysis software specifically for global international trade data of the project investment and financing report， and built the first foreign trade data website （ImpExp.com） in China， which was a network for import and export data. He then applied the foreign trade data software to the websites online foreign trade database， thus developing the online foreign trade data query and analysis system. Unexpectedly， there were many enquiries about his website， and many users expressed their intentions to purchase， including foreign users. A user in Shanghai even immediately flew to Beijing to meet with Li Jingze.

Obviously， the time to strike was now. On July 1， 2004， Li Jingze founded Big Trade Data Information Technology Co.， Ltd. （BTD） in Beijing， China， which is mainly involved in foreign trade data analysis software and online query and analysis systems， as well as project investment and financing research. Its software products and data network platform were well received by the market from the moment they were launched.

Continuous iteration and upgrading

In 2009， Li Jingze started a business in Australia， and met two“masters” of big data， who were very surprised by BTDs huge foreign trade database However， they also felt it was a pity that the data “treasure”was seriously being under-exploited. Li Jingze listened carefully to their suggestions and began to introduce and apply big data technology to the foreign trade field under their guidance.

In fact， Li Jingze initially underestimated the difficulty of this. He expected it to be completed in a year and a half， but he encountered several key technical bottlenecks. For example， how can big data technology be used to meet the needs of calculations for ten billion records？ How can selecting N out of any hundreds of fields be made easier for user， and how can the results be returned and various visual statistical analysis reports be automatically generated in milliseconds？ Li Jingze and his team tried every possible solution， with several members of IT staff even going so far as to resign. Faced with great financial pressure， even Li Jingze struggled in the past. However， he persevered and finally overcame the challenges together with his team.

At the end of 2012， Li Jingze and his team finally solved the technical problems， and in early 2014， they upgraded the online foreign trade data query and analysis system with big data technology， and renamed the system as Big Trade Data DaaS System （BTDaaS）， and changed the company name to Big Trade Data Ltd （BTD）， cementing its place in the history books as the first company truly engaged in foreign trade big data.

In 2015， BTD expanded dramatically， with tripled key performance indicators. In 2016， Li Jingze returned to his hometown， and invested in a subsidiary company named Wuhan Big Trade Data Ltd. in Wuhan International Student Entrepreneurship Park as a high-end introduced talent. Later， he also set up subsidiaries， branches or offices in Hong Kong， Shandong Province， Zhejiang Province， Jiangsu Province， Shanghai， Guangdong Province， Shenyang and so on one after another.

After the initial exploration period， Li Jingze then developed a much clearer goal， namely to develop the company into a top player in the global digital sector focusing on foreign trade big data through hard work， continuous innovation， and specialist and detailed product R&D.

Concentrating on selfimprovement

According to Li Jingze， the company now has three main products： BTDaaS （Big Trade Data DaaS system）， TradeSaaS （Trade Marketing SaaS platform）， and BBData （Global BI Big Business Data system）. BTDaaS can help users carry out global market research independently and intelligently. With BTDaaS， i.e.a DaaS system， providing foreign trade data as a service， users can independently query and read various visual analysis reports and in-depth research reports in various ways， learn of the latest trends in the global market and international trade from all aspects， gain insights into the industry， supply chain and industry chain， seek potential and target customers and even business opportunities more precisely， develop blue ocean markets， improve the repurchase rate， and develop marketing strategies and pricing plans. Meanwhile， it can also assist users with finding their own advantages among global competitors to quickly seize the market share， while revealing gaps with foreign counterparts， in order to strengthen R&D and provide competitive products which are comparable to imports.

TradeSaaS platform can help users take the initiative in accurately carrying out global foreign trade marketing. As an SaaS platform， it provides foreign trade software as a service. The software runs on the cloud， and users do not have to download and run the software locally to acquire， develop and retain customers. Customer acquisition includes accurate attraction of target customers and seeking out key decision makers （KP）. Customer development includes marketing through EDM emails， social media platforms， communities， Whatsapp on cell phones， website promotion， online store promotion， etc. Customer retainment includes customer relationship management （CRM）， regular customer consumption habit analysis and new customer AI pushes， etc.

The main functions of BBData， which is known as the Global Business Intelligence System， are to integrate domestic and foreign trade， and examine and evaluate the creditworthiness， operation and compliance of global enterprises in a comprehensive manner. Meanwhile， big data technology can also interconnect the three business sectors.

“The company has already provided products and services to more than 100，000 foreign trade and related enterprises around the world， including centrally controlled stateowned enterprises， multinational companies， listed companies， and industry-leading enterprises. We are unique， due to our focus on innovation and work as one. We conquered several bottlenecks when applying big data technology in foreign trade systems early in 2012， while other companies in the industry are still working on their big data solutions. Our foreign trade database is outstanding in both quantity and quality. Besides this， we continue to invest in R&D and technological innovation， so as to upgrade and enrich the products. We presently have a large number of invention patents and dozens of scientific research achievements， and we are a national high-tech enterprise， a double-soft certified enterprise and a gazelle enterprise，” explained Li Jingze with pride.

Li Jingze and his team have been improving the products with their“craftsmanship spirit”， and have been focusing on technical innovations， in order to deeply and thoroughly explore the value of foreign trade data.

Responding to the pandemic digitally

The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the global economy hard， with the foreign trade industry also suffering. However， Li Jingze stressed that BTD （Big Trade Data Ltd） was only impacted in a limited manner. In order to realize flat cross- and multi-platform management， reduce transaction and communication costs， and improve customer response and operational efficiency， the company introduced and applied big data and digital technology to internal management， and after adopting big data for the foreign trade analysis system in 2009， also achieved digital operation and data-based assessment， and incorporated data culture into corporate culture.

In addition， the company conducts both hard （e.g. assessment according to sales， number of new customers， etc.） and soft （including the values， altruistic behavior， etc.） assessments of employees digitally and converts the results into weighted data， so as to make assessments， as well as promotions and rewards， fairer， opener and more just. Meanwhile， the company is strengthening the training of employees on digital thinking， data awareness and data culture， and vigorously cultivates composite and innovative talents in both foreign trade and big data.

In the early stage of the pandemic， foreign trade enterprises were greatly affected by tight logistics， the suspension of international exhibitions and the restriction on international business travel， in turn influencing BTD to a certain extent. “However， foreign trade enterprises found that active and accurate online marketing in overseas markets can greatly help deal with the impact of the pandemic， such that more and more foreign trade enterprises turn to our BTDaaS system and TradeSaaS platform for foreign trade，” Li Jingze said.

In addition， according to Li Jingze， the values of “integrity， responsibility， passion and striving”， the code of conduct of “self-confidence and self-discipline， selfreflection and self-drive， lifelong growth and learning”， and the self-driven， cohesive and hard-working team with a strong execution capacity were also essential for the company to overcome the difficulties posed by the pandemic.

In Li Jingzes opinion， there are no signs that the pandemic will end soon now， and foreign trade enterprises should be prepared to fight a protracted “war”. The era of big data has come： “foreign trade enterprises are recommended to reconsider and reconstruct traditional foreign trade， as well as corporate operational systems and organizational structures， in order to accelerate the digital transformation and upgrade and operate digitally. Foreign trade enterprises should have a strong data awareness， consider data to be a new and important production factor and resource， and incorporate data culture or digital culture into corporate culture， so that the whole company attaches importance to data and digitalization，” he said.

Li Jingze further emphasized the fact that， in addition to BTDaaS， TradeSaaS， and BBData system for foreign trade enterprises to execute intelligent business analysis and active and accurate marketing， BTD also provides personalized and customized solutions to help customers with digital transformation and upgrading.

Trying to be a “hidden champion”

Talent is of the first and most important resource for corporate development， so Li Jingze always pays particular attention to personnel development， and has introduced a strict assessment system at all levels. The assessment system is stricter for higherlevel talents： the employees at grassroots level are retained by payments， and personal ability is valued； middlelevel staff are required to be good team leaders and examples， agree with the companys values， and have good professional ethics； senior staff are provided with a clearly-defined career， and are asked to be capable， respectable， visionary and broad-minded， with the ability to discover and suitably use talented people， as well as embodying an overall consciousness.

As the founder of the company， Li Jingze also strives to keep improving his own abilities， and has submitted a number of invention patents， and won a number of awards for technical research， and for scientific and technological papers and innovations. When he had just started his business， Li Jingze also made sales calls and traveled to visit customers himself. In order to strengthen his weaknesses， he took the time to learn new knowledge about operation management， economics and trade， as it is his firm belief that only a capable leader can attract talented followers.

BTD （Big Trade Data Ltd） currently has a team of over three hundred people， but does not need an all-star team， in a nod to the excellent abilities of all members of its staff. However， the leader of each business department must be a core member， and an “outstanding leader” with the capabilities to set a good example and lead a good team. Besides this， other members should also play their own roles in their respective positions， so as to ensure that the company can run smoothly as a whole.

Nowadays， “making decisions based on data” has become the consensus. By following Li Jingzes example， we can see that it may take ten years to start a business successfully， but you may need twenty years to develop an enterprise into a leading one. With this in mind， by 2024， which will be the 20th anniversary of the company， Li Jingze hopes that BTD will have grown into a real global“hidden champion” in the foreign trade big data sector.