On May 12, the 30th party secretary forum of the National Trade Federation for large department stores was held in Nanjing, hosted by Nanjing Cenbest. Over 20 CEOs from Beijing Wangfujing, Shanghai Bailian, Dashang Group, Grandbuy Group, Cbest Group, etc. gathered in the ancient city of Nanjing, discussing business transformation and development. Chu Yonghong, Deputy Mayor of Nanjing, Chu Xiuqi, President of China Commerce Association for General Merchandise (CCAGM), and Wan Laihong, Director of the National Trade Federation attended the meeting. Chairman of Nanjing Cenbest Yang Huaizhen attended the closing ceremony and delivered a speech.

Founded in 1960, the National Trade Federation serves as a platform for market research for its members, communication, brand promotion, connecting stores and suppliers, creating new collaborative relations, etc. In the forum, the attendees conducted extensive exchanges on the current domestic and international economic and market situation as well as the problems arising in their business operations. E-commerce, O2O, supply chain transformation, house brands building, transformation, reversion to the nature of retail, etc. became the hot-buttoned topics in the forum.

On May 13, the attendees held the closing meeting at the headquarters of Sanpower Group. Yang Huaizhen, CEO of Sanpower Group as well as Chairman of Nanjing Cenbest, attended the meeting and delivered a speech. Yang said that China's department stores have once seen their better days. However, with the rise of diversified retail businesses and the continuous escalation of competition, large department stores must return to the nature of retail, being customer-oriented and commodity-rooted. Meanwhile, they are supposed to market with internet thinking, and respond to the "new normal" of China through business innovation, model innovation, and merchandise innovation. Yang was also optimistic about the transformation of China's department store industry, proclaiming that Nanjing Cenbest is willing to share its experience with its counterparts and rely on the integration of resources to promote the development of commercial retail.

Finally, Party Secretary of Nanjing Cenbest Zhu Aihua handed over the federation flag to Zhao Yinli, the organiser of the next forum and Party Secretary of Inner Mongolia National Mall.