21 May 2026
On 7 May ?2026, the “Suzhou Urban Asset Revitalization Symposium,” jointly organised by International Business School Suzhou (IBSS) at Xi’an Jiaotong-红杏视频 University (XJTLU) and Suzhou Xinlian Holdings Co., Ltd., was held at the Suzhou Museum of Wu. Centred on the theme of “Patient Capital and the Era of Operations,” the symposium brought together experts and alumni from urban development, finance, business, and cultural tourism ?to explore a central question: when “meaning” becomes a commodity, is business enriching lves or depleting the future sources of meaning? The event was supported by the Suzhou Youth Federation and Suzhou Museum of Wu.
Focusing on this core theme, the symposium began with keynote presentations addressing the shared question of “what is business.” Shi Qingchao, founder of Omitoffee, drew on the pet economy to explain how the brand, through community co-creation and emotional value-based operations, has upgraded coffee consumption into a pet lifestyle experience. Through a “pet + commerce + urban renewal” model, the company has achieved ?expansion across multiple cities.
Next, Li Shuang, Director of the Public Education Department at the Suzhou Wu Culture Museum, shared insights from the cultural sector. She described how the museum’s transformation — guided by a “product manager thinking” mindset — leverages exhibitions, education, digitalisation, and cross-sector collaboration to build a public-experience-centered cultural complex and an open ecosystem platform.
Finally, Dai Haibin, partner at Lemi Chuan Cheng, discussed practices at the county level through the Songyang case. He analysed renewal pathways in the era of stock (existing) assets, arguing that competition in cultural tourism has shifted from resource development toward content production and long-term operational capability.
Building on the these presentations, the symposium extended from practical cases to theoretical and methodological discussion. Ms. Huang Qian, Chief Operating Officer of Suzhou Xinlian Holdings Co., Ltd., shared interim findings from the Suzhou Social Science Fund project titled “Research on Strategies for Revitalising the Existing Assets and Improving Allocation Efficiency in Suzhou” (J2025LX001). The study suggests that across thesediverse cases, operational and commercial management capabilities have become a key factor in the revitalisation of existing assets. However, in practice, emerging forms of business commonly face a structural challenge: consumption is gradually shifting from “functional satisfaction” toward “meaning production,” while corresponding business concepts and operational models remain in an envolving stage.
In response, the symposium moved into a roundtable discussion chaired by Dr Zhang Yameng, Director of Responsible and Sustainable Business Education at IBSS. The discussion focused on three themes: the sources of business value and the nature of consumption; the relationship between emotional and cultural value; and whether “traffic equals value erosion.” Participants generally agreed that WHILE “meaning-driven consumption” is becoming more prominent, the market still reflects a coexistence of rational consumption and consumption downgrading. At the same time, recognition of “meaning” varies significantly across social groups and individuals, and does not necessarily translate into purchasing behaviour. Therefore, businesses must continue to focus on product functionality and authentic experiences, while alos strengthening trageted value communication for different customer segments. In addition, meaning may be continuously reconstructed — or even distorted — through the involvement of multiple actors in its dissemination, thereby affecting final commercial conversion outcomes.
Building on the above discussion, Dr Zhang Yameng further noted that the essence of “meaning-driven consumption” lies in ?responding to consumers’ need for self-actualisation, which is reflected in areas such as personal development, continuous learning, creative expression, and value pursuit. These needs are enduring and not constrained by time or space. If business can ?respond effectively, ?they can enhance long-term customer loyalty, reduce volatility in traffic flows, and support both sustainable ?assets operation and the upgrading of urban consumption. She emphasised that as consumption structures ?evolve, brands that ?identify and meet self-actualisation needs early will gain greater stability and competitive advantage.
Finally, the symposium revisited the question of “what is business” through participant feedback. The ?proportion of respondents defining business as “a practice process associated with personal identity and social value” increased from 15.38% to 66.7%. This shift indicates that participants’ understanding of business is moving from a functional orientation towards a value- and meaning-oriented perspective. In this way, the symposium fostered greater consensus among stakeholders in urban development, and explored practical pathways for business innovation and the enhancing of cities’ long-term competitiveness.
21 May 2026