China's dual-circulation growth paradigm and consumption upgrading will allow global companies to further capitalize on the good market opportunities and create new space for win-win cooperation, said a business executive from Savencia Group, a French food manufacturer and a third-time exhibitor at the China International Import Expo.

Under the dual-circulation model, the domestic market is the mainstay while the domestic and foreign markets reinforce each other.

"Chinese consumers have already shifted their spending focus to healthier and more personalized cuisine," said Denis Vergneau, general manager of Sinodis, a business unit of Viroflay, which is part of France-headquartered Savencia.

"For instance, the flexitarian championed in recent years by environmentalists and animal rights activists motivates us to source premium vegan ingredients from all over the world," he said, adding that another example is people's pursuit of a healthier diet, which pushes the company to improve formulas and introduce low-sugar options, so that consumers could enjoy food without worrying about the high sugar content of conventional sweets.

The executive said a close tie with consumers allows his company to quickly respond to their changing needs and introduce products that are more aligned with current culinary preferences. The CIIE is an ideal platform to bring the company's products closer to consumers.

The CIIE presents unmissable opportunities for multinationals to connect to the Chinese market, where they are more likely to grow profits, expand reputation and embrace robust operations. Savencia is honored to introduce its new products, including cream and vegan chocolate, for the first time in the country, he added.

Sinodis serves as a vital channel that connects Savencia to the Chinese market. It now has a portfolio of 30 brands from over 10 countries and regions, supplying star-rated hotels, restaurants, and pastry, bakery and beverage chains with over 1,000 products covering dairy, pastry, beverages, gourmet and grocery.

Apart from expecting a double-digit growth in sales revenue in China this year, the French company also plans to supply more high-end cream and cheese products to milk tea businesses across China and further expand its sales network in the country's lower-tier cities in the coming years.

The COVID-19 pandemic and the stay-at-home economy have pushed the sales of foodstuffs, dairy products and snacks, as well as a rapidly growing embrace of e-commerce in China, said Guo Xin, a marketing professor at Beijing Technology and Business University.

She said that true winners are those who are able to tap into new consumer demand and innovate to create new growth levers.

"I've always been fascinated by most animals, wildlife, marine life, nature, our environment, our landscapes," he told Xinhua.

The all-consuming fascination led Portelli to leave his marketing job to take his cameras for some of the world's most scenic regions including the Arctic, Antarctica, Africa, and South Pacific islands.

The images he has captured offer intimate portraits of the rarely seen lives of wildlife, particularly marine creatures ranging from majestic humpback whales, leopard seals, sharks and huge sunfish down to delicate sea horses and translucent jellyfish.

His close and personal portraits have garnered international awards, the most recent being Australian Geographic Nature Photographer of the Year for an ethereal image of a leafy sea dragon staring deep into the camera lens.

Among his other notable works has been a film about humpback whales, Gentle Giants, which was selected for the International Ocean Film Festival in San Francisco last year. Meanwhile his photos have graced exhibitions in such far-flung destinations as Iceland, Britain and Spain, as well as his hometown Sydney.

Portelli hopes the photographs raise his audience's awareness of the importance of wildlife conservation.

"I think the best thing about this job is I go to some of the remotest places on the planet and see these unique animals," he said.

"As a wildlife photographer you try to share that with a wider audience to get people connected with nature and wildlife.

"I enjoy showing people the behaviors of animals that they might not have seen before. I've got photographs, for example, of green turtles eating giant jellyfish. So someone might see that and think:'I didn't know they eat those things'."

"By connecting people with nature and wildlife, they might take action. Whether by signing a petition or picking up a bit of plastic off the beach or looking at how they have an impact in an environment with wildlife."

The environmental awareness includes understanding of the role of biodiversity for healthy ecosystems.

"A lot of the work I do, I'm trying to show the diversity of our ecosystems," he said. "We have so many creatures in so many symbiotic relationships, so, for example, if you impact one thing in the ocean, then something else takes over.

"If all the sharks die off, then another species will take over which could impact the reef system and so on."

His message is timely amid the environmental conferences such as the 15th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity (COP 15) in China earlier this month and the upcoming the 26th session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 26) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Glasgow.

Portelli hopes that the protection of oceans will be featured during the Glasgow summit meetings.

"We need to look at plastic pollution in our oceans and the breakdown of these microplastics that are going to last forever," he said.

"Another thing is the amount of oxygen that comes from the ocean and sea grass. People don't realize that that's a big part of how we, as a species, survive."

"Our oceans are our life blood and are not an unlimited resource. Overfishing, habitat loss, climate change, all these things can reduce our underwater world to a desolate wasteland."

Skier Eileen Gu and actor Yi Yangqianxi present a romantic tale in a promotional film for the 2022 Winter Olympics torch relay. [Photo provided to China Daily]

On Oct 22, two days after Beijing welcomed the arrival of the Olympic flame, a short film titled A Date With Snow and Ice was released online, garnering millions of clicks on several popular social media platforms such as Sina Weibo.

The five-minute film-a promotional piece ahead of the 2022 Winter Olympics-features Yi Yangqianxi, currently one of China's most sought-after actors, and freestyle skier Eileen Gu, also known by her Chinese name, Gu Ailing.

In the film, Yi plays the role of an explorer who goes deep into a cave, surprisingly discovering a series of paintings depicting skiing in ancient times. Shortly after he closes his eyes, the next moment twists to an illusion-like scene that features Yi's character meeting a beautiful woman, played by Gu, riding on a white horse on the snowfield.

Seemingly falling for each other at one glimpse, they enjoy the romantic moments with a variety of winter sports like skiing and skating. When the tale comes back to reality, the two youngsters reunite on the iconic Great Wall to run as torchbearers passing the flame for the 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

Director Ding Sheng, who has worked on action blockbusters, including the Jackie Chan-starring Police Story: Lockdown (2013), recalls feeling proud when commissioned to helm the new project, which also contains a two-minute conceptual work aside from the five-minute film. The two sections share the same subject and cast.

Ding and his team stumbled upon stories about cave paintings depicting Stone Age hunters skiing, discovered in 2005 in the Altay prefecture of the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region. Then they paid a visit to the locale, forming the idea to use it as the starting scene in the short film.

"The real 'protagonist' of the film is the Olympic torch, but we wanted to give it a romantic rendering," says Ding, adding that he hopes the film showcases China's distinctive landscapes and winter sports culture.

Pitching a tone to show China's picturesque scenery, the crew traveled to five locations-Altay in Xinjiang, Changchun and Jilin in Jilin province, Hulunbuir in the Inner Mongolia autonomous region and the Mutianyu section of the Great Wall in Beijing.

The shooting was mostly conducted between January and February, with the lowest temperature being around -40 C. Besides, a smooth surface 30 meters wide was particularly polished on the frozen Kanas Lake in Altay to ensure cast members were capable of performing skating stunts.

"Though it's a short film, I took the job as seriously as I would have for a feature-length work. Most of the time we got up at around 4 am to snap the breathtaking scenes of sunrise," Ding says.

Yi, whose blockbusters in recent years have earned an overall box office of 8 billion yuan ($1.25 billion), accepted the "special task" to serve as an acting coach for Gu to help her perform better.

"Gu is an excellent athlete, but she hadn't acted in such a film before. I was once worried if she could accurately display layers of emotions in close-up shots. So I asked Yi to express more emotions through his eyes to help Gu find the feeling," Ding explains.

A graduate of fine arts from the Beijing Film Academy, Ding says he had made hundreds of drawings to help his cast and crew members better understand his directorial intentions.

A drawing is also a static representation of a moment. "Most winter sports are fast, so a lot of documentaries and video works try to capture the movements with an attempt to showcase the sense of speed. But we intentionally slow down to help the audience feel the emotions of those engaged in the sports," Ding explains.

"Snow and ice sports are a gift from nature. We really hope audiences will get interested to participate in such activities as skating and skiing, making more friends and enjoying the charm of winter sports," he concludes.

"There is a lot of great musical content from Chinese labels and artists. The cooperation will allow Apple Music users worldwide to explore China's unique music culture and genres," said TC Pan, TME's Group vice president of Content Cooperation, adding that the company attracts about 260,000 Chinese musicians hoping to achieve their musical dreams through the company's online streaming platforms, such as QQ Music, Kugou, Kuwo and We Sing.

"The new global music distribution platform will help promote more high-quality Chinese music overseas and realize the global value of Chinese music," he adds.

Figures suggest the music scene in China is booming. The 2021 International Federation of the Phonographic Industry annual Global Music Report ranked China as the seventh-largest music market last year. According to the third quarter report of 2021 released by TME on Nov 9, paying online music users jumped 37.7 percent to 71.2 million from a year earlier, while it increased by 5 million from the prior quarter.

"It's very exciting to bring Chinese music to audiences worldwide. My music is inspired by Chinese culture and features unique Chinese musical elements, such as traditional Chinese instruments. I hope that Chinese sounds can be enjoyed by more people," said electronic music producer Willim, whose real name is Miao Weilin. A graduate of Icon Collective, a Los Angeles-based college of music, and University of Southern California, Miao has been part of Chinese-American pianist and composer Nathan Wang's team and worked on soundtracks for films such as Vanguard, directed by Stanley Tong and starring Jackie Chan, in 2020.