"YATONG aims not to become a commercial empire, but to build a shared economy where both upstream and downstream industries can achieve value enhancement and sales growth on the YATONG platform."
At the Pharmaceutical Industry New Distribution Development Forum (hereinafter referred to as "the Forum") held at the Hilton Jinan on October 29, 2020, Zhou Guohui, Chairman and CEO of Shenzhen YITONG Supply Chain Co., Ltd., passionately outlined the company's long-planned strategic direction during interviews with Jinan Daily, Qilu Net, Jinan Television, and other media outlets.On the same day, YITONG launched its innovative pharmaceutical distribution supply chain platform—YITONG Pharma Procurement—pioneering a transformation in the pharmaceutical distribution system and helping unlock new growth avenues for the industry.
Reportedly, as China's leading supply chain service provider, YITONG has dedicated 23 years to deepening its supply chain expertise. It remains committed to enhancing clients' core competitiveness by enabling them to "focus on core business while outsourcing non-core operations," thereby driving the transformation and upgrading of China's distribution industry through supply chain optimization.
Zhou Guohui, Chairman and CEO of YITONG Group
Seizing New Opportunities for Industrial Transformation, New Distribution Leads YITONG Toward Trillion-Yuan Scale
Zhou Guohui stated in his address that China's current distribution sector can be described in four words:
"Fragmented." Companies operate independently, duplicating investments, and each maintains a complete set of functions despite being small-scale, resulting in severe waste of social resources.
"Chaotic"—enterprises lack robust channel management systems, resulting in inefficient distribution networks and a market flooded with counterfeit and substandard products.
"Impoverished"—not merely lacking capital, but more critically lagging in mindset, knowledge, technology, and management. At its core, this reflects a "poverty" of thinking.
"Small"—small enterprises, small stores, and small workshops dominate the landscape. They struggle to achieve effective resource integration, hold minimal bargaining power with upstream and downstream partners, and face immense growth challenges."Amid the national push for consumption upgrades and the emphasis on strengthening domestic circulation, China's distribution industry must swiftly overcome its fragmented, disorganized, impoverished, and small-scale predicament. By learning from developed nations' experiences and employing 'integration, connectivity, and sharing,' it must consolidate the distribution sector to drive transformation and upgrading, thereby enhancing efficiency and industry competitiveness."Which Chinese enterprise can shoulder the mission of transforming and upgrading the distribution sector? YIT is undoubtedly the most capable contender today.
YIT is a renowned state-owned enterprise and a Fortune Global 500 company—a subsidiary of Shenzhen Investment Holdings Co., Ltd. With over 500 branches and 2019 business volume nearing 100 billion yuan, it stands as China's leading comprehensive supply chain service provider in terms of service network coverage, industry reach, operational scale, and innovation capabilities. Its service network now spans over 320 domestic cities plus regions including Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States, serving industries such as FMCG, home appliances, telecommunications, IT, healthcare, and retail.It serves over 100 Fortune Global 500 companies including Procter & Gamble, Unilever, GE, and Philips, alongside more than 2,600 renowned enterprises, reaching over 2 million retail outlets. This formidable strength forms the solid foundation and confident backing for YITONG's drive to transform and upgrade the distribution industry.Historical records indicate that YITONG was the earliest platform in China (2009) to propose distribution industry integration. In recent years, competitors like Alibaba's Retail Connect, JD New Channel, and Zhongshang Huimin have also emerged. Leveraging its first-mover advantage, YITONG has innovatively introduced a new strategy integrating online and offline "supply chain + internet" development. Online, it uses apps to reach customer needs; offline, it completes service loops through its supply chain.It is reported that YITONG plans to leverage its digital platform to integrate upstream and downstream operations. Upstream brands will share access to downstream retail networks, while downstream retailers will gain access to upstream brand supply channels. This will enable upstream enterprises to supply directly to retailers, empower retailers to source directly from manufacturers, and help distributors consolidate resources to grow stronger. The goal is to create a digital shared economy platform with a trillion-yuan scale.
YITONG Digital Pharmaceutical New Distribution Platform Launch Ceremony
> YITONG PharmaGo Pioneers New Distribution Paradigm in Pharmaceutical Industry
Zhou Guohui outlined that YITONG's new distribution strategy is nationwide in scope, building a shared platform that connects upstream, midstream, and downstream players through digital systems. This will evolve into an interconnected, comprehensive, shared, innovative, and intelligent ecosystem. Three dedicated apps have been developed: ZengGou.com, YITONG PharmaGo, and Supply Chain App.
Zhenggouwang serves as an online bulk procurement platform for FMCG and home appliance sectors, catering primarily to retail outlets, corporate buyers, and household group purchases. Yiatong Pharmaceutical Procurement is a dedicated B2B platform for the pharmaceutical industry, enabling direct supply and procurement for pharmaceutical brands, distributors, and pharmacies while leveraging Yiatong's professional supply chain services.The Supply Chain APP consolidates YITONG's 23 years of expertise in procurement, sales, logistics, finance, and other supply chain services, seamlessly enabling the online and digital transformation of supply chain operations.
As a digitalized new distribution platform tailored for the pharmaceutical sector, YITONG Pharma Procurement aims to connect upstream and downstream enterprises within the industry chain. By integrating, sharing, collaborating, and innovating in both mindset and services, it accelerates the healthcare and pharmaceutical sectors' transition into the future trajectory of the sharing economy. Together, we pioneer a brighter future for the sharing economy in this new era.
Against the backdrop of separating medicine from healthcare, pain points in pharmaceutical distribution are evident. The lack of standardized services leads to inefficient circulation and significant societal resource waste. YITONG enhances pharmaceutical industry efficiency through "supply chain digitization," supporting retail terminals at both technological and service levels.In recent years, guided by principles of cross-industry integration and symbiotic coexistence, YITONG leverages its supply chain service platform to integrate and share industrial resources through "supply chain + internet." Its innovative "platform + marketing partners" model breaks traditional limitations, addresses the fragmented, chaotic, undercapitalized, and small-scale nature of the distribution sector, and drives rapid transformation and upgrading in pharmaceutical distribution.
Through the YITONG Pharmaceutical Procurement Platform, upstream and downstream players can share YITONG's supply chain ecosystem to form a commercial community. Retail pharmacies can source high-quality, cost-effective products via the platform to attract more consumers, while brand manufacturers can sell directly to retail outlets and end-users. This enables stronger profitability across the supply chain, achieving unified coordination, greater transaction transparency, and significantly reduced transaction costs.
Zhou Guohui summarized YITONG's future vision in four words: "Integrate and Connect." This entails integrating all available resources, uniting all possible forces, and connecting every potential partner—including brand manufacturers, distributors, retail outlets, service providers, and government agencies. YITONG's vision is to unite more upstream and downstream partners through this "integration and connection" strategy, jointly building a shared economy platform spanning FMCG, healthcare, home appliances, and other industries.
Zhou Guohui emphasized that while many companies aspire to build empires, YITONG aims to create a shared economy ecosystem. This ecosystem enables manufacturers, distributors, partners, and retail outlets to share goods, services, and resources, forming a community of shared endeavors, destiny, and interests.The new digital pharmaceutical distribution platform launched today in Jinan will unite pharmaceutical companies, agents, pharmacies, hospitals, and partners in its development. It aims to achieve flattened, shared, and decentralized pharmaceutical distribution, becoming an intelligent platform that benefits governments, end-users, brands, and partners alike.