Q3 China is advancing the unified national market, with an urbanization rate of 67.9 percent and total retail sales surpassing 50 trillion yuan. As domestic demand expands, what structural opportunities does this vast, increasingly integrated market present for your portfolio, distribution channels, and localization strategy? Does deeper market unification reduce operational fragmentation and compliance costs? How do you position your brand and product mix to capture demand from both top-tier cities and fast-growing lower-tier markets?

HOMMA: I am highly confident about the potential of China's domestic demand expansion. With a population of more than 1.4 billion and a middle-income group expected to exceed 800 million in the future, the sheer size of the market itself represents a tremendous advantage. The room for consumption upgrading is enormous. For Panasonic, this aligns closely with our key business areas. Panasonic's healthy and smart living spaces business is built around Chinese households' pursuit of higher-quality lifestyles, and the expansion of services consumption will bring new opportunities for Panasonic in the healthcare and eldercare sectors. At the same time, the continued implementation of the consumer goods trade-in policy will drive demand for upgrades and replacements of home appliances and other products.

XIA: Greater market unification helps lower compliance fragmentation, improve logistics efficiency and standardize channels. These elements are critical for chemical companies like Evonik, as the industry provides the fundamental raw materials for diversified sectors, from new energy vehicles and new energy to coatings, healthcare and consumer goods. At the same time, deeper market integration enables us to tailor our strategies more precisely to regional industry clusters. We are strengthening our footprint through local partnerships and investments. Key examples include our upcoming Leshan joint venture to support western China's solar supply chain and the Shanghai Innovation Park, which connects global R&D strengths with China's dynamic industrial ecosystem.

ZHOU: As China's consumption landscape upgrades, emerging sectors show strong momentum, aligning closely with dsm-firmenich's core business.

At the start of the 15th Five-Year Plan period, we feel the robust vitality of the Chinese market. We leverage the National Citrus Engineering Research Center to develop six breakthrough citrus flavors. Our Hohhot project has advanced from establishment to production, reinforcing our leadership in the dairy sector.

Looking ahead, we uphold our purpose "We bring progress to life", collaborating with partners to empower industry upgrading and drive high-quality development in China.

HUANG: Over the years, Dow has seen continuous improvements in the business environment. We warmly welcome new initiatives that will further remove regional barriers and ensure all companies are treated equally.

The continuous upgrading of consumer and industrial demand reinforces our focus on sustainable innovation and high-value applications, which are strongly backed by our well-established integrated R&D expertise in China.

Dow has built a robust supply chain in China and continues to strengthen it to support the country's growing role in global markets. In March 2025, Dow completed a silicone expansion in Zhangjiagang to better serve high-growth sectors including electronics, transportation, renewable energy, packaging and construction.