Following the success of its initial efforts toward digital transformation, Vanke Port Apartment (Vanke Group’s long-term rental brand) began investing in technology to enhance its core capabilities. By continuously updating its Rental Management Planning (RMP) system, constructing marketing channels, and developing a one-click project planning function, Vanke Port established itself as an industry leader in digital technology. Furthermore, Vanke Port started to market and sell its technology systems, shifting its technology focus from reducing costs to generating revenue. Meanwhile, the company also needs to continuously evolve its technology and business model in an ever-changing environment.

Is there any space for startups in a fully matured market where market incumbents are embroiled in cut-throat competition? And if so, how can new entrants carve out a niche? Through its own experience, ApiYoo has come up with an answer of its own. As a 4-year-old startup in consumer goods, ApiYoo has distinguished itself from others in the sense that while most startups begin by concentrating on just one single brand, ApiYoo established seven brands in different market segments. For every new entry, it has adopted a strategy of appearance differentiation. After four years of development, in 2020, it achieved an annual operating revenue of ¥1.2 billion, against its larger ¥10 billion goal for an annual revenue by 2025. Although its strategy of appearance differentiation has borne some fruit, the aesthetic preferences of consumers are subjective and, therefore, highly volatile. How can ApiYoo maintain its competitive advantage? What challenges will it face in realizing an 8-fold growth within five years? Students are expected to answer these questions from the perspective of Zeng Rui, ApiYoo's Founder and CEO.

When it was founded in Hefei, China, in 2001, Jiujiu Xiyanghong Group (JX) started as a single private nursing home with fifty beds. Over its eighteen-year history, JX had maintained rapid growth; as of 2019 the company had 1,531 elderly people living in its facilities, and Xie Qiong estimated that elders residing at JX represented 36 per cent of all 4,205 people living in Hefei eldercare institutions. However, the Hefei eldercare market was witnessing rapid expansion from the entry of Chinese and foreign companies, state-owned enterprises, and investment funds. The founder wondered how JX should manage this situation.

When it was founded in Hefei, China, in 2001, Jiujiu Xiyanghong Group (JX) started as a single private nursing home with fifty beds. Over its eighteen-year history, JX had maintained rapid growth; as of 2019 the company had 1,531 elderly people living in its facilities, and Xie Qiong estimated that elders residing at JX represented 36 per cent of all 4,205 people living in Hefei eldercare institutions. However, the Hefei eldercare market was witnessing rapid expansion from the entry of Chinese and foreign companies, state-owned enterprises, and investment funds. The founder wondered how JX should manage this situation.

This case is essentially about economic growth and development in general, and about China in particular. It makes the topic of growth more interesting by discussing the triggering factors of the MIT through comparing the differences between a trapped and an escaped province, i.e., Shaanxi and Jiangsu, respectively. To alleviate the regional development gap, Shaanxi and Jiangsu became paired poverty alleviation partners in 1996 under the guidance of the Chinese central government. However, 20 years have passed and a huge gap still exists between the two provinces in many fields. Jiangsu's gross domestic product (GDP) per capita has surpassed the MIT range, while Shaanxi's has not, and the province is very likely to be trapped with the continuing slowdown of its economic growth. The key difference between the two provinces is not resources, but development policies.