Kao Says SOFINA Not Leaving China Despite Tmall, Douyin Store Closures

The distinction between retreating from China and retreating from Chinese platforms is the real story here: SOFINA is keeping a China presence but shifting its online weight to cross-border channels, which changes the fulfilment and pricing backdrop for its local partners and distributors. For Kao, this reads as a portfolio and channel-quality decision rather than a market exit, and it lands as foreign consumer brands keep recalibrating their domestic platform exposure. Whether other Kao brands follow the same channel logic, and how cross-border sales perform against the closed storefronts, is the open question.