Riding the Waves of Foreign Trade: The Rise of China's Brands in 2023

BEIJING, June 28, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- In collaboration with Amazon Web Services, Fortune China has conducted research that highlights China's brands expanding overseas in 2023. Nowadays, venturing into overseas market is becoming a significant startup opportunity and the second growth curve for many companies. Extending their reach from nearby regions to distant territories, the current wave of international expansion presents the following characteristics:

• Transitioning from exporting products to Technology, brand and Ecosystem Expansion;
• Transitioning from B2C to B2B, representing a transformation from products to services;
• Transiting from large-scale companies to SMBs, with innovation as a critical capability;
• Embracing a digital-native approach

It can be considered that "Made in China" sheds off its "low-cost" label, and taps into the global market at a higher level. Fortune China has selected the following 7 Tracks to exemplify the current trend of Chinese companies expanding overseas.

Track I：Extended Entertainment

Leveraging China's experience in the internet industry to enter new markets

Represented through electronic games, social media and short videos, extended entertainment is brimming with opportunities. By catering to the large groups games players who readily accept paid games in the United States and Japan, Chinese game companies can make a breakthrough by launching one of two games. South-east Asia alone offers a potential user base of over 500 million for audio and video business, allowing a product to swiftly accumulate a multitude of users from a scratch. Additionally, China has cultivated a matured market for internet literature, which provides valuable resources to developers to expand overseas. Overall, extended entertainment has a high likelihood of leveraging China's expertise in the internet industry to achieve success in overseas market.

The 2023 Representative Chinese Companies in Overseas Market within Extended Entertainment Track:

Track II：E-commerce and Retail Ecosystem

Transforming China's supply chain strengths to price advantage on e-commerce platforms

As the world's factory, China has the most comprehensive supply chain in the world. By leveraging this advantage to secure low price for e-commerce platforms, the impact from highly centralized overseas markets and complex logistic and tariffs will be effectively minimized. The companies possessing both domestic and international payment licenses like LianLian Global or PingPong, along with cross-border e-commerce logistics companies like Zongteng Group, help unlock the potentials of e-commerce and retail ecosystem by fulfilling their payments and logistics requirements.

The 2023 Representative Chinese Companies in Overseas Market within E-commerce and Retail Ecosystem Track:

Track III：Enterprise Services

From "Big and Comprehensive" to "Small and Exquisite", Highly Segmented and Vertical

The emerging enterprise services provided by most organizations going overseas exhibit high degree of segmentation and vertical specialization. These services include networking security, open-source database, marketing platform, human resources and legal services and more.

The 2023 Representative Chinese Companies in Overseas Market within Enterprise Service Track

Track IV：Healthcare and Life Science

Reaching out to a foreign market opening a chance for pharmaceutical companies to tackle their challenges

In the face of the increasing expectation for healthcare and the pressure from social security collective procurement, Chinese pharmaceutical companies must explore new opportunities in foreign market to tackle the challenges of higher cost and lower price.

Zanubrutinib, developed by BeiGene, generated $389.7 million in revenue in the United States, with a year-on-year growth of 237%. Mindray Medical's overseas revenue continued to its overall growth, reaching ¥11.698 billion. Legend Biotech became the first Chinese CAR-T cell therapy supplier in overseas markets, with total sales of $130 million in 2022.

Despite these excellent results, other Chinese pharmaceutical companies' new medicines encountered setbacks to enter the foreign market. Chinese biomedicine industry still has a long way in overseas expansion.

The 2023 Representative Chinese Companies in Overseas Market within Healthcare and Lifescience Track:

Track V：New Manufacturing

Chinese companies emerging in sectors such as new manufacturing, new energies and high-end manufacturing

Chinese manufacturing companies are bound to explore the overseas market. As the world pursues green transformation, with developed countries setting goals for Carbon peak and carbon neutrality, there are a multitude of opportunities opening for these Chinese companies. Lithium batteries, photovoltaics, and other new manufacturing companies of China such as CATL (Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Ltd.) and LONGi Green Energy Technology have achieved tremendous success on a global scale. Additionally, Chinese companies are recognized in more fields as well, including wind power, LCD panels, chemicals, and intelligent robotics.

The 2023 Representative Chinese Companies in Overseas Market within New Manufacturing Track:

Track VI：Intelligent Hardware

Shifting from a copycat to an innovator, from a follower to a leader

Some vertical companies in Shenzhen City and the surrounding Pearl River Delta region have successfully paved the way in the global market. For example, Xiaomi's overseas business operations now occupy nearly half of its entire landscape; over 55% of OPPO's shipment are destined to overseas market; and vivo has seen a remarkable 393% increase in shipment to South America. Prominent drone manufacturer DJI and charger manufacturer Anker are at the forefront of their respective sectors in the overseas market. Furthermore, Chinese companies have emerged transformed in foreign markets, shifting from copycats to innovators, from followers to leaders. They have distinguished themselves in the fierce competition with a comprehensive supply chain.

The 2023 Representative Chinese Companies in Overseas Market within Intelligent Hardware Track:

Track VII：Automobile and Automobile Technology

"Three new components" empowering Chinese automobile manufacturers in overseas market

In 2023 Q1, China exported 1.069 million vehicles, and the total number of the whole year is expected to reach 4 million. This good performance is largely due to NEW TYPE PLUS EV strategy. In addition to BYD, SAIC Motor, Chery Automobile, Geely Auto, and Great Wall's automobile exports are also growing at a double-digit rate, or even higher. From an overall perspective, if we put aside the challenges from engines and transmission, Chinese automobile manufacturers have established their competitive edge with technological advantages in the "three new components" of batteries, motors, and electronic controls.

The 2023 Representative Chinese Companies in Overseas Market within Automobile and Automobile Technology Track:

The above seven categories show that China's new manufacturing including electric vehicles, is expanding its reach across the globe, exerting influence on the world's economic landscape and contributing to its reshaping. However, despite the opportunities, Chinese manufacturing will face the challenges related to compliance, geopolitics, and intellectual properties from the global market. Meanwhile, disruptive new technologies and applications, such as AIGC, are accelerating transformation throughout various industries. Every organization must learn to harness opportunities while mitigating risks. Developing an overseas market is a marathon rather than a sprint. Success in overseas markets entails a series of tests ahead for Chinese manufacturing companies as they strive to establish a strong presence and expand their reach.