Investors' Global Exploration | WAVES New Wave 2025
WAVES New Wave 2025 invites you to embark on the "New Era" of China's venture capital industry.
This is the new era of China's venture capital. Currently, the Chinese venture capital market is not only at the turning point of the cyclical bottoming but also in the deepening period of structural transformation. In the new ecosystem dominated by policies, with high concentration of state - owned assets and capital, only by conforming to the trend and making flexible adjustments can we seize certain opportunities in the face of uncertainties.
From June 11th to 12th, at the Liangzhu Culture and Art Center in Hangzhou, the 36Kr WAVES New Wave 2025 Conference, themed "New Era", will gather top investors in the venture capital field, founders of emerging enterprises, as well as scientists, creators, and scholars deeply involved in technology, innovation, and business. They will jointly discuss cutting - edge issues such as AI technological innovation, the wave of globalization, and value re - evaluation, dissect their views on business ideals and the future world, and jointly discuss, search for, and move towards the "New Era" of China's venture capital.
On June 12th, a round - table dialogue titled "Investors' Global Odyssey" was held in the investors' venue. Ruan Fei, Executive Director of Sunrise Capital; Zhang Zhijian, Partner of Shunwei Capital; Hong Jian, CEO of Asia Genesis Capital; Zhou Xin, Managing Partner of Paradise Silicon Valley; and Yang Zijiang, Managing Director of Niuou Capital participated in the discussion. This round - table was hosted by Tao Yangfeng, Managing Director of Zero One Ventures.
The following is the content of the dialogue:
Tao Yangfeng: Good morning, everyone. I'll be hosting this session today. First, please introduce yourselves, including your personal information and the main investment directions of your institutions. Also, as the host mentioned, the theme of this panel is "Investors' Global Odyssey". You can share your understanding of the theme. Let's start with Mr. Ruan.
Ruan Fei: Hello, everyone. I'm Ruan Fei from Sunrise Capital. I've been involved in overseas investment for about 9 to 10 years. Our institution mainly focuses on consumer and overseas - expansion projects. I fully committed to the globalization track in 2016 and 2017. I've stayed in India, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia for some time. Currently, I'm mainly concerned about the overseas expansion of Chinese brands and products and related services. I think the theme "Investors' Global Odyssey" is quite interesting. When it comes to overseas investment, if you only invest in the domestic market, you're often investing based on your imagination rather than the real situation. Later, I can share more. For example, when you really go to India, the Middle East, or Mexico and experience the local customs and cultures on the streets, you can truly understand why some products are popular while others fail in the local market. It's necessary for every investor to go out and see more.
Zhang Zhijian: Hello, everyone. I'm Zhang Zhijian from Shunwei Capital. Shunwei is a venture capital fund jointly founded in 2011 by Lei Jun, the founder of Xiaomi, and Xu Dalai. Since its establishment, Shunwei has been a venture capital institution focusing on the Chinese domestic market. In the early days, it mainly focused on investments in the mobile Internet and smart hardware. Now, it has a full - track layout, covering fields such as deep technology, generative AI, AI + hardware, advanced manufacturing, robotics, consumer brands, carbon - neutral technology, and biotechnology.
Regarding overseas expansion, the so - called "cross - border investment" may seem like a specific track, but in our view, it's more of a result. Essentially, we invest in people, specifically, a group of the most outstanding Chinese entrepreneurs. For us, some entrepreneurs choose to focus on the domestic market, while others naturally have a global perspective or gradually expand their business overseas during the development process. There's no fundamental difference in our eyes. We won't set up a separate track just because of the "overseas expansion" label.
The truly important judgment criteria are always the comprehensive qualities, cognitive abilities, and long - term strategies of entrepreneurs. Excellent entrepreneurs can succeed anywhere, rather than being defined by the "overseas expansion" label. We've seen that more and more Chinese entrepreneurs have established strong product capabilities and execution abilities globally. They don't just "go out" but "go in" - deeply understand the local market, build brands, optimize the supply chain, and truly achieve global operations.
So, for us, "overseas expansion" is not a goal but a natural trend presented by a group of excellent entrepreneurs in their development paths. We're willing to continuously support such teams and keep looking for certain growth opportunities in the uncertain global environment. Excellent entrepreneurs may succeed either in the Chinese or global markets. This is our basic starting point for understanding "overseas expansion".
Hong Jian: Hello, everyone. I'm from Asia Genesis Capital. Let me introduce myself first. I'm an automotive veteran with more than 20 years of experience. However, I'm new to investment as I entered the venture capital field in 2019 after leaving the automotive industry. Asia Genesis Capital is actually different from most institutions here. We're based in Europe because our two funds are in Europe, and our investment layout is mainly in the European region and Israel. We focus on two main tracks. The first is the automotive industry, which is my old field. From the current industrial development, the automotive industry is no longer just about cars; it's more about intelligence. Many technological development paths derived from the automotive field are now widely applied in embodied intelligence and industrial automation.
The other field we focus on is medical technology. In the medical technology segment, we further focus on two sub - tracks. The first is surgical robots, and the second is artificial intelligence related to medical imaging. When it comes to overseas expansion, it's quite relevant to Asia Genesis Capital. Since the establishment of our two funds in 2017 and our global mergers and acquisitions, we've been looking at local investments in Europe early on. We can better understand how the differences between the European market environment and the Chinese market can bring opportunities for Chinese investors and enterprises. We can share more about this later. Thank you.
Zhou Xin: Hello, everyone. I'm Zhou Xin from Paradise Silicon Valley. Paradise Silicon Valley is a venture capital institution founded in Hangzhou in 2010. Since its establishment, we've always adhered to our original intention of investing in the advanced manufacturing industry. With the gradual differentiation of this field and the rise of the Chinese industry, hard technology, new energy, and medical devices have become our company's three main investment tracks.
Today's theme is very appealing. Whether it's Chinese enterprises' overseas expansion, entrepreneurs' overseas business layout, or investors' overseas investment, we can see that around 2020 or even earlier, every institution has been making efforts in this direction. Paradise Silicon Valley mainly invests in the overseas expansion of domestic enterprises, mainly through RMB funds, to support Chinese domestic enterprises. We can continue to discuss this issue later.
Yang Zijiang: Hello, everyone. I'm Yang Zijiang from Niuou Capital, a new - style venture capital institution founded in 2020. Our investment scope focuses on the early - stage projects, covering new energy, new materials, intelligent manufacturing, overseas expansion, and pan - cultural consumption fields. In the past period, we've also established a blind - pool science and technology innovation fund specifically targeting the overseas - expansion industry in Hainan. We've also rarely established a cultural overseas - expansion fund in cooperation with the local government, focusing on investment in cultural content. It can be said that Niuou has always paid a lot of attention to overseas expansion.
Of course, today's topic is not just about overseas expansion. We may have other thoughts about the "global odyssey". Besides expanding Chinese enterprises' business overseas, last year, one of our invested enterprises also introduced overseas business into China, especially in Hangzhou, which has strong e - commerce capabilities. Our invested company, Morpheus, successfully received investment from a Japanese listed company and serves as a bridge for the Japanese company in China. I think both - way output is very interesting. So, today, I'd like to learn from you and discuss this topic together.
Tao Yangfeng: Thank you for your introductions, dear guests. Let me briefly introduce our Zero One Ventures. We've been in the business since 2015 and have been involved in overseas investment for nearly 10 years. I and Mr. Ruan have always been looking at the Southeast Asian and Indian markets. I think the theme "Investors' Global Odyssey" is very interesting. As Mr. Ruan mentioned just now, I know he stayed in India for a long time.
First of all, the so - called "global odyssey". I think when we talk about overseas expansion, it's not just about going out. Nowadays, more and more companies are pursuing internationalization or globalization. Expanding overseas doesn't necessarily mean giving up the domestic market. Many companies are now treating the domestic and overseas markets as a whole. Also, as investors, we need to see things with our own eyes. For example, we invested in one of the largest payment companies in Southeast Asia, which was valued at 3 billion US dollars. When we went there in 2016 and 2017, we could only feel the value and scarcity of the local infrastructure by being there in person. There's a business model in Southeast Asian Internet companies similar to the concept of motorcycle - hailing, like Didi but for motorcycles. If you just sit in China and think about it, you may know that people ride motorcycles in Southeast Asia, but it's hard to fully understand this business model. You can only understand it when you experience it locally.
Now, here's the next question. Since April this year, the US tariff policy has been a hot topic in the cross - border overseas - expansion industry. In this context, I hope you guests can share your views on the current structural adjustments or transfers in the global industrial chain and supply chain. As investors, how should we deal with these transfers or changes in the supply chain? Let's start with Mr. Ruan again.
Ruan Fei: This is a very broad topic. When it comes to the issue of the transfer of the Chinese supply chain, since China joined the WTO in 2001, if I remember correctly, China's per - capita GDP was about 800 US dollars at that time, and now it's about 13,000 US dollars, an increase of about 15 times. This is accompanied by an increase in labor costs. Currently, the average cost of a manufacturing industrial worker in China is about 7,200 yuan. Compared with Southeast Asian countries such as Vietnam, the Philippines, Indonesia, and even Malaysia, which is relatively developed in Southeast Asia, and even Mexico, where the per - capita GDP is similar to that of China at about 13,000 US dollars, the cost in China is higher. This is the first situation China is facing.
Secondly, China is not a resource - rich country. Most of our resources need to be imported, processed here, and then exported. This includes various types of steel and raw materials used in consumer electronics. They go through a process of being imported, processed by labor here, and then exported. So, currently, China's economy is facing a situation where costs are rising, but Chinese global brands don't earn much overseas premium. This is an objective reality.
Moreover, the so - called trade war is predictable. The first wave of supply - chain transfers has been going on for a long time. For example, a friend of mine in Huzhou runs a local furniture company. They started building a furniture factory in Vietnam in 2018, and the scale has been growing. Their business is divided like this: the domestic business is produced in Huzhou, while the overseas business, especially for large - scale buyers like Walmart, Target, and Costco, is all produced in Vietnam. He said that initially, the efficiency of three Vietnamese workers was equivalent to that of one Chinese worker. After a long - term development, it became two Vietnamese workers, and now it may be 1.5 Vietnamese workers equivalent to one Chinese worker in terms of production efficiency. However, the individual worker's wage in Vietnam is much lower than that in China. So, the first - wave companies going overseas have already established their supply chains in countries like Vietnam, Malaysia, and Mexico.
I think the situation we'll face next is quite simple. We should keep the core parts of our industry in China and use overseas locations as assembly and processing factories. If we regard the Pacific Ocean as Yangcheng Lake, the flow of goods around it won't change because the main demand comes from Europe and the United States. There isn't much demand in Southeast Asia as most people there are still relatively poor. The main demand is in Europe and the United States. However, due to the so - called trade war and tariffs, the original trade chain from China to the United States will be cut off. In the future, it will be a process of exporting core components from China to Vietnam for assembly, meeting the local localization rate requirements, and then exporting to the United States. I think this trend will be very obvious in the next 10 years. I'll stop here for now.
Tao Yangfeng: Mr. Zhang, since you've invested in many consumer hardware projects, you must have a deep understanding of this issue.
Zhang Zhijian: Regarding the topic of tariffs, I think we should look at it from both short - term and long - term perspectives. The short - term trend is indeed difficult to predict, with rapid changes and many variables, which will have a certain impact on the operation rhythm of enterprises. However, we're more concerned about the long - term trend. The uncertainties in geopolitics are actually beyond the scope of business. In many cases, it depends on "fate" and "luck".
However, if we take a long - term view, venture capital always focuses on long - term value. A decade or two is just the middle stage, and we're actually looking at a cycle of several decades. From this perspective, I still firmly believe that globalization is the main trend of human society, regardless of the current resistance. The overseas expansion of Chinese enterprises is not an accidental phenomenon but a natural result of the maturity of deep - seated industrial and organizational capabilities. You'll find that many excellent Chinese enterprises have global competitiveness in terms of supply - chain efficiency, manufacturing capabilities, cost control, and product innovation.
Actually, the Chinese "overseas expansion" is not something new. As early as the time of Zheng He's voyages to the Western Seas, China started organized overseas exchanges. From then on, to the establishment of business networks by Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia, and to today's technology companies, manufacturing industries, and consumer brands constantly moving onto the international stage, overseas expansion has long been not a one - time "migration" but a continuous output of capabilities and in - depth exploration of the global market.
So, in the long run, what we focus on is not a specific policy or tariff but the comprehensive strength, cultural characteristics, and global adaptability of Chinese entrepreneurs. For example, our national characteristics such as hard - working, practical, and good at balancing are core competitive advantages that help Chinese entrepreneurs stand out in the overseas market.
As investors, we often hold many meetings to discuss various macro - trends, geopolitics, and election situations, such as what Trump said, who might be elected, and how policies will change. We conduct a lot of analyses and even make precise calculations of freight costs for enterprises. However, in the end, we find that what we discuss in the meeting rooms is quite different from the actual situation faced by the invested enterprises.
Entrepreneurs are often more optimistic than us investors. They don't immerse themselves in models and spreadsheets all day long. They're at the front - line of business. When problems arise, they'll naturally find solutions. At the beginning, they may be a bit anxious about a policy change, but after a month, you'll find that they're much calmer than us. The path is not predicted but forged step by step by a group of capable and resilient Chinese entrepreneurs through continuous trial - and - error. What we need to do is to discover these excellent entrepreneurs as early as possible and firmly support them.
Hong Jian: Regarding the supply - chain issue, I think the diversification and security of the supply chain are not new concepts. Maybe 30 years ago when we were studying supply - chain management, we were already talking about supply - chain security. It's just that the current geopolitical environment has added an additional factor. In a fully competitive market, enterprises will naturally optimize their supply chains and transfer them to places with lower costs and move towards more valuable markets. This is a choice most entrepreneurs will make, and the geopolitical situation has accelerated this process.
Taking Europe as an example, in fact, Europe has a contradictory attitude. It's not as extreme as the United States, but it's worried about the security of its supply chain. In terms of its model, we can divide it into two types. For the so - called key supply chains, there's a clear strategy of localization. Localization can be further divided into two ways: one is to support the growth of local enterprises, and the other is to attract overseas enterprises. From the perspective of policy orientation, it's in this direction.
For Chinese enterprises, many battery - manufacturing companies such as Guoxuan, BYD, and CATL have quickly established layouts in Europe, and they do it in a cooperative way. Generally, we can see that although the European government claims to be concerned about key supply chains, due to its technological deficiencies or technological gaps, it actually welcomes these enterprises to bring key technologies to Europe.
Currently, in terms of