Roundtable Dialogue: Amidst the Changes in Technology, How to Provide "Certainty" for Globalization Strategies? | 2025 Overseas Expansion Conference
On July 25th, guided by the Department of Commerce of Zhejiang Province, the Secretariat of the China Cooperation Center for Special Economic Zones of BRICS Countries, the Hangzhou Bureau of Commerce, and the Qiantang District Bureau of Commerce, and jointly hosted by 36Kr and Qiantang Construction Group, the 2025 "From 'Ingenuity' to the 'World'" Overseas Expansion Conference grandly kicked off at the Grand Mercure Hangzhou Qiantang. As a brand - new IP event of 36Kr focusing on the fields of globalization and overseas expansion, the conference set up a main venue and a sub - venue, the "Investing in BRICS" - Country - to - Country Cooperation Meeting. The main venue of the conference will be divided into two major chapters: "Finding Certainty in Uncertainty" and "Doing Business Globally", focusing on popular overseas expansion fields such as consumption, technology, e - commerce, finance, and new energy. It covers more than 10 keynote speeches, 5 round - table discussions, and the release of the East Forward 2025 Overseas Globalization Innovation List, decoding the certain logic of the coordinated growth of "Product - Technology - Ecosystem" and providing a referable global development path for enterprises to break through the fog of globalization and build sustainable overseas expansion capabilities.
36Kr specially planned a round - table discussion at the overseas expansion conference, with the theme of "In the changing situation of technology, how to provide 'certainty' for global layout?" Yang Yuexin, a senior editor of 36Kr Overseas [Host], Zhang Fei, the General Manager of the New Business Development Department of LinkedIn's Talent Solutions in the China Region, Xiao Qijing, the Party Secretary of Holley Group and the Executive Director of Holley Overseas, Bu Rui, a partner of Fangda Law Firm's Beijing/Hong Kong Office, and Winston Mao, a representative of Amazon Global Selling's Key Account Team, several industry leaders jointly discussed the "certainty" of overseas expansion.
The following is the content of the round - table discussion, organized and edited by 36Kr:
I'm Yang Yuexin, a senior editor of 36Kr Overseas. Thank you, entrepreneurs, for persevering until now and coming to our summit. Also, thank you to the guests sitting here, who are all old friends of 36Kr. The theme of today's summit is "Finding Certainty in Uncertainty". Since the adjustment of the tariff policy in April, how to solve the uncertainty faced by enterprises in overseas expansion has become the biggest pain point for everyone. Today's round - table theme focuses on a core concept: how to conduct a global multi - market layout.
Welcome Zhang Fei, the General Manager of the New Business Development Department of LinkedIn's Talent Solutions in the China Region, Xiao Qijing, the Party Secretary of Holley Group and the Executive Director of Holley Overseas, Bu Rui, a partner of Fangda Law Firm's Beijing/Hong Kong Office, and Winston Mao, a representative of Amazon Global Selling's Key Account Team.
First of all, I'd like to invite Mr. Xiao to share. Holley Group started its overseas expansion more than 20 years ago and has always focused on multi - market layout. Holley has not only expanded its main business but also come into contact with a large number of overseas - going enterprises in its overseas industrial parks. Many enterprises may have achieved great success in a single market. Now, how to get rid of the single - market dependence, replicate the successful experience to other markets, or solve the challenges in the process, do you have any experiences or cases to share in this regard?
Xiao Qijing: Holley started building factories overseas in 2000 and established industrial parks abroad in 2005. We built three industrial parks in Thailand, Mexico, and Uzbekistan, and an agricultural park in Cambodia. We found that 80% of Chinese enterprises "going global" targeted the European and American markets because of trade frictions or anti - dumping measures, especially during Trump's first term when comprehensive tariffs were imposed on China. However, the tariffs in the European and American markets change greatly, and the same is true for the photovoltaic new energy industry. Chinese enterprises "going global" are constantly facing tariff or anti - dumping measures.
However, we found that the local market is changing. Take Thailand as an example. Its per capita GDP was more than $2,800 in 2005, close to $5,000 in 2015, and is expected to reach $7,500 in 2025. The local market has great potential. At the same time, the trend of internationalization has shifted from global integration to regional integration. Take ASEAN as an example. It has a wide coverage and has a good tariff exemption agreement with India. Therefore, while doing well in the original market, enterprises should also pay attention to the local market and the regional market.
Yang Yuexin: Not only large manufacturing enterprises but also many ordinary cross - border e - commerce merchants know that they can't just focus on the US market and need to explore emerging markets. Winston, does Amazon have any cases or experiences to share in this regard?
Winston Mao: We have 20 sites globally. Besides the US, the sites in Canada, Europe, Japan, Australia, Mexico, etc. are all developing relatively fast. Many sellers, on the basis of doing well in the US market, will also explore opportunities in other markets, which is one of Amazon's advantages.
We found that Chinese sellers are very resilient in the face of a changing environment. This year, we saw that Chinese sellers still achieved considerable sales growth in the face of challenges. At the same time, many sellers who originally focused on the North American market also took the opportunity to expand into the European and other emerging markets and seized the growth opportunities. The sales of Chinese sellers served by our Key Account Team in the European market achieved triple - digit strong growth compared with last year. Chinese sellers are very excellent and still very competitive in the local market even under external uncertainties.
Yang Yuexin: Many enterprises may have a fear of getting rid of single - market dependence. Global layout means the globalization of talents and employees. Mr. Zhang, what risks do you think enterprises will first encounter in terms of talents when making a global layout? Does LinkedIn have any good suggestions in this regard?
Zhang Fei: I'm showing off my skills in front of Mr. Xiao. Holley has rich practical experience in overseas expansion after many years. I've been at LinkedIn for ten years and have contacted more than a thousand Chinese overseas - going enterprises. Let me share my thoughts.
Overseas expansion has many stages. In the early stage, enterprises may first send their most experienced employees to explore the local market and test the waters without immediately building a team because of the high cost and complex local labor relations. At this stage, enterprises may open up channels through Amazon or local channels.
After confirming that there is business in the local area, enterprises start to build a team. When building a team, the first thing is to solve the data problem and find the right people. As a globally - deployed membership platform, LinkedIn can help enterprises connect with global talents. But the key is how to get them to join after finding them, which involves employer brand building.
An employer brand is different from a traditional commercial brand. A commercial brand focuses on product quality, cost - performance ratio, etc., while an employer brand focuses on the background of the boss, salary, promotion opportunities, office environment, etc. Many Chinese enterprises have strong product capabilities but lack brand recognition, making it difficult for them to gain recognition in the European and American markets. Therefore, enterprises should pay attention to brand building both when recruiting and selling products.
We have a state - owned enterprise client whose business has expanded to 14 regions. They must use local people to carry out business. They first sent local students to the headquarters for three - month training to understand the corporate culture and technology and then let them go back to work, which improved management efficiency and cultural integration.
When Chinese enterprises go global, they should not only solve the current recruitment problems but also plan ahead for future recruitment. If they decide to enter multiple countries, they should accumulate talent pools in these countries in advance and establish a global talent supply chain system. When enterprises reach the later stage of overseas expansion and have localized layouts everywhere, they need to solve the problem of cultural integration.
Yang Yuexin: The globalization of product brands and employer brands is a simultaneous process. Holley Group has done a good job in this regard. Mr. Xiao, can you share your experience of building a local team and achieving integration when Holley built an industrial park in Thailand?
Xiao Qijing: Mr. Zhang's idea of localizing talents is very good. When we expand overseas, we focus on the integration of dispatched personnel and the local area. When forming a team, we let local people integrate in a timely manner to facilitate communication. We encourage employees to stay in the local area for a long time and don't like employees to rotate every two or three years. For example, some of our employees in Thailand have been there for more than twenty years, married local wives, and had children. Staying in the local area for a long time facilitates management, avoids frequent personnel changes, and makes the enterprise's internationalization not only about product internationalization but also about integrating into the local area.
We also hope that our colleagues in Mexico can integrate into the local area and encourage them to start a family and a career with local people. We learn from Mr. Zhang and continuously build different echelons.
Yang Yuexin: I understand that Holley's approach to talent globalization is to send core workers to stay in the local area for a long time. But for many newly - overseas - going enterprises, they may not be able to achieve this level all at once and increasingly need to rely on technological or AI and digital tool innovations. Lawyer Bu, when enterprises use digital tools, they will soon encounter legal and data compliance issues, and cloud service providers may also offer services to enterprises. What risks and challenges do you think enterprises will encounter in this process? How can cloud service providers and law firms provide services for enterprises going global?
Bu Rui: Now, there is a complementary and mutually - promoting relationship between AI suppliers, cloud service providers, and enterprises. In the process of overseas expansion, enterprises need cloud service providers and AI providers to help with overseas feasibility research, legal and regulatory retrieval, and business resource acquisition. However, AI tools have limitations. Technology develops rapidly, and the compliance level is low. There may be intellectual property and data compliance risks during use. Therefore, when enterprises build AI services or overseas AI cloud services, the legal department needs to establish a compliance system.
Law firms should embrace the legal tools of enterprises using AI or cloud services and improve their compliance awareness and level. Lawyers' work will not be replaced by AI but will be done better to better meet the needs of clients. AI and cloud services have helped us with a lot of basic work, and we only need to solve the problems.
Yang Yuexin: For cross - border e - commerce merchants, they may only need to use the tools on the platform to solve basic problems or achieve cost - reduction and efficiency - improvement. Winston, how does Amazon empower enterprises through technology or the latest AI technology in this regard?
Winston Mao: We use many AI tools internally, allowing new account managers to quickly acquire the know - how of senior managers and improve service efficiency.
In terms of compliance, we have a human + intelligent model, supported by a large number of tools for account managers. We serve top - tier sellers, but our definition of top - tier sellers is different from that in domestic e - commerce. We serve many sellers starting from scratch. We use our Key Account Team to serve them and empower them with capabilities to help them avoid detours. For example, a company established last year only had a brand and a store in March this year and has now reached an annual revenue of tens of millions of US dollars.
Yang Yuexin: Merchants don't feel it obviously because technology has penetrated into internal operations and team management. In terms of compliance risks, enterprises often encounter frictions or pitfalls when applying for visas or managing overseas operations. Mr. Zhang, does LinkedIn have any experiences to share in this regard? Does LinkedIn have any technological innovations to help enterprises solve these problems?
Zhang Fei: Regarding compliance, I think Lawyer Bu and Mr. Xiao have more to add. Continuing from the previous topic, we should neither overestimate nor underestimate digital technology or AI in the short and long term respectively. LinkedIn is a wholly - owned subsidiary of Microsoft, with a large amount of data and the support of Microsoft. We have profile data of 1.2 billion members, as well as behavioral data and company trend data. Artificial intelligence requires technology and data, and we have them naturally.
We have application scenarios, and a large number of HRs use our platform to recruit. We embed technology into actual scenarios. For senior recruiters, AI may not help much, but for newly - recruited recruiters, AI is very helpful. However, in the short term, AI cannot replace the judgment of senior recruiters. In the long run, those who can use AI will replace those who can't, improving overall recruitment efficiency.
Another point is the issue of AI fairness. In the past few years, AI has developed rapidly and even led in some function iterations overseas. But in the future, in terms of AI popularization, including compliance, law, privacy protection, and fairness issues, whether everyone will have the opportunity instead of all the data being stored in some large companies is a topic worth exploring.
Yang Yuexin: What you said about "neither overestimating in the short term nor underestimating in the long term" is very inspiring for enterprises. Lawyer Bu, when making a global multi - market layout, enterprises will encounter many specific compliance issues. For example, should enterprises find a lawyer team in each market or a Chinese law firm for global layout? In different countries, should they find a local law firm or an experienced Chinese law firm? This involves how the enterprise's legal department can cooperate globally. What observations or opinions do you have?
Bu Rui: This is a very good and in - depth question. The enterprises we serve are basically Chinese overseas - going enterprises. The compliance requirements of overseas - going enterprises involve many countries, and the service model is related to the compliance requirements of clients and local countries. We need to classify the compliance difficulty of the countries involved. The first level is European and American countries, the second level is Southeast Asia, and the third level is countries friendly to China. We should allocate legal teams according to the compliance difficulty.
There are also many types of compliance categories and projects, such as data compliance, export control compliance, high - tech compliance, etc. The type of compliance determines the team building. Local lawyers may be more professional in data compliance, while Chinese lawyers may need to take the lead in transaction mergers and acquisitions. Therefore, it should be judged according to the specific situation.
Yang Yuexin: When an enterprise takes the first step in overseas expansion, how can it first judge the subsequent specific problems? Whom should it turn to first?
Bu Rui: It's still necessary to find a Chinese law firm because Chinese law firms understand the enterprise's business best. Business is the starting point of all compliance. Chinese law firms can have in - depth discussions with clients about overseas business, break down the business parts, and analyze the possible legal risks. We design a grading system for the difficulty and complexity of legal risks to determine which can be solved by Chinese lawyers and which need to cooperate with local lawyers, helping clients save legal compliance costs. Overseas legal fees are also very high, and Chinese lawyers can optimize the expenditure.
Yang Yuexin: Winston, in the process of global cooperation, Amazon is a very good online platform. Many Chinese enterprises also started their overseas expansion on Amazon. How do you understand that when enterprises face the current uncertainties and at the same time need to make a global layout, how can they enhance their resilience or adhere to long - termism? Does Amazon have any insights in this regard?
Winston Mao: This is a relatively big topic. Let me share some micro - perspectives. First of all, Chinese sellers are very strong, and they should be confident. Chinese sellers have surpassed overseas sellers in many fields and are very strong in product capabilities and supply chain strength.
On Amazon, we've seen that some mid - to - high - end priced brands have received more traffic and support, and consumers are also looking for better products. Chinese sellers who dare to set high prices have also reaped a wave of dividends. In some category - specific segmented opportunities, such as garden robots and pool robots, Chinese sellers have performed excellently. Many sellers can set high prices and still have good sales.
The foundation of resilience lies on the one hand in the sellers' own strength and on the other hand in whether they have enough determination and understanding of the local market when doing cross - border overseas expansion. We hope to see more Chinese sellers dare to take this step, set high prices, believe that their products are worth the price, and make corresponding investments in the local market. This era is a very good era for Chinese sellers, especially for Chinese excellent supply chain and brand sellers.
Yang Yuexin: Mr. Xiao, in the past ten or twenty years, it was mainly large Chinese machinery engineering or new energy vehicle enterprises that went overseas to build factories and invest. But now, enterprises first export their brands overseas through cross - border e - commerce, and gradually, some brands also want to build factories, recruit people, and build teams overseas. For enterprises still in the