Roundtable Dialogue: From Local to Global: The "Breaking the Circle" Journey of Enterprises Going Global | 2025 China-ASEAN Expo Brand and Culture Going Global Exchange Conference

Over the past two decades, the globalization stories of Chinese enterprises have mostly begun with products. Whether it's the small commodities from Yiwu or the electronic manufacturing in Shenzhen, the core of the narrative often lies in price, supply chain, and speed. Today, this landscape is quietly changing: What China is exporting is no longer just "replaceable products," but a whole set of experiences and identifications with cultural connotations. It is both abstract, manifesting in intangible aspects such as culture, emotions, and story perception; and concrete, being tangible, purchasable, and memorable through the competitive craze of games, the daily narratives of short dramas, the taste symbols of new consumer products, and the global layout of capital.

On September 18th, 36Kr hosted a themed exchange meeting titled "Breaking Boundaries and Crossing Seas: Chinese Brand Cultures Entering the Global Market," focusing on the overseas expansion of Chinese culture. It brought together representative forces from multiple fields such as games, new consumer products, short dramas, and capital to discuss new paths, challenges, and opportunities for Chinese culture in the global market.

The following is the transcript of the round - table forum, edited by 36Kr:

Host (Peng Xiaoqiu): Hello, everyone. I'm Xiaoqiu from 36Kr. The previous guests have talked a lot about overseas expansion. Our team is based in Shenzhen, so we can clearly feel the changes here. Some enterprises are quite averse to the statement "I'm not an overseas - oriented company, but a global company." This shows that significant changes are taking place in globalization. Today, we want to explore this topic from perspectives such as capital, brand, infrastructure, and AI. So, let's first invite four guests to introduce their companies and share their different feelings compared with previous years.

Huang Yunhe: Hello, everyone. Thank you very much for 36Kr's invitation to communicate with entrepreneurs and investors here. I'm from Sensory Intelligence Technology. The name of our company clearly indicates that we focus on sound and artificial intelligence. We have been deeply involved in the AI field for many years.

We focus on playing the role of an AI ear for terminals. As the previous guests mentioned, many large - model companies were mainly focused on the application transformation of language models in AIGC in the previous stage. We are more inclined to underlying technologies, specifically the auditory part of physical AI. Our goal is to enable embodied intelligence to have real - world applications in the physical world. In other words, our main job is to provide good hearing for intelligent hardware. Since our establishment, many of you may have used products like Xiaodu and Xiaomi AI Speaker. The acoustic interaction algorithms behind these products are provided by Sensory Intelligence.

We are now in the process of enhancing our capabilities in the next stage. For example, we are using acoustic AI technology to supplement auditory perception in scenarios such as visual occlusion in autonomous driving. In the future, for embodied intelligent robots to provide good services in the real physical world, hearing, as a bridge between the digital and physical worlds, is a very important component. Our goal is to gradually narrow the gap between machine perception and human perception.

I mentioned overseas expansion today because since the second half of 2024, Sensory Intelligence has started to develop self - branded acoustic AI hardware, including AI headphones, AI hearing aids, and AI wireless microphones. When we entered the consumer - grade AI hardware market, we achieved rapid growth. In August 2024, when our products were launched, we sold 100,000 units of a single product in the first month. So far, in less than a year, the sales volume of our single product has exceeded one million units. We are probably the fastest - growing company in the AI hardware track. One million units is a threshold, and we have crossed the first milestone. The next step is to expand into the global market overseas. So, we started our overseas expansion this year, and currently, we are promoting our products in markets such as Thailand, North America, and Japan, and our sales are starting to pick up.

We also hope to better showcase our algorithms in the overseas market by leveraging our hardware capabilities. We had previously expanded overseas during the Sino - US trade war. Now, we are continuing to expand overseas with AI hardware. At the algorithm level, we are building an algorithm platform for the interaction capabilities of AI hardware agents to enhance the sound perception and interaction capabilities of hardware products for overseas users. Currently, we can achieve functions such as environmental perception and emotion perception monitoring, and make predictions and inferences in combination with the capabilities of the AI brain. In high - level fields such as drones and unmanned boats, sound also plays a very important role in perception. So, we are now expanding our better technological and algorithmic capabilities overseas. It's worth mentioning that the Sensory Intelligence team was incubated from the Institute of Acoustics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, representing the leading national - level acoustic AI technology. We hope to have the opportunity to cooperate with more domestic enterprises to make our better algorithms and products achieve full - scale success in the overseas market in the second half of this year and next year, replicating our success in the domestic market.

Host: Thank you, Mr. Huang. According to 36Kr's observation, the AI explosion has created a huge or even booming market in hardware. We also associate humanoid robots and embodied intelligence with this field. 36Kr has been following Sensory Intelligence since 2016, and we believe everyone has a deep understanding of Mr. Huang's company. Now, let's welcome Mr. Wang.

Wang Wen: Hello, everyone. I'm the Chief Commercial Officer of VETRESKA. VETRESKA is a core brand under our company. Now, we have developed into a pet lifestyle brand management company targeting the mid - to high - end market. In addition to brands like VETRESKA, which mainly focus on pet supplies, we have also ventured into pet food and incubated retail and service business lines overseas. Our goal is to provide full - chain services for pet owners, comprehensively meeting the needs of mid - to high - end users in every aspect of pet - keeping.

VETRESKA was established in 2017, and our exploration of overseas markets started quite early. In 2019, we began to enter overseas markets. This is closely related to the background of our team. Several core members of our overseas expansion team met while studying in the United States. So, from the very beginning of our establishment, we hoped to introduce our brand and products to a broader international stage. In 2019, there was a new consumer boom in China, and VETRESKA became one of the representative brands in the new pet consumer market. At that time, the domestic market was growing at a very fast pace, so our strategic focus was still on the domestic market. However, we made some initial attempts overseas, such as participating in professional exhibitions in the United States and launching our Amazon US store. These explorations helped us accumulate basic knowledge and practical experience in the international market.

After the COVID - 19 pandemic in 2022, the new consumer market in China cooled down, and the growth rate slowed down. We quickly made a strategic decision to shift our focus overseas. At that time, we mainly took two measures. First, we set up overseas offices in Singapore and Japan. Second, we introduced strategic investment from a major Southeast Asian food company. These measures gave our company stronger resource synergy and potential for overseas development. Since then, our market layout has expanded from mainly focusing on the United States to Southeast Asian and European markets. In this process, we gradually explored and established business models suitable for different regions. For example, in the United States, we adopted a model combining self - operated e - commerce and large - channel distribution. In Singapore, we mainly relied on high - end offline retail and services. In markets driven by population, such as Thailand, the Philippines, and Indonesia, we relied more on distribution partnerships to improve efficiency and control costs. We can say that our overseas strategy has gradually taken shape through continuous adjustments.

Host: Thank you, Mr. Wang. We can see that the development stages of enterprises and capital have their own cycles. If you pay attention to the Hong Kong stock market, you can clearly see that the so - called "four sisters" in the Hong Kong stock market have pushed the consumer market to a higher level. The consumer market is a large and cyclical - resistant track. Thank you, Mr. Wang. Now, let's welcome Mr. Zhuang.

Zhuang Yuhong: I'm Zhuang Yuhong from CMC Capital. I'll share from several aspects. First, let's talk about the consumer market. As the host mentioned, consumer demand is long - term. I highly agree. Whether it's mass - market consumer goods or consumer goods with a more spiritual nature, the demand exists in the long run, but products emerge in an iterative and wave - like manner. Overall, the consumer industry is a long - cycle industry, but the consumer investment market has its ups and downs. We can see that the consumer investment market was once very hot and then very cold. Recently, there seems to be some activity in the Hong Kong stock market, but it seems that only consumer enterprises of a certain scale can enjoy such benefits. In such a market environment, CMC Capital remains very focused. Regardless of how external factors change, we always attach great importance to consumer and cultural investment. In recent years, with the national strategic orientation towards hard technology and new - quality productivity, we have also expanded our investment scope to fields such as hard technology and new energy technology.

Regarding the host's question, we often communicate across different industries and multiple brands. Overseas expansion is not a new topic, and older - generation overseas - oriented enterprises have achieved good results. However, we have noticed several interesting phenomena. First, Chinese overseas products and brands are shifting from focusing on "quality - to - price ratio" to "brand content." A typical manifestation is the improvement in gross profit. In addition, the requirements for an enterprise's organizational capabilities in the specific approach have also changed. Initially, the requirements for organizational capabilities were mainly about organizing the supply chain. Now, more emphasis is placed on creating content and adapting to the local marketing system to build brand content.

On the other hand, initially, it was mainly large enterprises that were expanding overseas, often with the goal of finding a second growth curve. Now, more and more small and medium - sized enterprises are expanding overseas. The logic behind this is not mainly about the growth curve because the domestic market can still maintain high growth. In fact, more and more enterprises realize that overseas expansion is not just about targeting a specific region and selling products in a particular market. Instead, it's about how to access high - awareness channels and build a high - awareness brand image overseas and then use this to benefit the domestic market. This has been well - verified in categories such as trendy toys and tea drinks. A product's popularity overseas can contribute to brand building, product development, and even the construction of the domestic channel ecosystem.

In terms of investment, we have several aspects of layout. First, we are still actively looking for enterprises with strong underlying organizational capabilities in the overseas expansion direction. Second, overseas expansion is one of our most important empowerment directions. Some of CMC's invested enterprises are in the process of going public overseas, and we will share more details later.

Host: Thank you, Mr. Zhuang. We can see two types of sequences in overseas expansion or globalization. One is the typical model represented by Anker, where consumer electronics companies first expand globally and then enter the domestic market. There are many companies following this model, and they will integrate these two markets. The other type is that some companies first achieve a certain level of success in the domestic market, and a small number of them may not perform well in the domestic market but try their luck overseas. However, they may find that the competition overseas is even more intense. In the end, it may still be Chinese companies competing with each other overseas. These are the different changes we can observe.

Now, let's invite Mr. Chen. Since he is more involved in infrastructure logistics, he should have more obvious feelings.

Chen Weiliang: Thank you, host, and thank you, 36Kr. I'm the only guest from the logistics and supply - chain industry among all the speakers. The supply chain is a long process, and logistics is just one part of it. However, logistics is very important. If you can't transport your products, it's useless. So, on behalf of a Southeast Asian company in the logistics sector, let me briefly introduce our company.

Nengzhe Logistics is a Singapore - based company, founded in Singapore in 2014. At that time, the Southeast Asian e - commerce market was in its infancy, and service standards had not been established. The founders realized that even the best brands and products would be affected without good logistics. So, they took the initiative and started with a single van in Singapore. Gradually, we built our own distribution centers, fleets, and automated facilities, covering six major ASEAN countries: Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, and Indonesia. The development of our group has witnessed the prosperity of the local e - commerce market. In addition to the local delivery service we started with, we have built a complete end - to - end logistics service network in the past ten years. This includes cross - border logistics from China to Southeast Asia and from Southeast Asia to mainstream countries such as Europe, the United States, the Middle East, Japan, and South Korea. We also launched cold - chain logistics this year to meet the new needs of the overseas expansion of diversified brands, including catering. For example, the successful overseas expansion of well - known Chinese tea - drink brands such as Ba Wang Cha Ji, Mixue Bingcheng, Nayuki, and Cha Baidao in Southeast Asia is inseparable from stable cold - chain logistics, which allows local people to enjoy these great Chinese tea - drink brands.

This year, we have seen significant changes in the logistics and supply - chain industry. In particular, the fluctuations in tariff policies in Europe and the United States may have a "butterfly effect" on Southeast Asian countries. Therefore, when brands expand overseas to Southeast Asia, they will inevitably be affected by local government policies and customs policies, and e - commerce platforms are also affected. In this challenging period, we have observed that if enterprises or brands make early overseas layouts, and cooperate with high - quality supply - chain partners to build risk - resistance capabilities, they can still persevere through these difficulties.

Thank you.

Host: Thank you, Mr. Chen. Now, let's move on to the next topic. When looking at the backgrounds and path choices of different enterprises, I found that many enterprises may forget one important question. Overseas expansion is very popular, and everyone wants to try it, but why should the opportunity belong to you? What capabilities do you have to support this? I think this is very difficult, especially because of the challenge of localization. I'd like to ask Mr. Chen. In Indonesia, there are many islands, and traditional methods like using bamboo rafts may be used to solve logistics problems. How can infrastructure and delivery problems be solved in an archipelagic country like Indonesia? Localization ability building is very difficult. As an infrastructure provider, you have seen many brands. In your opinion, what are the pitfalls that Chinese enterprises may encounter or often overlook, or where their capabilities may fall short when expanding overseas to Southeast Asia? Enterprises that have already expanded or plan to expand to Southeast Asia should pay attention to these issues.

Chen Weiliang: Thank you for the question, host. In fact, when enterprises expand overseas, they enter an unknown environment and need to explore and get familiar with it. The cultural background, infrastructure, and other aspects of Southeast Asian countries are quite different from those in China. For example, Indonesia has many islands. Due to cultural, geographical, and even human and government - related differences, enterprises need to learn about the geography and culture of these countries when expanding overseas.

Back in China, overseas expansion has not been a hot topic only in recent years. More than a decade ago, both the government and enterprises were advocating it. In recent years, policies such as the RCEP and the Belt and Road Initiative have provided convenience and channels for enterprises to go global.

ASEAN countries are also actively responding to these initiatives. They are constantly improving their infrastructure, finance, and payment systems. Although in Singapore and Malaysia, you may not need to carry cash, in the Philippines and Indonesia, most stores still require cash payments. So, Southeast Asian countries are making continuous efforts, but this is a long - term process.

When enterprises and brands expand overseas, they often want cheap, fast, and safe services and products at the same time. However, these three requirements are contradictory, and it's impossible to have all three in one service or product. In our daily work, we have seen many pitfalls. Some cross - border logistics enterprises may promise brands or factories fast, safe, and loss - free delivery, but this is often a false claim. We have also seen some so - called logistics enterprises in Shenzhen running away. They are basically taking risks. They may get away with it for ten shipments, but one accident can lead to huge losses. We're not just talking about losing money and people; we're talking about losing goods and money. As a company born and raised in Southeast Asia, we can provide reasonable and compliant suggestions to overseas - expanding enterprises. We can ensure the safe and compliant transportation of goods to the local market without causing unnecessary expenses. Therefore, we hope that when enterprises expand overseas, whether to Southeast Asia or other countries, they must choose responsible, capable, and local supply - chain enterprises to cooperate with to avoid potential pitfalls.

Host: Thank you, Mr. Chen. In summary, globalization requires many partners. No single company can solve all problems on its own. So, it's very important to choose a reliable partner, especially one with strong localization capabilities.

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