Chinese Companies’ New Playbook for Going Global

A joint report by Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB) and IE University’s China Observatory

Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business (CKGSB), in partnership with IE University’s China Observatory, has published Chinese Companies’ New Playbook for Going Global: Building Global Businesses in a World Transformed — examining how Chinese companies are rethinking overseas expansion as geopolitical tensions, trade barriers and the restructuring of global supply chains transform the international business environment. These forces are making globalization increasingly important for Chinese companies while fundamentally changing where and how they expand.

A New Phase of Chinese Globalization

The report argues that Chinese corporate globalization has entered a third phase. The first centered on product exports, with Chinese factories supplying global markets through contract manufacturing. The second expanded into channel exports, as cross-border e-commerce connected Chinese manufacturers directly with overseas buyers. Now, a third phase is taking shape: capability export.

Chinese companies are taking not just products overseas, but the operating systems behind them — including technical standards, product development, supply-chain organization, service, branding and business models — and using these capabilities to build businesses within overseas markets, rather than simply sell into them.

Drawing on original field research in Malaysia and Indonesia — alongside analysis of Chinese companies globalizing, such as Huawei, BYD, CATL, Midea, Changan and Temu — the report maps two distinct models of overseas expansion. The first, “chain-style globalization,” refers to when large companies expand alongside their supply chains. The second, “swarm-style globalization,” refers to when smaller firms expand independently through industrial ecosystems, digital platforms, overseas warehouses, service providers and industrial parks.

It identifies the “connector economies” — Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Mexico — best positioned to bridge a fracturing world, and the lessons emerging from early-mover Chinese SMEs in Southeast Asia, including the challenges of regulation, supply-chain efficiency, local talent, cultural differences and community integration.

At the same time, the Global South — including Southeast Asia — is becoming increasingly important to Chinese companies going global. In 2025, Global South markets collectively accounted for 46.2% of China’s exports and are evolving from destinations for Chinese products into important nodes in companies’ global supply chains, manufacturing networks and brand-building efforts.

Perspectives from CKGSB and IE University

The report brings together research and perspectives from scholars and leaders at both institutions.

Li Haitao, Dean and Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance at CKGSB, examines how Chinese companies are rethinking globalization amid geopolitical and economic change.

Li Wei, Professor of Economics and Associate Dean at CKGSB, provides the report’s core research on the shift from product exports to capability exports and the emerging models through which large companies and SMEs are expanding internationally.

Santiago Íñiguez de Ozoño, President of IE University, examines Huawei’s globalization journey and how customer focus, local immersion, long-term investment and organizational values contributed to its resilience.

The report also features perspectives from Bin Ma, Academic Director of China Observatory and Professor at IE Business School, on the role of “boundary spanners” in Chinese companies’ overseas acquisitions, and José Félix Valdivieso, Chairman of IE University’s China Observatory, on how Chinese companies can build lasting global influence through ideas and management practices as well as products.

Why This Matters for Global Businesses

The experiences of Chinese companies in Southeast Asia show why strategies that succeed in China cannot simply be replicated overseas. Differences in regulation, supply chains, local talent, culture and consumer behaviour mean that long-term success depends on adapting capabilities to local conditions and building trust within local markets.

For Southeast Asian businesses and multinationals, this shift creates opportunities as well as new competition. As Chinese companies build deeper roots overseas, local and international businesses can bring valuable market knowledge, talent, networks and supply-chain expertise. At the same time, Chinese companies’ approaches to technology, innovation, manufacturing and business-model development offer lessons for other businesses seeking to scale across Asia.

The result is a changing business landscape in which Chinese companies, Southeast Asian businesses and multinationals increasingly meet not only as competitors, but also as partners, suppliers, customers and sources of new ideas.

Table of Contents

Foreword
The New Frontier: How Chinese Companies Are Rethinking Globalization
Li Haitao, Dean and Dean’s Distinguished Chair Professor of Finance, CKGSB
The Phoenix of Shenzhen — How Huawei Turned Sanctions into Sovereignty
Santiago Íñiguez de Ozoño, President, IE University

Preface
From Product Exports to Capability Exports: The Third Phase of Chinese Corporate Globalization
Li Wei, Professor of Economics and Associate Dean, CKGSB

Chapter 1 — Global Turbulence and China’s Changing Role
How changes in the global economy are reshaping China’s role and the environment for Chinese companies expanding internationally.

Chapter 2 — Planning the Move
Building resilience through connector economies; chain-style globalization for large companies; swarm-style globalization for smaller firms; and making domestic strengths work abroad.

Chapter 3 — Lessons From Early-Mover Chinese SMEs Expanding Into Southeast Asia
Why China’s playbook does not always transfer to Southeast Asia; recalibrating supply chains; finding and retaining local talent; integrating into local communities; and lessons from early movers.

Opinion
Beyond the Deal: Why Boundary Spanners Matter in Chinese Companies’ Acquisitions in Developed Economies
Bin Ma, Academic Director of China Observatory and Professor, IE Business School, IE University
The World Is Not a Hamburger — Nor Should It Become a Dumpling
José Félix Valdivieso, Chairman, China Observatory, IE University