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Hotpot, bubble tea and sportswear
Step into pretty much any shopping mall in Singapore and you're likely to find queues snaking outside shops with catchy names and bright-coloured branding. Chinese brands like Chagee, Molly Tea and Mixue are drawing crowds – not just in Asia, but increasingly in cities from Sydney to London and Los Angeles.
Alongside fashion labels, toy stores and sportswear giants, these tea chains are riding a new wave – as Chinese firms move from low-cost manufacturing to globally recognisable consumer brands.
Built in the world's second-largest consumer market, they already have scale and operational muscle. But competition is intensifying at home, and so expanding overseas has become a necessity. At the same time, they are entering markets where the perception of "Made in China" is often still associated with cheap, low-quality goods.
China has moved beyond a replication economy," Tim Parkinson of consultancy Storytellers China notes. "Its products now meet the expectations of a new generation of demanding global consumers.
China has long been the world's workshop, producing goods for Western companies. In the process, suppliers learnt not only how to make goods, but how to brand, distribute and sell them at scale.
Companies like Miniso have benefitted from that kind of know-how. The retailer - which sells toys and movie merchandise from Disney, Marvel and Warner Bros - now operates stores in more than half the countries around the world.
"Consumers aren't particularly concerned about where the brand comes from," says Vincent Huang, general manager of overseas markets at Miniso. They're more focused on the shopping experience - the designs, value for money, and enjoyment," he says.
Licensing deals and relative speed in getting products from factory to shelf are central to its model.
Beyond consumer goods, BYD has overtaken Tesla as the world's largest electric vehicle (EV) maker. The company benefitted from betting on the right technology early in the EV race, plus China's vast domestic market helped it scale and improve cost efficiencies.
It is now pushing beyond cars - developing ultra-fast charging systems that add hundreds of kilometres of range in minutes, as part of an effort to build an ecosystem around its vehicles.
Government support has helped accelerate China's EV sector, through subsidies and incentives that boosted demand. But this has drawn criticism from Europe and the US with officials saying such support gives Chinese firms an unfair advantage. Beijing rejects this, saying the growth reflects China's innovation and industrial might.
Anta is another example - it now runs nearly 13,000 stores globally and has become the world's third-largest sportswear brand behind Nike and Adidas.
It first cracked China's vast domestic market, while growing its footprint through global acquisitions of established international brands like Salomon and Wilson and, more recently, a 29% stake in Puma.
Before entering Western markets, many Chinese companies have used South East Asia as a testing ground.
With more than 650 million consumers who are young and increasingly affluent, the region offers scale and diversity, while competition from established Western brands keeps standards high.
Restaurant firm Haidilao opened its first overseas outlet in Singapore in 2012. It is now the largest hotpot chain in the world with 1,300 restaurants across 14 countries.
Haidilao's story is not just a restaurant success," says Zhou Zhaocheng, vice chairman of Haidilao International. "It reflects China's 30 years of economic transformation and internationalisation.
The chain's global reach relies on a strong brand, robust ecosystem, and loyal customer base, according to Zhou. He notes that every overseas market is complex, shaped by different cultures, legal systems, and consumer habits - so localising food, menus, and service is essential.
The chain is now pursuing halal certification in Indonesia and Malaysia, a move that could open up Muslim-majority markets across the Middle East.
Other brands are moving fast too. Ice-cream and Bubble Tea outlet Mixue operates more stores globally than McDonald's or Starbucks, while Molly Tea has expanded internationally within just a few years of being founded.
More than 70% of Chinese firms operating in South East Asia plan further expansion, according to market research firm Euromonitor International.
The region is also home to some of the fastest growing smartphone markets, and social media is turbocharging the popularity of these products. Pop Mart's Labubu figurines, for example, became a global phenomenon with minimal traditional advertising.
In the US, Pop Mart's sales have grown by 900% since 2024. Despite the company's shares falling sharply in recent months on concerns over how it can keep growing, it is still worth more than the combined value of US toy giants Hasbro and Mattel, and Sanrio, the Japanese firm behind the Hello Kitty brand.
In China, this outward push - known as "chuhai", which roughly translates to going out to sea - is increasingly being driven by domestic pressures. A sluggish economy, intense competition and a declining birth rate have changed spending habits and squeezed growth, pushing companies overseas.
Even foreign brands are feeling the shift. Starbucks' market share in China has more than halved since 2019. Local chain Luckin Coffee now has almost four times as many stores in the country than its US rival. Luckin's mobile-first model keeps costs low and service fast.
In November, Starbucks announced a deal to sell a controlling stake in its Chinese operations to Hong Kong-based Boyu Capital.
Despite a major accounting scandal in 2020 that led to its delisting from Nasdaq, Luckin has continued expanding in China and abroad, including Singapore, Malaysia and New York, and is reportedly planning to return to the US stock market.
Analysts say perceptions around Chinese firms also seem to be shifting.
Where "Made in China" once implied cheap products, they are increasingly seen as innovative and design-led.
"Brands like BYD combine superior quality with emotional storytelling and local adaptation," says marketing expert Foo Siew-Ting.
Even so, challenges remain. Tariffs, political scrutiny and concerns over data security continue to complicate expansion, as seen in cases such as Huawei and TikTok.
Questions also remain over whether fast-growing brands like Shein and Temu can sustain momentum in Western markets.
Still, the direction of travel is clear: Chinese companies are no longer defined by low prices, and are innovating and jumping on consumer trends.
They are building brands, adapting to local markets and going head-to-head with and sometimes pulling ahead of established global players.
Additional reporting by Jaltson Akkanath Chummar
Source: BBC
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