今日上海
上海海外扩张的弹弓 - 2026年08月24日
A Shanghai slingshot for overseas expansion
Going global — a pressing goal of many Chinese companies — is not only about grasping the big picture.
Nuanced details, such as what can be demonstrated in a product commercial, for example, may jeopardize a company's future prospects in an unfamiliar new market.
With eight years' experience in overseas markets, Shanghai-based gaming company Boke Technology learned this lesson, said the company's general counsel Wang Sijia.
One product commercial for a Southeast Asian market featured exaggerated creative content. It depicted a hamburger that had accidentally fallen on the ground being stepped on, which may have been construed as disrespectful due to cultural sensitivities. Wang said sometimes it's difficult for companies to make such fine distinctions.
However, this is one of the smaller challenges Chinese companies may be confronted with when they enter a new market. Abiding by local market entry regulations and contract formats are even larger issues, she said.
"The biggest headache about going global is the information gap. Companies do not know who to turn to or what they can do when a problem occurs," she said.
When publishing companies enter a new market, for example, they often have to work with local service providers for the first time. Without access to reliable information or experience in collaboration, it is extremely difficult to find the right partners.
A company's own internal risk management capabilities are usually insufficient, Wang added. "The cost of trial and error can be prohibitively high," she said.
Easier compliance
Shanghai companies have been boldly expanding into new markets.
Apart from mature markets such as Europe and the United States, more of them are reaching into Association of Southeast Asian Nations member states, the Middle East, and Latin America, according to He Dongbin, deputy director of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce.
In the first half of this year, Shanghai registered 383 newly established or acquired outbound projects, marking a 105 percent year-on-year increase in investment value.
Diversification of investment destinations has been a major trend. Economies involved in the Belt and Road Initiative have emerged as new investment targets, he said.
This is in line with a broader trend. About 80 percent of surveyed Chinese companies plan to expand overseas in the next three years, with ASEAN continuing to serve as the first choice, according to a report released by Singapore-headquartered bank UOB in early August.
The good news is that companies are being more proactive regarding compliance management when they enter new markets, according to He.
However, Liu Yanhao, deputy director of the Shanghai Municipal Bureau of Justice, said the expansion of legal service providers has not caught up with the expansion of Chinese companies and industries in overseas markets.
Companies can look for professional service providers in foreign markets on their own, Liu said. But the process will be lengthy and painstaking, and the strenuous efforts may not provide a satisfactory result.
A government-backed platform that can link lawyers with experience of overseas markets is an ideal solution, said Chen Jun, a City Development Law Firm partner, who also serves as deputy director of the foreign affairs committee of the Shanghai Bar Association.
In early August, Shanghai launched the international legal services hub, a digital platform where companies can search for institutions that provide legal services in overseas markets as well as experts who specialize in a certain country or industry. So far, 921 institutions with 413 overseas operations have been included on the platform.
Apart from connecting companies to law firms with expertise a company needs, the platform can identify potential country and industry risks.
This is especially important given the current complicated and unpredictable international situation, Chen said. Political changes can lead to policy inconsistencies or even deliberate legislative action targeting Chinese companies, he added.
"However, there is always a window of opportunity before such measures take full effect," Chen said.
"Professional service providers can usually notice signs in advance. The government can provide early warnings and intelligence on the platform. The law firms on the platform serve as 'converters', interpreting the needs of Chinese enterprises and connecting them with local professional institutions. The problems can be solved more efficiently or even avoided," he added.
Asset-light initiatives
The shift toward asset-light investment has emerged as another major trend. Sectors such as technical services, the digital economy, and cultural creativity, which are asset-light yet high-value-added, have become key drivers of Shanghai's outbound investment, according to He of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce.
The demand for computing power and digital technologies has risen significantly as more Chinese companies expand their overseas businesses, said Zheng Maokuan, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai Digital Globalization Association. As a result, Chinese companies are bringing more digital technologies to emerging markets and developing economies to help intelligent and digital upgrading.
Shanghai Linshu AI is one such pioneer.
Founded in 2024, the company aims to digitize cultural heritage around the world and produce various cultural products, including games, animation, or immersive experiences with the help of augmented reality and virtual reality.
This will help cultural heritage across the globe be more accessible to a larger audience. Digitization can also better preserve cultural heritage, transcending the limits of time and geography, according to company partner and general manager Zhang Xiaoping.
Currently, Linshu is working with the Cambodian government to digitize Angkor Wat. This is by no means an easy job: not only because it requires interdisciplinary cooperation across cultural heritage preservation, archaeology and artificial intelligence, but, more importantly, because it needs to access data owned by Cambodia, according to Zhang.
"But gradually, the Cambodian government came to realize their data governance is still at a relatively low level. The participation of Chinese entities can bring in the most up-to-date technologies and even facilitate their own legislation for the cross-border transfer of cultural data," he said.
The Shanghai government has played an important role in helping Linshu's business move forward.
Lin-gang Special Area, a part of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, in April 2024 introduced a special service to process cross-border data.
Lujiazui, a part of Pudong New Area financial cluster, introduced supportive policies for one-person companies to form an industrial ecosystem for game and animation production, Zhang said.
These outbound companies are mostly knowledge-intensive. Instead of bringing products to new markets, they are now introducing technologies, skills, operational capabilities and intellectual property rights, according to Adaline Zheng, president and CEO of UOB China.
Data protection key
Against this backdrop, data has become the buzzword when it comes to overseas expansion. However, when a company finds its data has been infringed on or leaked in an overseas market, its competitiveness is significantly impaired and losses are hard to measure.
The confirmation of data ownership is of great importance before a company expands into a new market, said Zuo Weibo, CEO of CRECT Group, which helps companies expand into overseas markets, especially in Southeast Asia.
Shanghai-based Hero Esports has experience in securing its IPR in foreign markets.
Founded in 2016, it has held a number of e-sports games' IPRs in overseas markets including Vietnam, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Indonesia.
Prior to the launch of Shanghai's data product IPR registration pilot program in December 2024, it was unclear how data could be registered to secure the company's interests, said Zhou Peipei, director of the company's legal and investment center.
"As e-sports games have become more popular, problems regarding data scraping, licensing boundaries and trade secret protection have all emerged. No company can tackle them single-handedly," she said.
"Companies need an official definition or confirmation as to the scope, development process and ownership of these data-driven outcomes. Otherwise, subsequent research and development, potential commercial collaborations and even internal management will be hampered," she added.
The pilot program helped the industry raise awareness of compliance and self-discipline, said Zhou.
Registered information can serve as key material for companies to assert their data rights in future infringement or trade secret disputes. Prosecutors are also involved, offering businesses quick access to expert advice on data ownership and privacy compliance, she explained.
"With the program connecting compliance, rights confirmation, legal protection and future data use, companies are more confident turning long-accumulated data into real innovation," said Zhou.
Data registration has been applauded by the AI, biomedicine, finance, education, culture and transportation industries, said Zhu Yanting, technology director of VLVE Information Technology, a service provider to technology companies.
The system is also directly linked to data trading institutions in Shanghai, so IPR certificates can be used as collateral to apply for bank loans. Data's value as an intangible asset has become clearer, Zhu said.
Shanghai's data product IPR registration is open to other places in China. By the end of July, the city had received 2,245 applications for data product IP registration.
Thirty percent of applications were from outside Shanghai. Data products registration applications came from 29 provincial-level regions. An application has yet to come from the Xizang autonomous region.
Data registration provides a snapshot of multiple efforts Shanghai has made to facilitate companies' steps to enter overseas markets.
In the first half of this year, the city launched a one-stop platform for companies to seek multiple services such as opening bank accounts, financing, legal consulting and logistics. Positioned as a service provider similar to Taobao or JD, the platform aims to make it easier to access, matching companies and service providers while tracking deals. Like the IPR registration program, the service platform is also available to companies across the country.
According to He of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce, the purposes of this open approach is to make the city "the optimal choice and the gateway" for Chinese companies seeking to reach international markets.
Source: China Daily
