
TikTok owner ByteDance is China’s Going Global champion, according to a new SCMP Plus databank tracking mainland companies’ overseas expansion efforts.
About two-thirds of the Going Global 100 members are technology or consumer companies, such as carmakers, reflecting how private businesses are driving China’s overseas growth through the development of cutting-edge technology and the creation of their own global brands. Private manufacturers are also now outpacing state-owned enterprises (SOEs) in overseas expansion, as they move beyond being assemblers for multinational brands and look to escape cutthroat price wars at home.
“Private firms have started to dominate, given the growing prominence of consumer electronics, e-commerce platforms, digital tech, EVs and green tech and even light manufacturing,” said Jayant Menon, senior fellow at the ISEAS – Yusof Ishak Institute in Singapore.