China News Service, Beijing, October 2 (Reporter Yin Qianyun) In New York Times Square, the first directly-operated flagship store of Chinese imaging brand Insta360 in the United States opened, attracting more than a thousand people to queue up; in Southeast Asia, local consumers began to ride electric two-wheelers of Chinese brands such as Yadi and Emma; in Europe, more and more Chinese car logos appeared on the streets.
Similar stories are constantly happening around the world. Behind this is the fact that more and more Chinese private enterprises are attracting the attention of overseas markets.
For a long time in the past, when talking about Made in China, the key word "cost-effective" was unavoidable. And when consumers are willing to spend more money and queue longer to buy a "Chinese product", "cost-effectiveness" is no longer the only answer.
In the first half of 2026, the average selling price of Xpeng’s overseas models will exceed 40,000 euros. In Germany, the high-end models of Xpeng G6 and G9 have become the main choice for local users. The relevant person in charge of the brand told a reporter from China News Service that if consumers choose Chinese brands just because of ‘low prices’, it will be difficult for high-end models to become the mainstream choice.
Some analysts pointed out that in markets such as Europe with mature automobile consumption concepts and strict standards, consumers tend to pay more attention to technical hard power and product differentiation. Price is not the core competitiveness. Product strength is the key to impress consumers.
The overseas person in charge of Stone Technology, a smart cleaning home appliance company, summarized this change as moving from 'affordable alternative' to 'value choice': more and more people choose Chinese brands because of their better quality - they are ahead of other national brands in technology, design, function and experience.
To make overseas consumers willing to buy high-end products and high-end products, ultimately the products must speak for themselves. The innovation of Chinese enterprises today is no longer just technological breakthroughs in the laboratory, but the ability to quickly turn technology into products, and then turn products into experiences.
After decades of accumulation, China's manufacturing industry has formed a complete industrial chain from raw materials, parts and components to finished product manufacturing, and its response speed and collaborative efficiency have continued to improve. ‘This agility gives companies a first-mover advantage and the ability to iterate in the face of rapidly changing market demands. ’ The person in charge of Neolithic Autonomous Vehicles, a global unmanned distribution company, mentioned that for hard technology fields such as autonomous driving, robots, and new energy, the maturity of the supply chain directly determines the speed and cost of technology implementation.
Private enterprises' own high-intensity R&D investment has provided technical support for this industrial chain advantage. The "Report on the Innovation Status of the Top 1,000 Private Enterprises in R&D Investment in 2026" released by the All-China Federation of Industry and Commerce shows that the entry threshold for the top 1,000 private enterprises in R&D investment in 2025 is 216 million yuan, an increase of 9 million yuan from the previous year; the total R&D expenses reached 1.59 trillion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 10.72%.
Good products can knock on the door of overseas markets, but if you want consumers to pay for them in the long term, it is not enough to simply transfer domestic products as they are. To truly enter the global market, Chinese private enterprises face different regulations and standards, channel systems and consumption habits.
Stone Technology summarizes its approach as 'global products, local expression': core technology and basic experience remain globally unified while adapting to the differentiated needs of different markets. For example, in North America, it focuses on the pain points of pet homes and carpet cleaning; in Europe, it focuses on energy-saving, silent and environmentally friendly design; it focuses on thin-body products for Japanese and Korean small apartments, suitable for cleaning the bottom of tatami mats and furniture bottoms; in the Southeast Asian market, it emphasizes 'waterproof and moisture-proof' and 'antibacterial and anti-odor' features to specifically solve the pain points of use in tropical climates.
Transsion Mobile has specially developed a "dark skin beautification algorithm" for African users. ByteDance relies on the algorithm to achieve multi-market content adaptation. Xpeng has established an R&D center in Europe and deployed localized production. More Chinese companies are gradually learning to use local logic to do global business.
‘The global market is not a unified market. ’ The relevant person in charge of Xiaopeng Group mentioned that the essence of long-term globalization is that companies can truly understand different markets and establish the ability to serve local users.
Looking back, we can see that what is going global is a piece of ‘Chinese goods’, and what supports them to go further is the innovation capabilities, industrial chain efficiency and determination of Chinese private enterprises to take root in the global market. (over)
