In 2026, the key focus of overseas expansion is shifting from “growth through volume” to “sustainable operations.” Companies are moving their emphasis from seizing opportunities to building a comprehensive set of long-term capabilities, including local teams, supply chains, distribution channels, branding, and compliance. 36Kr is hosting the 2026 East Forward Outbound Conference under the theme “At the Tide’s Rise, We Meet on Shore,” bringing together outbound enterprises from consumer, technology, manufacturing, and other sectors, along with investment institutions and global service providers, to discuss how companies can establish stronger operational foundations and identify sustainable paths to growth in an increasingly complex and dynamic global market.
In 2026, Chinese enterprises going global are transitioning from seeking growth opportunities to pursuing long-term global operations.
Over the past few years, more and more Chinese companies have entered global markets—in sectors such as automobiles, new energy, cross-border e-commerce, and AI applications. However, a single market breakthrough or a period of performance growth does not mean globalization has been achieved. As going global shifts from experimentation to a常态 (new normal), the real challenge has shifted from “how to exit” to “how to stay.” Rules and market environments continue to evolve; supply chains, distribution channels, and local teams must be rebuilt, and brands must navigate diverse cultures and consumer habits. While the industry once repeatedly debated “whether to go global,” today the more critical question is: after stepping out, can companies survive, establish deep roots, operate stably, and ultimately build their own global competitiveness?
On September 17, the 2026 East Forward Outbound Conference, themed "At the Tide's Rise, We Meet Ashore," was held in Shanghai. Enterprises from fields such as new energy vehicles, cross-border e-commerce, AI and smart hardware, content outbound, consumer electronics, and new consumer brands, along with investment institutions and global service providers in logistics, finance, marketing, human resources, and M&A, gathered to discuss the next phase of Chinese companies’ globalization—how to move more steadily, deeply, and farther. Addressing the audience at the opening, Xie Zuoqiang, Vice President of 36Kr, noted that outbound expansion is not unfamiliar to Chinese companies; for decades, they have already mastered the traditional model of "selling goods overseas." The real challenge today lies in whether brands can establish a solid presence abroad, whether financials can be clearly accounted for, and whether operations can navigate diverse governance and compliance challenges.
Opening speech by Xie Zuoqiang, Vice President of 36Kr
From “going global” to “surviving and thriving,” overseas expansion enters a phase of long-term operation.
After a company truly enters overseas markets, the first inevitable challenge it often faces is not growth, but operations.
Teng Binsheng, Professor of Strategy and Deputy Dean of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, delivered a speech titled “From Going Global to Surviving Abroad,” re-examining Chinese companies’ overseas expansion within the context of “Globalization 2.0.” The previously relatively stable global industrial chain is shifting toward a more complex network structure; companies can no longer simply export products—they must clearly define their positioning, diversify risks amid trade barriers and geopolitical tensions, and build long-term operational capabilities around their unique strengths in areas such as market entry strategies, core competitiveness, local ecosystems, innovation capacity, and compliance.
Professor and Vice Dean Teng Binsheng of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, on the topic "Go Global to Survive"
This issue also extends to the roundtable discussion on “from exporting to establishing roots.” Selling a product does not equate to truly entering the market—understanding local users, building a local supply chain, establishing brand recognition, and managing cross-regional teams are unavoidable challenges for companies once they go overseas. Xie Huiqi, Director of Products and Solutions and Head of Overseas Business at Dun & Bradstreet China, noted that companies often underestimate the speed of change in local markets. When teams are small, tracking customer information is manageable, but as the business scales, sales, finance, and after-sales data scattered across departments become disjointed, leading to misjudged operations and misallocated resources. From selecting target markets and identifying partners to managing customer credit, payment terms, and receivables risk, companies need to rely on continuously updated, reliable business data rather than personal judgment.
Xie Huiqi, Head of International Business at Dun & Bradstreet, spoke at the panel discussion “From Exporting to Settling In: How Can Chinese Companies Achieve Localization Overseas?”
As businesses mature and markets and channels continue to expand, AI is emerging as a new entry point in commercial systems. Vivey Wan, Head of Business for Shopify in Asia, shared insights on how AI is transforming how consumers discover products and complete purchases. She noted that it took approximately 15 years to transition from e-commerce to mobile commerce, nine years to move from mobile commerce to social commerce, and perhaps only seven years to evolve from social commerce to today’s agent-based commerce. Channel iteration is accelerating significantly, and companies expanding overseas must adapt more quickly to new consumer entry points. For merchants, AI is not merely a simple replacement for traditional search—it adds new channels for discovery and transaction beyond advertising, search, and email. Everything Shopify is doing right now is focused on making your brand easier to discover, understand, trust, and purchase within AI-driven channels.
Vivey Wan, Head of Business for Shopify in Asia: "AI as the New Gateway to Business: Building a Global Growth Foundation for the Future"
However, while AI empowers content, the current trend of content going global faces a different set of challenges. Sun Kai, CEO of Zhangyue Technology, shared insights on the new dynamics of bringing content products to global markets through AI-powered short dramas. Over the past three months, the average production cost of AI short dramas has dropped by 75%, and supply has increased by approximately 300% within six months. Yet, the lowered barriers to production and improved efficiency do not mean creators are universally benefiting—blockbusters and profits are increasingly concentrated among high-quality content. Sun Kai believes that AI short dramas are not merely a simple offshoot of traditional short dramas, nor can domestic content simply be replicated for global markets through translation alone. What ultimately determines success remains IP strength, storytelling ability, and a deep understanding of varying market payment habits and content demands: “Short dramas in 2026 will be just as transformative as short videos were in 2016—the market potential has only just begun to open.”
Sun Kai, CEO of Zhangyue Technology, keynote speech on "Zhangyue · AI Short Drama Going Global"
From market awareness to digital entry points, from operational foundations to content localization, once companies truly delve into international expansion, the capabilities they need to develop go far beyond simply “selling products.” At the roundtable on “Brand Globalization,” guests from Alibaba Cloud, Ocean Stone, and Xiaoman Technology further narrowed the focus to long-term growth: a viral hit, a single channel, or success in one market cannot be equated with globalization. Companies must truly integrate their brand, customers, data, and operational systems, maintain control over their core decisions, and leverage external ecosystems to fill capability gaps. In the AI era, repetitive tasks can be increasingly delegated to tools—but human cognition, judgment, and aesthetic sense have become more critical than ever.
Brand Globalization: How to Build Long-Term Growth Capabilities? Panel Discussion
Different tracks, different strategies: Globalization is now more about operational capability.
Beyond common challenges, different industries are also developing their own global pathways.
For companies that have already established manufacturing and scale advantages, the next step is no longer just increasing export volumes, but how to truly integrate into local operations. In the keynote speech titled “From 30 Million to World-Class: How Changan Automobile Transforms Speed into Global Trust,” Changan Automobile shared how it transitioned from product trade to a global business model integrating manufacturing, investment, services, and brand synergy. Its products have further evolved from “global synchronization” to “global native, regional customization,” truly entering diverse markets through local teams, service networks, and cooperative ecosystems.
Peter Larko, Director of Public Relations for Changan Automobile's Overseas Brands: "From 30 Million to World-Class: How Changan Automobile Turned Speed into Global Trust" keynote speech
Many established companies expanding overseas, when facing growth challenges, are shifting from isolated breakthroughs to building systematic frameworks. During the roundtable on “How AI is Reshaping Business,” participants discussed the complexity of global markets, internal data collaboration within enterprises, and how AI capabilities can truly integrate into business operations. Liang Yan, Senior Solutions Engineer at Shopify, emphasized the importance of a unified foundation for global operations. She noted that as companies enter more markets, the first step is to identify a single source of truth, truly connecting products, inventory, channels, and regional operations. In the AI era, businesses must further integrate diverse AI channels to enable products to be understood, discovered, and converted by AI. Scaling AI is not simply about adding more tools—it requires first establishing and refining the complete loop of “identifying problems—making decisions—taking action—reviewing outcomes,” then replicating it across additional markets and teams. Through Shopify, merchants can manage a single set of products and operate an independent store covering multiple countries and markets on one platform, while leveraging the platform’s already-integrated AI channels to eliminate the cumbersome tasks of individually connecting, deploying, and maintaining each system—enabling more efficient global expansion and a competitive edge in international markets.
Roundtable: "AI is Reshaping Global Business—How Brands Can Build Future-Ready Growth Advantages"
AI is rapidly transforming the production and distribution of content for international markets. In the roundtable on “Speed and Human Insight,” industry experts from Kunlun Wanwei, Ningmeng International, and 41 Finance will explore beyond content efficiency: as AI continuously reduces the costs of production, testing, and localization—making content supply increasingly abundant—the true scarcity lies in discerning what constitutes high-quality content, and in understanding the cultural nuances, emotional contexts, and user needs of different markets. AI can amplify efficiency, but ultimately, it is human judgment and market insight—across topic selection, storytelling, and localized expression—that determine whether content truly resonates with users.
Speed and Human Connection: AI Enables Infinite Content Generation—Who’s Responsible for Touching Hearts? Roundtable
As businesses grow and evolve, the role of capital and service systems is also changing. At the roundtable "New Routes for Industrial Capital," guests from Censys, Joyoung Industrial Fund, PMI China, and LianLian Pay discussed where money should be spent. In contrast to the past, when companies prioritized traffic and short-term conversions, businesses are now allocating more budget toward localization, brand building, organizational capabilities, compliance, and risk management. The value of capital is no longer limited to providing funds—it also helps companies reduce the costs of decision-making and experimentation, while connecting them to long-term resources such as channels, supply chains, and professional services.
Roundtable: The New Route for Industrial Capital—The Second Half of Going Global: Where Should You Invest?
Different tracks require different strategies, but the underlying judgment is becoming increasingly consistent: globalization is becoming harder to achieve through a single-point advantage alone. Products can help companies enter markets, but what ultimately determines whether a company can sustain its presence is its ability to continuously connect product, organization, supply chain, and market.
From “going out” to “going deeper,” international expansion requires stronger backend capabilities.
As globalization shifts from a growth opportunity to a long-term business strategy, going global is no longer just a brand’s individual concern.
During the conference, three lists were released: East Forward·Globalization Leader Enterprises, East Forward·Globalization Innovator Enterprises, and East Forward·Globalization Enabler Enterprises, documenting the diverse participants in China’s globalization journey—from enterprises with established global capabilities, to those continuously expanding into new markets, and the service ecosystems supporting global operations.
The East Forward roster was released concurrently with the conference.
There is also a clear shift behind this: today, discussing overseas expansion makes it difficult to focus solely on the brand at the forefront. Payments, logistics, compliance, technology, marketing, finance, human resources, and professional services collectively determine whether a company can operate smoothly after entering a new market.
Beyond the main forum, the East Forward Overseas Resource Matching Event further advanced the discussion from "how to view" to "how to act." A total of 28 companies participated in the matchmaking, with brands, service providers, and industry resources engaging in direct exchanges and alignments based on real business needs and operational insights.
At high tide, we meet on shore—East Forward Overseas Resource Networking Event
Rather than continuing to chase the next so-called overseas opportunity, the matchmaking event focuses on the specific challenges companies are already facing: where they’re getting stuck after entering the market, what resources they’re missing, and who can truly help solve these issues. Brand owners, service providers, and industry resources are matched in more direct settings, bringing the discussions at the event back to real business realities.
From sharing experiences to solving problems, the value of "anchoring" becomes tangible here.
After the tide rises, globalization enters a phase of long-term operation.
After a day of discussion, a clearer trend has emerged: the challenges Chinese companies face in globalizing are no longer just about "how to go global," but about "how to sustain their global presence."
When businesses truly enter diverse markets, many issues that were once manageable in isolation begin to intertwine. Product, brand, supply chain, technology, compliance, and organizational capabilities influence one another, and a weakness in any one area can alter the outcome of the entire overseas operation. As a result, globalization is increasingly difficult to measure with a single metric.
Export volume, GMV, and overseas revenue remain important, but what truly determines a company’s global caliber is its ability to understand different markets, establish local organizations, adapt to regulatory changes, and turn a single success into a repeatable, sustainable capability. This may also be the most significant shift for Chinese companies as they enter the next phase of going global: globalization is evolving from a one-time expansion outward into a fundamental rebuilding of the company’s own capabilities.
At high tide, we meet on shore. 36Kr will continue to go directly to the frontlines of Chinese companies’ globalization, documenting how enterprises build new capabilities across different markets and connect brands, industries, capital, and global service ecosystems—allowing those who have already gone global to share their experiences, and helping those still seeking direction to find their next steps more quickly.