Amid fast-paced changes that fill the business community with excitement, angst and trepidation, EqualOcean will publish a series of roundup articles to document the major events related to Chinese companies going global every week.
Weekly Overview（11/01-17/01）
1. By 2025, WeChat Pay (微信支付) cross-border payment services had expanded to 78 countries and regions, supporting 36 currencies.
2. BYD (比亚迪) opened its first brand center store in Tanzania, with plans to introduce multiple new models.
3. BYD secured an order for 268 electric buses in Belgium.
4. ChaPanda (茶百道) signed a strategic partnership with Scarlett Supermarket, accelerating its rollout in Singapore.
5. Dingdong Maicai (叮咚买菜) entered into a strategic partnership with global fruit company SanLucar, building its own overseas supply chain to develop global direct sourcing.
6. XPeng Motors (小鹏汽车) achieved leapfrog growth in its global footprint in 2025, targeting entry into nearly 30 new national markets in 2026.
7. BYD partnered with international energy company ContourGlobal on a 500 MWh energy storage project in Bulgaria, scheduled to be commissioned in 2026.
8. Intelligent driving solutions provider MINIEYE (佑驾创新) reached a cooperation agreement with India’s Sterling Tools Limited (part of the Sterling Group), accelerating its “Going Global 2.0” push.
9. With over 1 billion downloads and more than 200,000 derivative models, Qwen (阿里千问) set a new global record for open-source models.
10. Geely Holding Group (吉利控股集团) released its 2030 strategic targets, aiming for annual vehicle sales to exceed 6.5 million units.
11. TikTok officially announced its U.S. plan, establishing a U.S. data security company.
12. Newborn Town Inc. (赤子城科技) projected 2025 revenue of RMB 67.6–70.0 billion, representing year-on-year growth of over 32%.
Selected Developments
1. ChaPanda and Singapore supermarket chain Scarlett reach strategic partnership, accelerating rollout in the Singapore market
[Event] Recently, new-style tea brand ChaPanda formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement with well-known Singapore supermarket brand Scarlett. Both parties announced that, leveraging Scarlett’s mature local distribution network and consumer base, they will provide localized operational support for ChaPanda and jointly promote the brand’s deep penetration in the Singapore market.
ChaPanda officially entered the Singapore market in July 2025, with its first outlets launching at SCAPE Orchard Road and Northpoint malls. At present, ChaPanda’s overseas business covers more than ten countries and regions including South Korea, Thailand, Australia, and the United States, with the total number of overseas stores worldwide exceeding 20.
2. Dingdong Maicai reaches strategic cooperation with global leading fruit company SanLucar
[Event] Recently, Dingdong Maicai formally signed a strategic cooperation agreement with global leading fruit company SanLucar. Both sides announced that they will carry out in-depth cooperation in areas including supply chain coordination, product innovation, and market promotion, jointly meeting Chinese consumers’ demand for high-quality fruit. According to the agreement, the value of direct-sourcing orders for high-end fruits such as cherries and blueberries in 2026 will be no less than RMB 40 million.
At present, the Dingdong Maicai platform has already launched two cherry and blueberry products supplied by SanLucar, which is expected to expand to ten products by the end of 2026. SanLucar is headquartered in Spain and is one of the world’s largest fruit companies. Liang Changlin, Chairman and CEO of Dingdong Maicai, stated that the cooperation is not merely a buyer–seller relationship, but aims to jointly refine product varieties and quality.
In this cooperation, Dingdong Maicai’s self-built overseas supply chain platform “Hata (哈他)” has played an important role. At present, Hata’s import supply chain involves more than 20 countries and regions across the Americas, Oceania, and Africa, covering products including fruit, aquatic products, meat, and poultry. At the same time, Hata is also continuously exploring the export business of Chinese agricultural products, aiming to build a supply chain system of “buying globally and selling globally.”
3. XPeng Motors achieves leapfrog growth in global footprint in 2025, targeting entry into nearly 30 new national markets in 2026
[Event] On January 20, XPeng Motors Chairman He Xiaopeng revealed that as of December 31, 2025, XPeng Motors had established more than 1,000 sales outlets worldwide. The brand’s business currently covers 60 countries and regions, and it plans to further expand into nearly 30 new markets in 2026, accelerating the process of its internationalization strategy.
At the 2026 Global New Product Launch Conference held on January 8, He Xiaopeng also released the company’s 2025 performance results: XPeng Motors delivered a total of 429,445 vehicles in 2025, representing a 126% year-on-year increase, setting a new historical annual delivery record. Among them, overseas markets performed strongly, with annual deliveries reaching 45,008 vehicles, up 96% year-on-year. Notably, from January to November 2025, XPeng Motors ranked first among new-energy start-up brands in overseas sales in ten countries, demonstrating a significant improvement in international competitiveness.
4. BYD cooperates with international energy company ContourGlobal
[Event] Recently, the 500 MWh standalone battery energy storage system (BESS) project at the Maritsa East 3 Power Plant in Bulgaria was officially put into operation. The project was jointly developed by BYD Energy Storage, a global leader in energy storage, and international energy company ContourGlobal, becoming one of the largest standalone energy storage projects in Eastern Europe, as well as the largest energy storage project undertaken by BYD in the region.
Through high-density lithium-ion battery arrays, the system enables flexible regulation and efficient storage of renewable energy. The project adopts a modular design architecture, which not only facilitates later expansion and maintenance, but also achieves coordinated optimization with existing thermal power and wind power facilities through an intelligent management system. Analysis indicates that the system can store an annual amount of clean energy equivalent to the electricity consumption of tens of thousands of households, providing a replicable technological pathway for the green transformation of traditional energy bases.
BYD Energy Storage entered the energy storage market in 2008 and has now established a complete full-industry-chain system. The successful implementation of this project marks an important step forward in the large-scale application of energy storage technologies in Eastern Europe, further consolidating BYD’s capabilities in the integration and delivery of large-scale energy storage projects.
5. Geely Holding Group releases 2030 strategic targets: annual sales to exceed 6.5 million units
[Event] On January 22, Geely Holding Group held a strategic briefing in Beijing and officially released its 2030 strategic target of “One Geely, Comprehensive Leadership.” Geely proposed strengthening top-level coordination and global collaboration to realize a globally integrated “one chessboard” strategic structure, building a “six-in-one” core capability system, and striving to become a leader in the high-quality global development of Chinese enterprises.
According to the disclosed 2030 key indicators, Geely aims to achieve global total sales exceeding 6.5 million vehicles, ranking among the top five global automakers by sales. Among them, the proportion of new energy vehicle sales is planned to reach approximately 75%, while overseas sales are expected to account for more than one-third. At the same time, Geely will develop a world-class global new-energy architecture covering A- to E-segment models, and it is estimated that the average R&D cycle and comprehensive cost per model based on the new architecture will be reduced by more than 30%.
Reviewing its 2025 performance, Geely demonstrated strong growth momentum, with total annual sales surpassing 4 million vehicles for the first time, reaching 4.116 million units, a 26% year-on-year increase, ranking seventh globally. Among them, new energy vehicle sales reached 2.293 million units, up 58% year-on-year, with a penetration rate of 56%. An Conghui, CEO of Geely Holding Group, stated that Geely will fully leverage the brand strengths of Geely Galaxy, Lynk & Co, and Zeekr, while releasing the “home-field advantages” of international brands such as Volvo and Polestar in overseas markets, building a global brand matrix with clear positioning and complementary momentum.
6. TikTok officially announces U.S. plan, establishes U.S. data security company
[Event] On January 23, TikTok officially announced its U.S. business solution: the establishment of a multi-shareholder-operated U.S. joint venture company. The company will be fully responsible for TikTok’s data protection, algorithm security, content review, and software assurance in the U.S. market, marking a new stage in its compliant operations in the United States.
In terms of equity structure, ByteDance will retain 19.9% of the joint venture’s shares, remaining the largest single shareholder. Oracle, Silver Lake, and MGX will each hold 15%, with the remaining shares held by multiple investment and asset management companies. In addition, the joint venture will establish a seven-member board of directors, including TikTok’s current CEO Shou Zi Chew. In the future, TikTok’s U.S. business will be jointly operated by ByteDance’s U.S. entity and the newly established joint venture company.
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