At today’s XIN Summit, leading experts in Asia’s tech-globalization ecosystem gathered to discuss how Chinese technology companies can successfully expand overseas. Covering everything from AI devices to robotics, and from Southeast Asia to Europe and the US, the speakers drew on their respective backgrounds in investment, venture building, crowdfunding, and industrial operations to outline a practical, actionable playbook for founders from China and the Greater Bay Area aiming to go global.
The forum From Local Champion to Global Disruptor: Scaling Asian Tech Beyond Home Markets was moderated by Jay Ian Birbeck, Founder and CEO of Bold Nation. After visiting several startup projects during the media open day, Jay noted, “Many teams clearly have the potential to go global, and what they need most is guidance and experience.”
The panel featured Xu Chen, Managing Partner at Gobi Partners; Betty Lam, Head of China Marketing at TCF; Ryan Jang, Head of Global Business at Wadiz; and Huang Jiasong, Managing Director at Ansbo Investment. The speakers engaged in an in-depth discussion on how Asian technology companies can move beyond their home markets and achieve scalable global growth.
AI hardware and robotics seen as China’s most disruptive forces over the next 5–10 years
When asked about the technology sectors most likely to be led globally by Chinese companies in the future, the panel’s answers were strikingly focused: AI devices and robotics. Xu Chen said that China has already established a world-leading advantage in both robotic technology systems and supply chain capabilities. Whether in industrial or service robots, China’s capabilities will be exported globally in various ways, according to Xu.
Betty said that Embodied AI and multimodal intelligent devices will be the next big trends. She cited recent crowdfunding successes in AI translators and AI accessory products: “AI devices will not only become increasingly diverse, but underlying models will also become more localized and multi-agent. These innovations will create enormous potential.”
From an ecosystem perspective, Huang added that the key is not just hardware innovation, but who can build a hardware-software synergy ecosystem in robotics—similar to Windows + Intel in the past or NVIDIA CUDA today. “Whoever can achieve this could become the next supergiant in the robotics field,” he said.
Picking your first overseas market: know yourself and the market
For startups from the Greater Bay Area looking to enter overseas markets, Xu Chen offered very practical advice. He emphasized that market size, cultural background, local regulations, and the payment and logistics infrastructure are all factors that need to be evaluated together. “Going overseas isn’t just about selling your product. It’s a whole complex system,” he said.
He noted that Western markets have high entry barriers and little room for error, so a single failure could mean losing the opportunity permanently. Japan and South Korea are more suitable for well-prepared teams, while Southeast Asia is friendlier to early-stage startups, offering lower failure costs and easier opportunities to test.
Most common mistake is losing touch with real users
For consumer electronics companies, Betty identified the biggest mistake as ignoring real users and their actual needs. In the past, companies often relied on feedback from distributors, but today, data, reviews, social media, and crowdfunding platforms allow brands to reach real buyers directly, according to Betty.
She emphasized that product-market fit (PMF) remains the first critical milestone before success, and having an inaccurate user profile can directly lead to development missteps and marketing failures.
Korean market is high barrier but high reward
Ryan shared the experience of Chinese brands crowdfunding in Korea. He admitted that Korea is often ranked lower on the list of overseas priorities for many brands. “But in reality, Korean users are among the most discerning in the world, with the highest standards for both aesthetics and functionality. Because of this, success in Korea often signals that a product can be highly competitive in other markets,” he said.
He also mentioned that Wadiz has launched a multilingual platform and will introduce its own AI model to help global hardware teams, including Chinese manufacturers, develop effective localization strategies.
The biggest challenge for robotics going overseas is uncertainty and local partners
In the field of robotics, Huang pointed out that the risk companies most often overlook comes from uncertainty in policies and geopolitics. Some countries may not welcome Chinese robotics companies becoming too successful, so finding a truly local partner is crucial. He cautioned against vague notions of partnership and advised entrepreneurs to seek partners who genuinely share risk, whether through equity or channel-based collaboration.
