2024, they will explode overseas markets

"In 2024, Chinese products will go overseas and new forces will emerge in the global market." Why have so many Chinese products been able to shine in overseas markets in the past 2024? What is the development status of these products overseas? What opportunities and challenges do they bring to Chinese companies?

Have you ever thought that every cup of milk tea you drink in China and every short drama you watch are being crazily sought after in other parts of the world? From Chinese milk tea triggering a luxury car buying craze overseas, to online short dramas gaining the "dominant boss-like favor" of overseas readers; from trendy IPs setting off a global "grain" storm, to the game "Black Myth: Wukong" creating an industry milestone, and even the "three-wheeled vehicle" that is not popular in China also makes overseas consumers unable to stop... 2024 can be called a "good year" for Chinese products going overseas. Various products shine on the international stage, which not only demonstrates the unique charm and innovation ability of Chinese products, but also reflects the increasing competitiveness and influence of Chinese companies in the international market.

In 2024, we have witnessed many Chinese brands and enterprises forging ahead in the global market. What consumption booms have they created? What challenges have they faced? Looking back on the past year, we are surprised, moved, and thoughtful.

01Hot product 1: Chinese milk tea, which makes Middle Eastern friends line up in luxury cars to buy it

2024 is the year of "sweet love" between milk tea and overseas markets. In Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia, only in front of Chinese milk tea shops can you see a rare scene of more than a dozen luxury cars waiting in line. Although these wealthy Middle Eastern people who drive luxury cars to buy milk tea don't know what "pearls" and "milk caps" are, this does not affect their love for this "Oriental magic drink". Milk tea products, which are highly competitive in China, have experienced explosive growth overseas. From the perspective of well-known brands - as of 2024, Luckin Coffee has opened 500 stores in 23 countries around the world, with an average monthly revenue of more than one million per store; Heytea has opened its first stores in the core business districts of many overseas countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. In particular, after the opening of the London SOHO store, the highest daily sales of a single store reached 2,000 cups, the average daily sales exceeded 1,300 cups, and the highest daily sales exceeded 12,000 pounds; Mixue Ice City's more than 4,000 overseas stores have expanded from Southeast Asia to Sydney, and the brainwashing melody "You love me, I love you, Mixue Ice City, sweet" has been sung around the world...

The queue at HEYTEA London store

How are the performances of China's new tea drinks, which are constantly expanding, in the international consumer market? Data shows that Southeast Asia has become the preferred destination for Chinese tea brands to go overseas, with annual consumption reaching US$3.66 billion, of which Indonesia leads with a share of US$1.6 billion, accounting for as much as 43%. The scale of the US tea market has already exceeded the US$505 million mark, and is expected to grow to US$833 million by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 7.42%. At the same time, the trend of zero calories and health is becoming a new trend in global tea consumption. Following the pace of the target consumer groups, Chinese tea brands are also ready to go.

02 Hot product 2: The “new three” of Chinese culture, “feeding” hundreds of millions of people overseas

2024 is the year when the "new three things" of Chinese culture will go abroad and shine again. The "new three things" of culture represented by online literature, online dramas, and online games have brought a "Chinese style" to the world. They have not only successfully "gone out of the circle" in the Chinese market, but also "gone out to sea" with the wind and waves. Substitute marriage, mute girl, marriage first and love later, high-cold overbearing boss... Recently, the Korean hit drama "The Phone Call Now" has become popular. The plots presented in the film and television all exude the "online literature flavor" familiar to domestic audiences. Various "Jinjiang stalks" and earthy and shameful lines make the audience call "high". After 16 Chinese online literature works were collected by the British Library in 2022, another 20 Chinese online literature works were collected by various European cultural institutions this year. Today's Chinese online literature has been on par with American Hollywood blockbusters, Japanese anime, and Korean idol dramas, and is known as the "four major cultural wonders of the world."

Data shows that there are currently about 695,800 Chinese online literary works exported overseas, with overseas market revenue of 4.35 billion yuan, translated into more than 20 languages, and a total of nearly 200 million active overseas users, of which 80% are "Generation Z", covering more than 200 countries and regions around the world.

At the same time, short dramas are also sweeping overseas. On the other side of the ocean, the Chinese suspense adventure web drama "19th Floor" has attracted many French consumers. The plot has been hotly discussed online and received rave reviews: "I can't stop watching it", "I stay up late to watch it", "I must recommend it to my girlfriend"...

In February this year, the number of short drama apps that have been launched overseas surged to 40; four months later, the number soared to more than 100; today, the global short drama app user consumption time has increased 16 times, the cumulative number of views of the topic "short movie" has reached 17.2 billion times, and the cumulative number of views of the topic "short film" has reached 29 billion times. At the same time, the total turnover of overseas short drama platforms has exceeded US$230 million, and is expected to reach more than US$400 million for the whole year.

Another phenomenal cultural product is Black Myth: Wukong. As the first AAA game in the Chinese video game industry, Black Myth: Wukong sold more than 3 million copies on the Steam platform on its release day on August 20. Currently, Black Myth: Wukong has sold 22.5 million copies on the Steam platform, and the total revenue of the game has exceeded US$1.1 billion.

In addition, on December 13, "Black Myth: Wukong" also won the TGA2024 Best Action Game of the Year! And TGA has always been known as the "Oscar" of the gaming industry. With the help of "Black Myth: Wukong", in the third quarter of 2024, the actual sales of China's self-developed games in the overseas market reached 36.835 billion yuan, creating a new historical height. This is the highest point in the past five quarters, an increase of 15.40% month-on-month and 20.75% year-on-year. As the cultural needs of global audiences tend to be fragmented and diversified, this has further accelerated the overseas expansion of the "new three things" of Chinese culture.

03Best-selling product 3: China's "three-wheeled vehicle" is heading towards a new blue ocean

2024 is the year when Made in China will become popular overseas. Recently, a hot search has sparked heated discussions: #Young man makes 1 million in 3 months selling "three-wheelers" in the United States. This is a young man from Guizhou's entrepreneurial journey to the United States - selling domestic electric vehicles. In just two months, more than 200 units were successfully sold, and by the third month, the profit had reached 1 million yuan. When summarizing the secret of profitability, the young man quoted a melody that is familiar to the media in China: "Reverse, please pay attention; reverse, please pay attention; reverse, please pay attention." On overseas social platforms, "Reverse, please pay attention" has become the BGM of brainwashing the network. At the same time, China's "three-wheelers", as a convenient and practical means of transportation, have also greatly satisfied overseas consumers' pursuit of practicality.

China's "three-wheeled motorcycles" are domestically produced electric tricycles. Compared with photovoltaic solar products, the monthly inquiry volume in its overseas market has exceeded about 38%. However, the most eye-catching achievement of "three-wheeled motorcycles" this year should be at the end of April, when the 11th China Three-wheeled Motorcycle Industry Development Summit Forum and the 3rd Foreign Trade Export Negotiation and Ordering Conference set a record high of 500 million yuan in orders signed in three days. The overseas markets of China's "three-wheeled motorcycles" are mainly Asia-Pacific, North America, Europe, the Middle East and Africa. Among them, Asia-Pacific is the world's largest market, accounting for about 90.06% of the market share in 2023; followed by the European market, accounting for about 5.14%, with huge market potential. In addition, heavy trucks, electric forklifts, two-wheeled motorcycles, etc. are also popular inquiry products for overseas buyers. According to data released by market research organization Baijian Fanglue, the global electric tricycle market sales reached 61.86 billion yuan in 2023, and are expected to reach 149.89 billion yuan in 2030.

04Best-selling product 4: Cross-border e-commerce demonstrates “China speed”

2024 is the year when the "Four Little Dragons" will travel overseas. This year, the "bulk English" of a Northeastern sister became popular on the Internet. When she introduced the space capsule products, her accent was "too Chinese" and always resembled the English word for aluminum - "Alumolemu", so she was affectionately called "Miss Alumolemu" by foreign netizens. Today, on TikTok, the highest video playback volume of "Miss Alumolemu" has reached 6.4 million, and she has gained more than 40,000 fans, and the total number of likes on the account's videos has reached 1.4 million. With the help of Tiktok Shop's traffic, "Miss Alumolemu's" online store has achieved very impressive sales. You know, it is not just the TikTok Shop platform that has made many "Northeastern sisters" successful in making money. Due to the surge in the number of users, Tiktok Shop, AliExpress, SHEIN and Temu are collectively known as the "Four Little Dragons" of China's cross-border e-commerce. Thanks to their unique business models and efficient operation strategies in many aspects such as supply chain management and marketing strategies, China's "Four Little Dragons" of cross-border e-commerce have demonstrated strong market competitiveness this year: in 2024, Temu's average daily usage time has climbed to 18 minutes, which is regarded as the "ceiling level" of the platform industry. In addition, this year Temu has surpassed eBay to become the world's second largest e-commerce website, with nearly 700 million visits per month; TikTokshop's combat effectiveness should not be underestimated. Since its launch in the United States in September 2023, the platform's overall daily paying users have tripled in one year. As of the third quarter of 2024, TikTokShop's GMV in the U.S. content market increased by 37% month-on-month, and the number of short video sales in the U.S. increased by 47% month-on-month; in 2024, SHEIN became the world's most visited clothing and fashion brand in the third quarter, with a traffic share of 2.68%. Compared with January, the number of users increased by nearly 40%; AliExpress, owned by Alibaba, is the only cross-border e-commerce platform among the "Four Little Dragons" that has built its own logistics, which has led to a continuous increase in its orders and customers. This year alone, it has achieved "global five-day delivery" covering Europe, America, Asia and other countries and regions. These cross-border e-commerce platforms have driven many "Made in China" products to go global and inspired ordinary people to open cross-border stores and do global business.

05Hot product 5: City or not city, 144 hours of China Travel

2024 is the year when “China Travel” continues to be “City”.

Starting from November 30, China has implemented a visa-free policy for nine countries including Croatia, Montenegro and North Macedonia - this once again shows that the scope of application of China's 72/144-hour transit visa-free policy is constantly expanding.

Recently, the trip of American youth Evan Kyle to China has attracted wide attention. Two years ago, the young man donated to China a photo album recording the atrocities committed by the Japanese army during World War II; two years later, he arrived in Beijing wearing a green military coat, participated in the flag-raising ceremony at Tiananmen Square, and then went to Tianjin to taste the famous Goubuli steamed buns. He also expressed his sincere admiration for Chinese technology, saying that being in China "felt like being in the future 3,000 years".

Before Evan Kyle, another American blogger, Bao Bao Xiong, also recorded his travel experience in China through short videos. The phrase “city or not city” quickly became popular around the world, and “China Travel” became even more popular.

Bao Bao Xiong, a foreign Internet celebrity who works as a tour guide in Shanghai, travels with his sister in the mainland. Every time they go to a place, they will say "Sister, is it a city?" "What a good city" to share their travel experience while filming. This year, more and more foreign tourists are going to China to carry out "special forces-style tourism": experience cupping at Hu Qingyu Tang, wear Hanfu to start a hairpin flower canal tour, go to Guangxi March 3rd "Mountain Song Festival" to experience bamboo pole dance... Data shows that in the first seven months of 2024, 17.254 million foreigners entered the country, an increase of 129.9% year-on-year. In the third quarter of this year, 8.186 million foreigners entered the country, an increase of 48.8% year-on-year; of which 4.885 million entered the country through visa-free entry, an increase of 78.6% year-on-year.

06Hot product 6: Trendy toys crush Moutai overseas

2024 will be a year of "excitement" for Chinese trendy toys overseas. Recently, Pop Mart released its financial report. Data shows that in the first half of 2024, Pop Mart's revenue reached 4.56 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 62%; adjusted net profit was 1.02 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 90.1%. Some media found that the 90% increase has significantly exceeded Moutai's 15.88%. Some people joked that trendy toys have become the first collection of young people. In Pop Mart's performance, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and overseas businesses have maintained a high-speed development trend. In the first half of this year, revenue exceeded 1.3 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 259.6%, accounting for 29.7%, becoming a growth sector that cannot be ignored.

Overseas consumers visiting local Pop Mart stores

Image source: Pop Mart official website

Coincidentally, MINISO also became popular overseas by the end of 2024. Some even say that MINISO is now at the "next level".

How popular is MINISO overseas? In terms of stores, in the first half of 2024 alone, MINISO Group's global stores exceeded 7,000. Among them, the number of global stores of the main brand MINISO increased by 455 to 6,868.

In August this year, MINISO opened its largest store in the world in Central Park, the top commercial district in Jakarta, Indonesia. On the first day of opening, the store was very popular, with sales exceeding 1.18 million yuan, once again breaking the highest single-day sales record of MINISO stores worldwide. This shows that overseas consumers are chasing after MINISO.

MINISO’s store advertisements in the United States.

Image source: MINISO official website

In 2024, the era of "big trendy toys" in the overseas market has already begun. Data shows that the global trendy toy industry is still in a period of rapid growth, with the market size increasing from US$8.7 billion in 2015 to US$19.8 billion in 2019, with a compound annual growth rate of 22.8%; it will reach US$31.2 billion in 2022, accounting for about 29% of the global toy market; it will be close to US$40 billion in 2023, and is expected to reach US$44.8 billion in 2024; it will increase to US$64.7 billion in 2028, with a compound annual growth rate of 16.94%. It can be seen that in 2024, Chinese trendy toy companies continued to go abroad and enter overseas markets. As the overseas influence of trendy toy companies continues to rise, trendy toy companies and the entire industry chain have become more internationalized. Through various models such as dealer agents, offline stores and cross-border e-commerce, many Chinese companies have achieved a substantial increase in overseas revenue.

07Hot product seven: spicy strips, making overseas friends fall in love with Chinese snacks

2024 is the year when Chinese spicy strips are "hot and sizzling". At the beginning of 2024, Chinese spicy strips made a stunning appearance in New York's Times Square in the form of New Year's greetings; in August, Chinese spicy strips set their sights on the overseas short drama market and actively promoted the brand's internationalization route.

Since then, the price of spicy strips, which cost two or three yuan a pack in China, can be ten times higher abroad. Foreigners still love it and have developed various ways to eat it. In Europe and the United States, people cleverly put it in sandwiches, adding a unique flavor; in South Korea, it has become an indispensable finishing touch in seaweed rice rolls; the French even pair it with red wine to create a new era of "romance". Chinese spicy strips have crossed national borders and cultures and become a new favorite of food lovers around the world. Data shows that as of 2024, Chinese spicy strips have been exported to more than 160 countries and regions around the world, including Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, as well as European, American and South American countries such as the United Kingdom, the United States, and Argentina. iResearch Consulting predicts that the market size of spicy strips will reach 86.4 billion yuan in 2024 and 95 billion yuan in 2026. Xiaguang Think Tank found that in terms of the US market alone, it is also the world's largest snack consumer, with snack market revenue of 110 billion US dollars in the US market in 2023. In 2023, the market revenue of snack foods in North America will reach 133.4 billion US dollars, and it is expected to continue to grow at a compound growth rate of 4.57% in the next five years. However, while spicy strips are popular overseas, we should also be aware of the risks. In October this year, Weilong spicy strips were recalled in Japan due to food additives, which triggered a dispute over different food safety standards. This also reminds Chinese merchants that going overseas is not always smooth sailing.

08 Hot product 8: Jiefang shoes, entering the overseas luxury circle

2024 is the year when Jiefang Shoes creates “green miracles”.

China's Jiefang Shoes were once all the rage in the European and American markets, with a pair selling for more than 70 U.S. dollars. Despite the high price, they were often out of stock.

Today, the classic color combination of Jiefang shoes - military green and khaki - has become the darling of the fashion industry. Many international luxury brands are actively researching this element and incorporating it into their own designs to enhance the fashion value and market competitiveness of their products.

In 2024, Jiefang Shoes is experiencing a revival again.

On the AliExpress platform, a pair of Jiefang shoes can be sold for up to $72, and the delivery time is 15 days; they can be customized, but customers need to pay an additional $40 for the plate-making fee. An American consumer called the Chinese Jiefang shoes "a great product" in his review.

As a classic symbol of Chinese rubber shoes, Jiefang Shoes are leading the Chinese footwear industry to sail overseas in the current upsurge of global trade.

According to the data from the China Economic Industry Research Institute, from January to August 2024, China's footwear exports were 616,012 million pairs, an increase of 188,220,000 pairs over the same period last year, a year-on-year increase of 3.9%; the export value was US$31,676,075,000, a decrease of US$203,497,600 compared with the same period last year, a year-on-year decrease of 5.3%. In August 2024, China's footwear exports were 815,540,000 pairs; the export value was US$401,695,500.

09Best seller: Chinese bamboo products, a hit at the Olympics

2024 will be the year when foreigners will fall in love with Chinese bamboo products at first sight.

In 2024, the Paris Olympics made Chinese bamboo mats hot-selling in the European market.

During the Olympic Games, sales of Chinese bamboo mats on some cross-border e-commerce platforms increased by 288% month-on-month. According to Ningbo Customs data, in the first five months of 2024, China exported 100 million yuan of mats. As of July, exports of mats, awnings and other products reached 23.27 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 30.9%.

In addition, winnowing baskets, which are commonly found in rural China, have also entered the international market, with prices as high as 2,000 yuan per piece. Overseas, they are often used as decorations or storage containers for keys, coins, etc.

Chinese bamboo furniture, especially bamboo artworks, integrate many elements such as nature, environmental protection, and design aesthetics, and are rapidly sweeping the global market. According to some cross-border e-commerce platforms, an average of 300 new Chinese bamboo artworks enter the international market every month, with monthly searches exceeding 800,000 and a return rate of only 4%. April, May, and June this year are the peak traffic periods.

In 2024, with the advantages of supply chain and industrial chain as well as China's strong cultural skills, bamboo, a renewable resource, is rapidly opening up the international market.

10. Chinese hot water bottles warm Europeans

2024 is the year when China warms the world.

As the weather turns colder, how European consumers will survive the winter has become a big problem. Against the backdrop of soaring heating costs, Chinese heating equipment has become a popular choice in the European market.

In the winter of 2024, the demand for Chinese hot water bottles in the European market has skyrocketed. In many stores in Yiwu, China, the order volume of some major customers has surged from 900,000 pieces to 2 million pieces. The hot water bottles with the largest size of 2,000 ml are basically the best-selling export products. In addition, natural rubber materials are also popular in the European market due to their heat transfer and environmental protection performance; in addition, if some personalized "skins" are set for hot water bottles, the price can increase from US$4 to US$26.

It's not just hot water bottles that are hot-selling overseas. On the TikTok platform, videos tagged with #heater have been played more than 828 million times, and the transaction amount in the level 3 electric heater category increased by more than 700% from November to October.

According to QYResearch, the sales of the global portable heater market has exceeded 13.4 billion yuan and is expected to reach 18.8 billion yuan by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of 4.6%.

Conclusion

In fact, in addition to the above-mentioned "explosive products", there are many other Chinese products that are also meeting the life needs of countless overseas consumers while improving their quality of life.

Often, the times change without our noticing. In the past, we were obsessed with imported goods, thinking that was the trend at the time; but today, consumers in overseas markets are already obsessed with goods and services imported from China, and China’s era of globalization is coming.

Author | Lin Jie