Neighbors look to prosper from advanced technology, job creation

Five years after Chinese smartphone maker Oppo debuted in its home market, the company ventured overseas in 2009 and introduced its products to Thailand.

Oppo hasn't looked back since. Not only did it capture a large market share in Thailand, it also succeeded in branching out across Southeast Asia, with showrooms all over the region and a factory in Indonesia.

In 2024, Oppo overtook South Korea's Samsung to become the top smartphone brand in Southeast Asia with an 18 percent market share, or 16.9 million shipments, according to a report by global technology analyst Canalys, which attributed Oppo's success to its product calibration and high-end investment.

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Shi Shuai, chief executive officer of Oppo Asia-Pacific, said the company has been working to promote local authorization, cultivate local talent, and integrate into local cultures. He cited Oppo's factory in the city of Tangerang, west of the Indonesian capital Jakarta — the company's first manufacturing plant outside China — as an example, with the factory creating job opportunities for Indonesians, and contributing to long-term economic development.

Oppo's success in Southeast Asia shows how Chinese investment in the region has evolved over the past decade — with a strong focus on digital industries and advanced technology that is responsive to domestic market needs, conscious of corporate social responsibility, and contributes to the local economy.

"Chinese firms seem to place greater emphasis on being good corporate citizens in their adopted locales. It is a common refrain among Chinese multinationals that they must benefit local communities and support local employment," Erica Tay, director of macro research at Kuala Lumpur-based Maybank, told China Daily.

Tay said while the first wave of Chinese direct investments in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in the early 2000s was mostly in State-owned enterprises involved in heavy industries, the second wave was aimed at private sector digital industries, and advanced manufacturing.

Chinese manufacturers that have expanded their capacity in ASEAN have been able to tap into abundant supplies of labor, land and energy, Tay said. These companies are also able to access a new market in ASEAN — the world's fifth-biggest economy with a combined population of over 670 million.

"In search of new markets where competition is less stiff than back home, Chinese firms have expanded their footprint by addressing the needs of ASEAN consumers," Tay said, adding that Chinese tech and e-commerce giants, tried and tested in the domestic market, are equipped to compete in emerging ones in Asia.

These companies have also benefited from the ASEAN-China Free Trade Area, which gives goods produced by Chinese companies in their ASEAN bases preferential access in fast-growing consumer markets.

Manufacturing has long been a significant driver of FDI growth in ASEAN. In 2023, it comprised more than $50 billion of FDI inflows, or 22 percent of the total, according to the October joint report by the ASEAN Secretariat and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.

China was the third-biggest source of FDI in 2023, hitting $17 billion, a year-on-year increase of nearly 20 percent.

The report noted that FDI from China is on "an upward trend" — rising from less than $4 billion in 2010. The number of Chinese enterprises operating in ASEAN increased from 2,600 in 2012 to 6,500 in 2022.

The Chinese private sector has "gradually internationalized" toward ASEAN, it said.

Textile and garment manufacturers invested in Cambodia, Myanmar and Vietnam; electronics companies ventured to Malaysia and Vietnam, while technology companies went to Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

In contrast, Chinese companies that invested in ASEAN more than 20 years ago were State-owned enterprises mostly involved in mining and oil exploration, construction, hydropower, and in the development of special economic zones and industrial parks.

Before 2018, the year when China-US trade tensions started, nearly half of Chinese FDI was mostly in real estate and finance.

But after then US president Donald Trump decided in June 2018 to impose a 25 percent tariff on $50 billion of Chinese exports, China's investment pattern in ASEAN started changing. From 2020 to 2023, investment in manufacturing increased at an annual average rate of 33 percent, compared with less than 10 percent in the years 2010 to 2018, the report said.

The supply chain disruption caused by the pandemic has also pushed many Chinese manufacturing companies to diversify abroad, with ASEAN a primary beneficiary of increased Chinese FDI in manufacturing.

Strategic opportunities

Analysts and industry players expect that Trump — who started his second term as president by slapping an additional 10 percent tariff on Chinese goods in February — will push more Chinese companies to move production out of China to ASEAN countries.

"Chinese companies are facing strategic opportunities amid the golden decade of going global," Feng Qingqiang, general manager of Youdao Ads, told China Daily.

Youdao Ads is a digital marketing solution provider launched by Youdao Inc, a subsidiary of Chinese internet company NetEase Group. By using emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, the platform connects over 10 million influencers, and reaches over 2 billion users worldwide in 75 countries and regions.

With the improvement of the Chinese manufacturing sector and brand management capabilities, coupled with a slowdown in domestic consumption growth, there are more opportunities for international expansion, said Feng. Many high-quality, innovative, and cost-effective Chinese products are becoming increasingly competitive in overseas markets, he added.

Southeast Asia's geographical location, young population, and the similarity of its current economic development to China's past growth, present significant market potential for Chinese enterprises, Feng said.

"After the pandemic, the e-commerce market in Southeast Asia has seen rapid growth, with the e-commerce penetration rate in key regional countries to reach 6.5 percent by 2025, a notable increase from the pre-pandemic level of 5 percent," he said.

In Malaysia, China is one of the top three FDI sources, hitting over 28 billion ringgit ($6.33 billion) in 2024, according to the Malaysian Investment Development Authority.

Safwan Nizar Johari, acting investment consul for the Malaysian consulate in Guangzhou, Guangdong province, said most of the recent Chinese investments are in the EV, battery, and other allied industries.

After China and Malaysia celebrated the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations in 2024, Chinese companies are keen to do business in Malaysia as the multicultural country has a big ethnic Chinese population, Safwan said. "So it's easy for a Chinese company to do business in our country. When they go to Malaysia, they say many people can speak Chinese, there are many similarities with Chinese culture," he said.

Safwan said Malaysia also positions itself as a regional hub, allowing Chinese companies to use it as a production base to export around ASEAN.

One of these companies that bet big in Malaysia is the Geely Holding Group from Zhejiang province.

In 2017, the Hangzhou-based carmaker acquired a 49.9 percent stake in local car manufacturer Proton, with the goal of jointly developing it into the No 1 brand in Malaysia and one of the leading brands in ASEAN.

"Following years of integration, Proton has achieved a comprehensive transformation in research and development, manufacturing, quality, procurement, and marketing, securing the second position in sales and market share in Malaysia for six consecutive years," a Geely spokesperson told China Daily.

Jobs, shared prosperity

In Thailand, Chinese firms accounted for more than 42 percent of the 981.65 billion baht ($28.9 billion) total investment by foreign entities in 2024, according to the Department of Business Development of Thailand.

Chinese automakers and electronics companies are the top investors. Chinese EV production facilities, most of which are located along the kingdom's Eastern Economic Corridor, recorded a total production capacity of 474,000 vehicles in 2024, according to the Kasikorn Research Center. Production capacity is forecast to rise to 620,000 this year.

Wichai Kinchong Choi, senior vice-president of Kasikornbank, highlighted the role of Chinese innovative technologies in helping transform Thailand into an EV production hub in Southeast Asia.

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"While we have witnessed Western economic power using protectionism and trade barriers to benefit its own interests at the expense of fair competition, multilateralism and free trade are firmly believed to maintain the future direction for successful and sustainable world economic growth for more years to come," Wichai said.

Narongsak Putthapornmongkol, president of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, said Chinese factories have created many jobs in Thailand. The Thai-Chinese Rayong Industrial Zone has helped boost Thai export volume to $3 billion over the past year and provided jobs for more than 55,000 Thai people, according to the chamber.

Oppo's factory in Indonesia has nearly 20,000 local employees and contracts with local suppliers, according to Shi, CEO of Oppo Asia-Pacific. Oppo has worked with local vocational colleges on internship programs, supplying a significant number of skilled technicians to Indonesia.

Ma Si, Li Fusheng, and Cheng Yu in Beijing contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at prime@chinadailyapac.com