China's Outbound Investment Trends and Case Studies Report 2025

Chinese enterprises’ overseas expansion is undergoing profound changes, shifting from passive risk avoidance to proactive strategic deployment. Over the past decade, China’s outward direct investment has completed a structural transformation, with Asia becoming the absolute focus of capital flows. In 2024, investment flows to Asia accounted for more than 80% of the total, while investment flows to ASEAN grew by over 135% over the past decade, making the region a core destination for the relocation of Chinese industrial chains and the restructuring of regional value chains.

The manufacturing sector is the absolute pillar of Chinese investment in ASEAN, accounting for 50.8% of the total stock, forming clustered layouts in key industrial areas such as northern Vietnam and eastern Thailand. The wholesale and retail sector, with a flow share of 27.7%, has become the second largest driving force, relying on digital technologies to build cross-border retail networks. The power energy and construction industries play a spatial leading role, providing energy support for the subsequent entry of manufacturing.

Enterprise global expansion typically presents four major pathways:

Traditional manufacturing capacity expansion overseas enables a stepwise evolution from trade exports to localized production.

Cloud vendors achieve digital globalization by rapidly entering markets through product globalization and building business ecosystems.

Soft-chain global expansion, represented by SHEIN, relies on third-party platforms for initial market testing and builds independent websites to develop private traffic, enabling agile global resource allocation.

Represented by miHoYo, cultural export achieves global product launch through high-quality content, conveying Chinese aesthetics and values.

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