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Chinese tech startups are targeting emerging markets to make their mark
Startups seek success in Southeast Asia, India and Africa as China’s tech scene becomes too crowded
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
China is home to the world’s largest online population, with about 829 million internet users. This has been a boon for the numerous tech giants that reside there, but market saturation and slowing growth means they’re increasingly looking abroad for new opportunities.
China’s rapid growth has created a slew of popular platforms such as Alibaba’s Taobao and Tmall, Tencent’s WeChat and ByteDance’s Jinri Toutiao and Douyin, known as TikTok abroad. They all have leading positions in China, but now companies are looking to conquer less crowded markets. In some cases, local startups are skipping their home market altogether for uncharted territories, bringing along their ideas and business models.
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(Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.)
The big markets now for Chinese startups? The Middle East, Africa, India and Southeast Asia.
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“We are seeing Chinese tech companies take an increasing presence outside China in short video and social apps, video editing, shopping and gaming categories,” Nan Lu, an analyst at mobile intelligence firm Sensor Tower, told the South China Morning Post. “They’re looking at markets in South America and in Asia, such as India for example… territories with large, young populations.”
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