How Can Chinese Companies Build Brand Trust When Going Global? | Buming · Globalization

Often, Chinese companies going abroad don't fall short on products or services — they struggle to build trust in overseas markets. How do you create safe, friendly local relationships for your business in an unfamiliar country? Recently, BlueRun Ventures hosted a portfolio event on "Trust Issues for Chinese Companies Going Global", offering practical solutions to this challenge.

The event was moderated by Fu Qiang, Investment Partner at BlueRun Ventures, an investor in breakout global companies like UniUni who currently focuses on outbound expansion. We also invited Chris Pereira, Founder and CEO of iMpact, a well-known expert in corporate strategy and brand communications for Chinese companies going international. He shared his "5R Integration" methodology, analyzing how companies can enter overseas markets by leveraging their unique strengths, build trust, and rapidly grow their business. He was joined by Jack Zhang, CEO of Simplus, and Scott Wang, President of UniUni US, for a discussion of real-world global expansion challenges.

We've compiled an event transcript for you — no fluff, all substance, aimed at genuinely helping entrepreneurs considering going global.

Trust is critically important in business relationships. From my extensive consulting experience with globalizing companies, I've developed a "5R Integration" methodology: GR (Government Relations), BR (Business Relations), IR (Investor Relations), CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility), and HR (Human Resources).

Trust for globalizing companies develops in three stages:

The first stage is customer trust — whether your target customers are willing to buy your product.

The second stage is brand trust — whether I'm willing to pay a premium for your product because I believe in your brand concept.

The third stage, harder to achieve, is industry trust — where regulators proactively collaborate with your company because they trust you to serve as an industry representative in government communications, earning governmental trust.

Most overseas Chinese companies I encounter lead local competitors in product features, pricing, and service. But their weakness is typically local relationships and resources. The reason they lose out in competition might be that a local company attended their client's wedding, or that their client's nephew once interned at that company.

GR (Government Relations), or government relations and compliance issues — many companies have a narrow understanding of this, thinking it means visiting legislators or lobbying in Washington like TikTok did. But this approach doesn't work in Europe and America. Government relations should be built from the bottom up, starting from the community. Do good locally, and even integrate with CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) through public welfare activities.

The iMpact team once facilitated a classic case: helping Bingz build trust in the Canadian market. We spent just over 500 Canadian dollars (about 300 USD) to secure coverage from top-tier media, social media promotion from a charity organization, and a letter of thanks from local government. The approach was simple — we had Bingz donate 60 lunches to low-income families through a local charity. With media and charity promotion, the government took notice, and a local legislator contacted Bingz about co-hosting a charity event. Bingz's commercial image gained recognition from the local community and government — the key wasn't how much was spent, but doing something the community genuinely cared about. I strongly recommend that companies actively partner with local charities, as they possess substantial promotional resources that can help you better integrate into the local market.

In BR (Business Relations/Industry Influence), customer relationships are crucial. We often say that 50% of industry influence comes from product advantage, and the other 50% comes from caring about what your customers care about. If your consumers live in California, they likely care deeply about environmentalism and sustainability. So when promoting your product, focus on making customers feel that "supporting our brand is indirectly supporting environmentalism." Additionally, finding a credible third party to amplify your message can boost customer trust — such as the charities and local media mentioned earlier.

IR — Investor Relations is actually quite similar to customer relations. You need professional analysts as third parties to help build trust.

HR (Human Resources) addresses another critical challenge in going global: high-quality talent. Every industry is a people business. Finding talent isn't difficult — give ChatGPT your requirements and it can quickly list a hundred qualified candidates. But how to communicate with talent is something ChatGPT can't solve, because it's based on trust between people. I strongly recommend that executives at globalizing companies establish both corporate and personal LinkedIn accounts, actively maintain them, and build credible profiles.

Beyond the 5Rs, I want to remind everyone that your surrounding ecosystem contains abundant resources and potential allies. If I had to answer "how to better connect with overseas resources today" in one sentence: go have coffee locally. In my entrepreneurial career, "having coffee" has delivered the greatest experiential value — bar none. We need to recognize that relationships are constructed. Through conversations with people around us, we can discover new customers, better suppliers, and even new business opportunities.

This era is full of opportunities and challenges. Unknown risks make many fearful of going global and starting businesses. But we might as well be bold — commit to a goal and persist. Successful entrepreneurs are often the boldest people of their era.

On Compliance

John: Compliance is an unavoidable and important aspect of going global. Many wonder: are the requirements Chinese companies face overseas fair and applied equally? When facing highly uncertain markets, or even targeted policy rules, how should Chinese companies respond?

Scott: Different markets have quite different tendencies. The United States emphasizes data privacy and consumer rights protection. Southeast Asia focuses more on labor law and environmental protection. Europe prioritizes general data protection regulations and environmental friendliness.

For Chinese companies, standards are mostly applied equally. Some countries may enact targeted regulations to protect local businesses, but we can view this from another perspective. Laws and regulations aren't made for any single company. If a company can deeply understand legal details and propose solutions within compliance frameworks, this can become a significant competitive advantage.

Jack: For Southeast Asian entrepreneurs, I think you first need to ask: is your goal to make quick money or build a lasting business? Because Southeast Asia has abundant gray industries. If you just want quick profits, you don't really need to consider compliance — just move and sell products, ignore everything else. But you'll usually get burned quickly. If you want a sustainable business, you need to invest substantial costs in solving compliance issues.

In Indonesia, if you want to do food or beauty, you must obtain halal certification — similar requirements exist in Malaysia. Labor laws also vary by country: employee leave requirements, salary payment frequencies differ — some require payment every 15 days, some monthly, some require end-of-month settlement... If you don't carefully understand local regulations, you can easily get sued.

Will Chinese companies going abroad face prejudice? To some extent, yes. But worrying too much about how locals or governments view us actually distracts from the original purpose of going global. Companies just need to ensure compliance, follow local rules and regulations, and even further consider how to better adapt to local conditions and development — no need for excessive concern.

Chris: I strongly agree. For compliance, Western markets indeed rely more on trust — they trust you first, then come down hard if problems arise. For example, during the pandemic many subsidies were open to the public: research subsidies, tax subsidies. You could simply submit an application, they'd quickly send money, no one checked. But I've recently noticed the IRS is starting audits. If you obtained subsidies through non-compliant means, there are legal consequences, and even loss of personal freedom is possible.

So compliance is actually a balance between short-term and long-term interests. If you made money in the short term during the pandemic but paid the price years later, it wasn't worth it. In business, find people on the same frequency. Are you willing to bear higher short-term costs for compliance? This requires hiring specialized lawyers, but in the long run, you'll be more successful.

On Market Research

John: Many companies want to research consumer needs and habits before entering new markets. Chris, what specific aspects should this research focus on? How can you get research that truly guides your business?

Chris: As an entrepreneur, ChatGPT can give you the information you want, but this is the most basic information. Truly valuable content isn't online. Building interpersonal relationships and information that hasn't been uploaded yet may be your business opportunity, even determining new market demands. For example, you might hear something from a partner over coffee that opens up a new supply chain — this is the market research you need. So make more friends locally.

Jack: I agree with Chris — the company founder needs to personally visit new markets. For ordinary entrepreneurs, it's hard to hire professional firms to write research reports. So the best research is your own observation. You need to immerse yourself overseas for a period, walk around more, chat with locals, experience what local life is really like — not tourist-style sightseeing. For B2C, you need deep consumer understanding. For B2B it may be harder — you need to understand how local businesses operate, their payment ability, willingness to pay, etc. This process seems slow, but it's actually the most effective.

On Choosing Overseas Partners

Jack: Not long ago, a landlord in a certain country simply ran off with our office deposit. Undoubtedly, if you have existing relationships, or domestic relationships that can follow you overseas, that's ideal — but this often doesn't work in new markets. Entrepreneurs need to figure out: what must you do yourself, and what can be outsourced? Don't just work in isolation. Also, don't rush relationship-building. You need to accumulate trust gradually, and progressively clarify when you need partners.

The relationship between merchants and platforms is somewhat like "you can date, but don't get married." Merchants and platforms share many goals — platforms want merchant businesses to grow. But there are conflicts too — platforms want merchants to give them the lowest prices. How to manage platform relationships? I believe merchants going global need unique positioning, returning to core competitiveness, so you become more valuable to the platform. Do your own business well, and platforms are actually quite willing to cooperate with you on services — this is the simple part of overseas business.

Scott: First, participate in more trade shows to meet people. In logistics, we consistently attend the USPS NPF show. For customs clearance, 90% of customs broker owners participate in this show. So you meet them, exchange contacts, visit their customs warehouses, and you'll understand their actual situations. I also advise globalizing companies not to concede too much in partnerships, especially in signing agreements. The more thorough and detailed your negotiations, the more others will see you as legitimate and serious. Also attend to details like regular meetings with partners to gradually build trust.

On Building Brand Culture Overseas

Chris: When we do brand communications in China, we certainly have Chinese people handle the Chinese market — we wouldn't hire an Egyptian. Similarly, when we go to the United States, we often see decisions and ideas coming from Chinese people, but with locals executing. The local person's skin color doesn't matter — what matters is their American cultural background, which can help you truly open the market. Of course, this doesn't mean locals are infallible. When they make mistakes, they need to be held accountable and criticized, cultivating team consciousness.

Jack: In China, many people doing brand are actually doing marketing — there are brainwashing-style campaigns, and there are narrative-driven, more elevated brands, different strokes for different folks. But going overseas, you first need to understand "what is a brand" — you must have distinctive qualities that make people remember you. I personally love DJI. It reached the global pinnacle of its industry through outstanding, highly innovative products. For beauty or fashion brands, you also need to understand local consumer culture, empathize with consumers, and enter local narratives.

John: Between 2019 and 2021, I followed several hundred consumer sector entrepreneurs. A few had very deep understanding of branding — they said Steve Jobs and Nike inspired them. I think branding contains many globally universal elements. When consumers buy your brand, they actually want to possess part of that brand's qualities. Buying Nike, they want others to see them as someone with the "Just Do It" athletic spirit. If you can connect your brand with an important human spirit, your product may transcend functionality and cost-performance ratio, remaining in consumers' minds.

On Business Opportunities in North America and Southeast Asia

Scott: Different US states may have different policy tendencies. California values green environmentalism, so new energy has great potential. Currently there are many government subsidy programs — understand the specifics, apply, and you can receive substantial subsidies. E-commerce is also hot, bringing logistics, last-mile delivery issues, and various service globalization and brand management opportunities.

Jack: Recently, entertainment livestreaming has been extremely popular in Southeast Asia, creating many new consumption opportunities. In offline retail, Pop Mart, MINISO, and Mixue Ice Cream & Tea all have extensive success stories. At the same time, fully respect local markets. I really like Transsion — its growth in Africa involved no "time machine theory" or "dimensional reduction strike," only deep respect for the African market. This is the core of doing good business.

Extra:

August 16-17, the globalization-themed Buming Entrepreneurship Camp will launch. For those wanting more global expansion insights, look forward to Buming's co-creation results!

Sorry, BlueRun Doesn't Want That Kind of Entrepreneurship Camp

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