Code Brain | How Are Chinese Companies "Going Global" from Shenzhen?

"Going global" is the most frequently discussed term among Chinese companies right now, and the market opportunity they care about most.

On October 24–25, Code Brain organized a Shenzhen study tour themed around global expansion, bringing together more than 30 founders, CEOs, co-founders, and senior executives from 25 portfolio companies based in Shenzhen, Beijing, Shanghai, and other cities. Over the course of a day and a half, they visited four representative companies in the global expansion space: new energy vehicle giant BYD, smart imaging brand Insta360, cross-border e-commerce platform Shopee, and Source Code Capital portfolio company and smart home brand SwitchBot (Woan Technology).

The group also held discussions with relevant departments in Shenzhen's Longgang District to learn about local policies supporting companies going global and explore business opportunities for setting up operations.

Meanwhile, on the evening of October 24, Code Brain hosted a special "Going Global Night Chat," inviting guests including Weilihu, founder and CEO of Hesheng Innovation (a Source Code Capital portfolio company); Luomingbo, former general manager of Anker's Asia-Pacific and North America regions and former overseas general manager of Tineco; and Yang Huiling, co-founder of Dahaixingcheng, to share their insights on "How to Drive Overseas Growth?"

This was the second installment of the 2024 "Code Brain Visits" study tour series. Starting in 2023, amid increasingly complex shifts in the business environment, we anticipated that portfolio companies' industry-specific needs would grow stronger, and that sector-level support would deliver greater value for them in both the short and long term. We began planning vertical industry-focused exchange activities, aiming to bring portfolio companies, LPs, and SPs into face-to-face conversations with representative enterprises in key sectors — to understand the latest industry developments and benchmark companies' advanced practices, and to explore potential business collaboration and ecosystem partnership opportunities.

In April this year, we organized a Suzhou study tour, leading CEOs and senior executives from 15 portfolio companies to visit benchmark enterprises and hot-track star startups including ECOVACS, Tongcheng, Zelos, and Magic Warehouse Robotics. Earlier, in September 2023, we had also brought nine smart manufacturing companies to visit Foxconn for in-depth business exchanges on the digitalization and intelligentization needs of certain business lines.

The first stop was the well-known cross-border e-commerce platform Shopee's China headquarters. Shopee is a representative cross-border e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, with operations covering Southeast Asia and Latin America, reaching over one billion consumers globally. Its relevant executives introduced the benefits and advantages the platform offers for Chinese companies expanding overseas, as well as their perspectives on Southeast Asian and other overseas markets.

The second stop — SwitchBot (Woan Technology) — was the only Source Code Capital portfolio company on this study tour, and also a company little known domestically despite being based in Shenzhen. As a smart home brand fully oriented toward overseas markets, SwitchBot has leveraged deep user insights, a rich product matrix, solid core technology, and aesthetic design tailored to overseas consumers to steadily rank first in Japan's smart home market, winning strong favor among local consumers.

Zhichen Li, founder and CEO of Woan Technology, shared with the group how they built their product matrix based on home living scenarios, how they gradually distinguished themselves in the Japanese market, how they constructed their product advantages and competitiveness, and their future overseas layout plans.

The third stop on the tour was new energy vehicle giant BYD. As a representative Chinese company with exceptionally high brand recognition overseas, BYD broke into the global top ten automakers by sales volume in 2023. Its new energy vehicles have risen rapidly across Europe, Southeast Asia, and South America, making waves wherever they go. Beyond touring the exhibition hall to learn about BYD's rise, the group also exchanged with Hao Luo, assistant to the general manager of BYD's Brand and Public Relations Department, to understand BYD's overseas development path and strategic layout.

The final stop was smart imaging brand Insta360. As a representative company in the consumer electronics global expansion space, Insta360 has established a firm foothold in overseas markets through deep cultivation of its vertical track, ranking first globally in panoramic camera market share for six consecutive years, with products selling in over 200 countries and regions worldwide. Co-founder and board member Yongqiang Chen shared numerous insights from Insta360's development journey and its practical experience landing in overseas markets.

Additionally, this study tour included a special government exchange session. On the morning of October 25, the group visited Longgang District in Shenzhen for discussions with officials from the Longgang Investment Promotion Center, Commerce Bureau, and other departments, learning about Longgang's policies for companies going global and opportunities for business establishment. They also toured Honglong Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, with multiple companies following up for further communication with relevant departments afterward.

On the evening of October 24, we also organized the special "Going Global Night Chat," inviting guests including Weilihu, founder and CEO of Hesheng Innovation (a Source Code Capital portfolio company); Luomingbo, former general manager of Anker's Asia-Pacific and North America regions and former overseas general manager of Tineco; and Yang Huiling, co-founder of Dahaixingcheng, to share their perspectives on "How to Drive Overseas Growth."