Chinese exporters need to build brands

“Do you need an American warehouse?”

“Do you need a Mexican warehouse?” “Ship to Europe?”

Sales staff were not shy about promoting their logistics services when they attended the 10th Shenzhen International Cross-border E-commerce Expo this week. A logistics company even hired foreigners models in glittering silver dresses to parade around the venue.

This is one of the biggest events of the year for companies selling to the United States and other countries via the Internet. In a one-time truce in the US-China tariff war, many companies seem eager to enter the US market.

But the game of survival has changed.

“For the past 30 years, it has helped Chinese companies become very mature in supply chain integration,” Tina Hsu, a partner at startup AIGC Empower, told me on Expo. “Today, if there is a tool that can help (businesses) better tell a story and resonate with users… they can go abroad as a brand and operate in a longer, longer, longer and more profitable way.”

AIGC license claims it has these tools. At a joint launch with Amazon and Wayfair in Zhuhai, China last month, HSU said AIGC has launched two generations of AI-powered products: a system for quickly studying local markets to understand consumer needs, and a tool for creating advertising images for product. The service has a yearly product of RMB 10,000 (USD 1,390) and has received about 100 orders.

“To be honest, not every customer here can appreciate the value of our products and the needs of the brand, noting that learning abroad is the ones that Chinese entrepreneurs know the best. But she warned that without inherent differences, it will be difficult for Chinese companies to survive overseas for the next 30 years.

Some Chinese companies believe they already have what they need to build a brand but lack the legal resources to protect themselves, especially when target lawsuits initiated by existing marketers may force Chinese sellers to go bankrupt.

This has become so urgent that a group of Chinese businessmen support it Jack Zhang, secretary general of the legal insurance department of the Shenzhen Cross-border E-commerce Association, said a new platform for using low-cost insurance structures for litigation services. He leads the project with a team of about 30 people.

His plan is to divide the lawsuit into thousands or tens of thousands, thereby negotiating lower interest rates with law firms in the U.S. or another market. This is far from an operational service, and Zhang hopes that he can reach the 1,000-disk threshold this time next year.

Several companies at the fair also advertise services ranging from compliance to business registration – the price of obtaining a U.S. trademark is equivalent to $485 and are now purchased at a $150 discount, one Flyer said. However, since many suppliers seem to mimic each other’s styles, only trying to undercut other suppliers’ prices, it’s clear that the concept of the brand has not yet stood out.

Xiaoopeng He, founder of Xpeng, talked about the pressure and competition in China’s electric vehicle market: production capacity, price wars and technological innovation. Turing chips are a necessary invention to help Xpeng transition to large tech companies, he said.

Hong Hao, managing partner of Lotus Asset Management, talked about the opportunities he saw in the Chinese market: biotechnology, bubble tea and pop music collections.