Chinese e-commerce companies, including Alibaba, ByteDance’s TikTok Shop, Shein, and PDD’s Temu, now control around 50% of the online shopping market in Indonesia, Thailand, and the Philippines, according to Bain and Company.

The consulting firm noted that Chinese retail is continuing its international expansion despite tariffs and slowing domestic growth. “Far from being killed by tariffs, the internationalization of Chinese retail is entering a new phase,” the report said.

Singles Day Expands Beyond China

Alibaba’s Taobao is now promoting Singles Day shopping in 20 regions, signaling the global reach of the world’s largest shopping event. Last year, Taobao in Malaysia promoted the event in English for the first time, in addition to Chinese.

Alibaba’s international division, the International Digital Commerce Group, reported 19% year-on-year revenue growth to 34.74 billion yuan ($4.85 billion) in the three months ended June 30. While smaller than the 140.07 billion yuan generated by Alibaba’s China e-commerce business, the growth shows rising international sales.

Experience from China Fuels Global Growth

Bain analysts said part of the success of Chinese e-commerce companies abroad comes from lessons learned in China, including livestreaming, fast product innovation, and speedy logistics.

Last year, the Chinese e-commerce market sold $2.32 billion in gross merchandise value (GMV), more than double the $1.05 billion GMV of the U.S. market. In Southeast Asia, Indonesia led with $62 billion in GMV, followed by Thailand and Vietnam with $30 billion each, the Philippines at $20 billion, and Singapore at $8.55 billion.

Financing Supports Overseas Expansion

Fintech startup FundPark has provided $3 billion in loans to Chinese small businesses for overseas e-commerce in just over a year, compared with six years to lend the same amount previously. CEO Anson Suen said the company raised $71 million to support an AI-powered tool for “dynamic funding,” helping merchants manage tariff uncertainties.

FundPark has received $750 million in financing from Goldman Sachs and HSBC, and uses technology-based analysis to determine how much small merchants can borrow.

Chinese e-commerce companies do not dominate all markets. In Singapore, Alibaba’s Lazada lost market share to Shopee. In the U.S., Amazon and Walmart still lead, with non-Chinese players making up nearly 95% of the market.

PHOTO: IMAGESTOCK

This article was created with AI assistance.