The "Eight Pitfalls" of Going Global. First of all, choose the right country.

Author | Xiang Guohua

Editors | Ji Ran, Dao Ma

 

Editor's note:

Today, Chinese enterprises going global are entering deeper waters. Internationally, the drastic trade changes triggered by global politics have greatly increased the uncertainties faced by overseas - going enterprises. Domestically, overseas - going enterprises have moved from simply selling products to in - depth localization, and are thus confronted with cultural conflicts, organizational management challenges, and changes in thinking patterns. More and more people involved in overseas expansion seem to have stepped into a fog. Anxiety, hesitation, and waiting have become the inner portrayal of those going global at present. Facing this great change, how can one stay sober and maintain composure? Xiaguang She has launched the "Relativity of Going Global" column, inviting relevant scholars, overseas expansion experts, investors, and entrepreneurs to present another voice through speculation, providing spiritual strength for those going global.

 

The easing of Sino - US tariffs is stimulating a new wave of enthusiasm for going global.

 

Since May 14th, after China and the United States each lowered the tariffs imposed since April 2nd to the previous tariff rates, the recovery of trade has been directly reflected in the changes in shipping. The demand for shipping capacity on the US route has risen rapidly within a day. Data from the trade tracking agency Vizion shows that the pre - orders for container transportation from China to the United States have soared by nearly 300%, which has also driven up shipping prices. On May 14th, the Northern International Container Freight Index (Tianjin - West Coast of the United States) rose by more than 11%.

 

Vincent Clerc, the CEO of Maersk, a global shipping giant, also said at a recent earnings conference that in the past two weeks, the company has transferred 20% of its shipping capacity on the Sino - US route to other routes. However, the "downgrade" of trade tensions will lead to a "catch - up effect", and "the door for purchase orders will reopen".

 

However, on the other hand, the shadow cannot be hidden behind the excitement.

 

Actually, since 2025, the global economy has been at a critical moment of intertwined changes and chaos.

 

Trump's tariffs have shattered the old order of global trade, and overseas markets have become unpredictable.

 

In the case of the United States, its GDP contracted by 0.3% quarter - on - quarter in the first quarter of this year, which is the worst performance since 2022. Moreover, the consumer confidence of the public is also declining. The growth rate of personal consumption expenditure, which accounts for about 70% of the US economic aggregate, has dropped from 4.0% in the fourth quarter of last year to 1.8%. Dean Baker, the founder of the Center for Economic and Policy Research, even said that the first quarter might be the beginning of a US economic recession.

 

The performance of another developed market, the European Union, is even more worrying. Although the GDP of the eurozone grew by 0.4% quarter - on - quarter in the first quarter of 2025, accelerating from 0.2% in the fourth quarter of last year. But looking at the long - term, the GDP of the eurozone increased by 0.7% year - on - year in 2024, significantly lagging behind the 2.8% of the United States. The main reason is the continuous weakness of the German economy, with its GDP shrinking by 0.2% in 2024. But internally, Spain's annual GDP growth rate reached 2.8%, the highest in the eurozone; France and Italy grew by 0.8% and 0.6% respectively. Currently, Southern Europe remains the highlight of European economic activities.

 

In Japan, China's neighboring country, the GDP in the first quarter of 2025 decreased by 0.2% quarter - on - quarter, equivalent to an annualized decline of 0.7%. This is in sharp contrast to the 2.4% growth in the previous quarter. What's worse, Japan is also suffering from inflation. In April this year, the average price of a 5 - kilogram bag of rice in the Japanese market reached a record 4214 yen (about 216 yuan).

 

In addition, there are also different performances in ASEAN, China's largest trading partner. Vietnam's GDP grew by 6.93% year - on - year in the first quarter of 2025, the highest growth in the first quarter since 2020, but it decreased compared with 7.55% in the fourth quarter of 2024. Indonesia's GDP grew by 4.87% year - on - year in Q1 this year, slightly lower than the expected 4.91%. Moreover, the import growth has also slowed down significantly from 10.36% to 3.96%, reflecting the weakening of domestic purchasing power. Malaysia's GDP growth rate in the first quarter of 2025 was 4.4% year - on - year, lower than the market expectation of 4.8%, but it performed strongly in international trade.

 

In the long run, these changes will profoundly affect the country - selection of Chinese enterprises going global.

 

According to the long - term tracking and research of Chinese enterprises' overseas expansion practices by Zenglue Consulting, currently, the success rate of Chinese enterprises going global is less than 20%. Facing the low probability of success in going global, "avoiding pitfalls" is the primary factor that enterprises should consider when making overseas decisions.

 

Actually, during the process of going global, enterprises mainly face eight major pitfalls: country - selection pitfall, market pitfall, customer pitfall, product pitfall, talent pitfall, compliance pitfall, factory pitfall, and labor pitfall. Among them, "country selection" is the first and the biggest pitfall. A wrong country selection will directly lead to the failure of the overseas expansion's bridge - head battle.

 

In the new book "Overseas Growth Strategy" by Xiang Guohua, the founder of Zenglue Consulting, the country selection for going global is dissected in detail. Below, combined with the content of the book, Xiaguang She answers the question "Why is country selection the first and the most crucial step in going global?"

 

 

The current international situation is complex and changeable. The global political, security, and economic landscape is in a delicate balance. There is a need for in - depth cooperation among countries, but there are also non - negligible competitions and oppositions in multiple fields. International relations have become increasingly complex and full of uncertainties. Chinese overseas - going enterprises need to size up the situation and adjust their overseas expansion strategies in a timely manner according to the changes in overseas markets.

 

The policy orientation, trade adjustments, and changes in monetary policy of the United States will affect the development of Chinese overseas - going enterprises. For example, the appreciation of the US dollar has increased the financing costs of Chinese enterprises. The US technology blockade and the "near - shoring" strategy of the supply chain have forced Chinese enterprises to accelerate technological independent innovation and adjust the global supply chain. High tariffs and the exclusivity of trade agreements have weakened the competitiveness of Chinese enterprises in the US market.

 

At the same time, the trend of global multipolarization is accelerating. Emerging economies such as India, Brazil, and South Africa are playing an increasingly important role in international affairs. Multilateral cooperation mechanisms such as the BRICS and ASEAN have injected new strength into global governance. These countries are no longer just appendages of major powers, but have become independent participants in global affairs.

 

As the economic growth of markets in the United States, Europe, Japan, South Korea, and Australia slows down, while the economies of developing markets are growing rapidly, the world's economic camps are also quietly changing. When Chinese enterprises go global at this time, identifying the differences between different countries is of great significance for enterprises to formulate overseas expansion strategies.

 

Let's take a look at the market situations of three very typical regions or countries.

 

One of the hottest overseas expansion regions - ASEAN

 

ASEAN has become the top choice for Chinese enterprises going global, mainly due to three key factors:

 

(1) Huge market potential and great development space: As of 2024, ASEAN has a population of about 670 million, and it is expected that the total population will exceed 700 million by 2027. The population structure in ASEAN is young, with those under 30 accounting for more than 50%, which provides continuous growth momentum for the consumer market.

 

(2) Strong economic growth with multiple countries advancing side by side: In 2023, the total GDP of the ten ASEAN countries was 3.88 trillion US dollars. The economic growth rate of ASEAN economies has been maintained at 4% - 6% in recent years. In addition, ASEAN countries are vigorously exploring the potential of the digital economy and accelerating the promotion of digital transformation.

 

(3) Policy support and regional cooperation: As early as 2013, China put forward the "Belt and Road" initiative, which promoted the construction of a community with a shared future for China and neighboring countries. The initiative has also strengthened economic cooperation between China and Southeast Asian regions as well as other neighboring countries, and promoted infrastructure construction and connectivity. In 2020, China, ASEAN countries, and other neighboring countries signed the "Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership" (RCEP), establishing the largest free - trade area in the Asia - Pacific region, which further promoted economic integration and trade liberalization in this region.

 

Through the above analysis, we can see that the most important factors to consider when choosing an overseas expansion destination are: population (determining future potential), economy (determining current growth rate), and policy (determining the survival environment) .

 

A typical case is J&T Express.

 

Since its establishment in 2015, J&T has covered its express delivery business in many countries such as China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Cambodia in just a few years. By the beginning of this year, its market share in Southeast Asia had reached as high as 28.6%, ranking first for many consecutive years.

 

How did J&T achieve success?

 

 

(1) Capturing industry pain points and creating differentiated competitiveness: With the rapid rise of the e - commerce market in ASEAN, the proportion of online transactions of various commodities has been increasing. At that time, the services and efficiency of traditional logistics companies in Indonesia could not keep up with the development speed of e - commerce, and there were many pain points that could not meet the needs of merchants and consumers, such as additional fees for door - to - door pick - up, invisible logistics tracking, long delivery cycles, and suspension of services during holidays. J&T seized this opportunity and quickly opened up the market with advantages such as free door - to - door pick - up, providing logistics tracking queries, achieving next - day or same - day delivery, and operating throughout the year.

 

(2) Experience replication and local operation: To quickly occupy the market, Li Jie, the founder of J&T, replicated the logistics industry competition experience accumulated in China to Indonesia. At the same time, J&T attaches great importance to local operations. There are only more than a dozen Chinese employees at its Indonesian headquarters, which solves the problem of "acclimatization" often encountered by overseas - going enterprises. Subsequently, it quickly established a national logistics network by leveraging OPPO's distribution network in Indonesia.

 

(3) Building an invincible organizational system: Most of J&T's founding team comes from the OPPO and BBK systems, with similar corporate cultures and unified values. As the core figure of the enterprise, Li Jie has leadership charm, is good at knowing people and assigning them proper jobs, and attaches importance to sharing benefits. J&T's success in Indonesia also benefits from the execution ability of its team and the entrepreneurial experience in the Indonesian market.

 

J&T's success in Indonesia provides important inspiration for Chinese enterprises going global: enterprises should attach great importance to local operations, deeply understand market demands, combine the rapid rise of digital technology and e - commerce platforms to promote business expansion, and at the same time obtain market competitive advantages by providing high - cost - performance services. This experience shows that flexibly adjusting strategies, seizing local opportunities, and improving operational efficiency are the keys for Chinese enterprises to succeed in overseas markets.

 

2. A fascinating hot land - Africa

 

Africa has the second - largest population in the world, about 1.46 billion, accounting for about 16.7% of the world's total population. Moreover, the population in Africa is obviously young, with about 60% under 25, which means that a large number of labor forces may enter the market in the future. It is estimated that Africa's GDP will reach 10 trillion US dollars by 2050, making it an important global economic growth engine. The strong economic and population growth rates are destined to make Africa a hot land for development in the next 30 years.

 

In Africa, a well - known company is Transsion Holdings. As a little - known small company in China, it targeted the regional segmented market with its product features and finally started from the local market and then drove the global market.

 

Transsion Holdings (hereinafter referred to as Transsion) was established in 2006, with its headquarters in Shenzhen. Since its establishment, Transsion has experienced rapid development and expansion: it officially entered the African market in 2008, and became the brand with the highest smartphone shipments in the African market in 2018. By 2021, its smartphone shipments ranked fifth in the world, so it is also known as the "King of African Mobile Phones". The reasons for Transsion's success in the African market are as follows:

 

For example, it launched mobile phones with four SIM card slots: it is hardly heard of in China, but because of the insufficient coverage of communication networks and unstable call signals in Africa, the base - station layouts of different communication operators are different. In some places, Operator A has a good signal, while in other places, only Operator B has a signal. At the same time, cross - network charges between different operators are expensive, so people are used to having multiple phone cards. This is a unique market situation in Africa.

 

For example, it launched mobile phones with external speakers: Africans especially like singing and dancing. When a restaurant or bar on the roadside plays music, it will attract a group of people to sing and dance at the door. In response to this characteristic preference of local consumers, Transsion's mobile phones are specially designed with an external speaker function suitable for African music, and it has also developed the music streaming platform Boomplay, which has now become the largest music streaming platform in Africa.

 

In addition, there are functions such as a camera function for users with dark skin; high - temperature resistance and anti - sweat corrosion functions for the high - temperature environment in Africa; a super - long standby function in response to the unstable power supply in Africa; and multi - language support for the numerous African dialects. From a technical perspective, these functions are not difficult to achieve, but these very localized features have deeply impressed local consumers.

 

 

Many overseas - going enterprises think that their products are very advanced and have advantages in all aspects, and they can gain an overwhelming advantage in overseas markets. So they view the local market with their usual thinking, but the market doesn't buy it. Transsion, like Huawei in its early days, is good at identifying customer pain points and needs, custom - developing products, and carrying out differentiated competition, and finally successfully established a foothold in the African market.

 

In addition, Transsion Holdings has three major mobile phone brands, Tecno, Infinix, and Itel, which are well - known in Africa. These are mobile phones at different price points launched by Transsion for different groups in the African market: Tecno and Infinix focus on producing high - end and mid - end smartphones, mainly targeting wage - earners and students with economic capabilities; while Itel mainly produces low - end smartphones, targeting the elderly and consumers with lower budgets.

 

3. A small but beautiful and unique market - small countries

 

Small countries usually refer to those with a small area, small economic scale, and limited population, such as Mauritius, Namibia, Botswana in Africa, Norway, Ireland, Iceland in Europe, and Singapore, Qatar, Kuwait in Asia. Small countries often account for a small share in global trade, have relatively fragile economic systems, and face high risks of natural disasters. However, for Chinese overseas - going enterprises, small countries also have unique advantages.

 

(1) Less competition and preferential policies: The markets of small countries often struggle to attract international large - scale enterprises, so the competition is relatively small, especially in some consumer goods, infrastructure construction and other fields. At the same time, small - country governments are usually more open to foreign investment to attract foreign investment to promote the development of their own economies. For example, although Serbia in Eastern Europe is a small country, it is an important transportation hub connecting the East and the West and a key bridge for economic exchanges between Europe and Asia, so it has attracted many Chinese enterprises to invest. At the same time, Serbia also provides policy support such as tax incentives and simplified administrative approval for Chinese enterprises.

 

(2) Clear market demand and suitable for local operation: Small countries are often in a stage of rapid economic growth or consumption upgrading, with concentrated and clear market demands. Chinese enterprises can quickly occupy the local market by quickly responding to local demands, such as providing products with moderate prices and reliable quality. For example, after entering the Maltese market, BYD not only provided electric vehicles that met the needs of local consumers but also provided after - sales support and maintenance services through local agents and service centers. The Maltese government also provided tax incentives and financial subsidies for BYD's projects to promote the use of electric vehicles, further promoting the popularization of electric vehicles locally.

 

(3) Low cost of brand recognition and market education: It is relatively easy for enterprises to improve their brand recognition in small markets. Through marketing and publicity activities, enterprises can quickly establish a brand image and gain the trust of local consumers. At the same time, the cost of market education and promotion in small markets is relatively low, which can effectively cultivate consumers' awareness and acceptance of new products.

 

Compared with large countries, small - country markets have less competition and cultural barriers, and more open policies. Chinese enterprises can more easily enter the local market with low cost and low risk through flexible market strategies and quickly break through market restrictions to achieve their strategic goals. Therefore, risk - averse enterprises or enterprises in industries with extremely high market access thresholds can fully utilize such market opportunities and choose small countries as their first choice for going global.

 

For example, the communication industry that Huawei is in has extremely high market access thresholds. Without brand influence and product strength, it is impossible to enter the markets of some large countries. Customers may not even accept free equipment, let alone make a purchase. So breaking through from small countries has become the first choice for this type of industry to go global.

 

However, entering small countries does not mean smooth sailing. Overseas - going enterprises still need to be prepared for hard work. For example, Huawei's story of expanding into the small African country of Mauritius is a good case.

 

Mauritius is an island country in eastern Africa, with a population of about 1.26 million, a land area of about 2040 square kilometers, and a GDP of about 14.4 billion US dollars in 2023, with a per - capita GDP of about 11,420 US dollars. Mauritius is one of the countries with better economic development in Africa, and its national economy mainly depends on tourism, the textile industry, the sugar - making industry, and the financial service industry. As a global tourist destination, it is known as one of the "Three Pearls in the Indian Ocean" together with the Maldives and Seychelles.

 

When Huawei started to expand into the Mauritian market, there were mainly two local operators, Mauritius Telecom and Emtel, but they basically ignored Huawei. After two years of suffering, Huawei finally got an opportunity: there is a Rodrigues Island about 560 kilometers east of Mauritius, with an area of about 108 square kilometers and a population of 40,000, but there has been no communication signal. Emtel asked Western communication enterprises to install several base stations to solve the daily communication needs of the island's residents, but they all refused, citing high costs. Finally, Emtel had to turn to Huawei.

 

Huawei also knew that this was a contract with poor quality. The customer's budget was limited, and the equipment cost, logistics, and installation cost were more than twice the customer's budget. Whoever took on the project would incur losses. But this was an excellent opportunity to open up the Mauritian and even the African market, so Huawei decided to win this order regardless of the cost.

 

So, when the customer launched the tender for the national wireless 3G network construction project in 2004, it actively invited Huawei to bid, and Huawei successfully won the bid, breaking through the encirclement of a group of Western companies.

 

During the actual delivery process, the customer's base stations were not ready for construction, and the idle - work phenomenon was particularly obvious. Coupled with the frequent typhoon weather on the island, the originally expected three - month construction period was extended to one year. The living conditions on the island were very poor, and living supplies had to be transported by sea from the main island. When there was a typhoon, people could only eat bread every day, which also led to very high prices on the island. Finally, the final settlement cost was 50% higher than the estimated cost before signing the contract. But Huawei didn't complain. Instead, it impressed the customer with its dedicated work attitude and completed its first wireless 3G network in Africa. Since then, Huawei has been able to sign orders worth tens of millions of US dollars in the Mauritian market every year.

 

 

Huawei's development process in Mauritius provides a good reference and warning for its global expansion. Even in the African market, which is considered the easiest to break into by everyone, Huawei still faced numerous obstacles. It couldn't even break into a small African country like Mauritius at once and finally had to start from an even smaller island (Rodrigues Island) at a loss.

 

 

Country selection determines the layout of an enterprise's global strategy and is a key step for an enterprise to successfully enter overseas markets. At this time, we need to think about the following questions:

 

Should we first break into the markets of two or three key countries or try our luck in more countries?

Should we start with the relatively easier markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America or the more difficult markets in Europe and the United States?

Should we enter the countries where domestic peers have already established a mature presence or engage in differential competition in new countries?

......

 

Actually, there is no standard answer to these questions. Different industries, competitive landscapes, overseas expansion pursuits, management - decision - making styles, current development stages, and resource levels all determine different country - selection criteria.

 

So, what are the criteria and decision - making factors for country selection?

 

1. "Start with the easy and then move to the difficult" or "Start with the difficult and then move to the easy"?

The markets in Asia, Africa, and Latin America usually have fewer restrictions on foreign investment, relatively loose policies, and most governments encourage foreign enterprises to invest. These markets have rapid economic development, strong market demand, and relatively less competition. Moreover, China usually has good diplomatic relations with these regions, and Chinese enterprises can quickly occupy the market. The operating costs (such as labor and land) in Asian, African, and Latin American countries are relatively low, which is suitable for small and medium - sized enterprises or enterprises with limited funds to make initial attempts.

 

The markets in Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Australia, etc. are relatively mature and highly competitive, with strict policies and regulations, especially in terms of technology, environmental protection, and data protection. Enterprises must have sufficient compliance resources. European and American consumers have high requirements for brand image and corporate culture. Chinese enterprises need a long time to build a brand after entering the local market and also need to adapt to the local cultural and legal environment.

 

The market characteristics and constraints between the two are quite different. Enterprises should be able to easily find suitable markets for expansion based on their own situations.

 

For example, Haier adopted the strategy of "starting with the difficult and then moving to the easy", giving priority to entering developed markets with high - tech requirements and fierce competition, such as the United States and Europe. This strategy has enabled Haier to accumulate rich experience in overseas market expansion and made it easier for it to enter other markets later. TCL, on the other hand, chose the path of "starting with the easy and then moving to the difficult", first entering the markets of developing countries. After accumulating enough experience and resources, it then expanded to developed countries. This strategy has enabled TCL to understand and adapt to the international market in a relatively low - risk environment.

 

What about Huawei?

 

In 1996, when Huawei went global, it was still a medium - sized company with very limited influence internationally. At that time, Huawei continued to use the "start with the easy and then move to the difficult" strategy it adopted in the domestic market. Relying on high - quality services and cost - effective products, it first entered the markets of developing countries. Since the telephone penetration rate in emerging markets was low, the entry threshold was low, consumers were more price - sensitive, and these markets were easily ignored by large Western companies. After more than a decade of continuous efforts in the Asian, African, and Latin American markets, Huawei didn't truly break into the European and American markets comprehensively until 2009.

 

When choosing a target market, enterprises should conduct a comprehensive evaluation based on multiple factors such as industry characteristics, market potential, policy environment, and cultural adaptability. For enterprises going global for the first time, it is usually recommended to start with relatively easy markets to accumulate experience and resources, and then gradually expand to more complex markets. Enterprises with sufficient financial strength, product strength, or brand influence can also directly enter the European and American markets.

 

In other words, enterprises with weak competitiveness are more suitable for the "start with the easy and then move to the difficult" approach, while enterprises with strong competitiveness can choose the "start with the difficult and then move to the easy" strategy .

 

2. First break into key markets or "cast a wide net and catch more fish"?

 

Many of the enterprises we have served chose the latter when going global for the first time.

 

Some enterprises that have been going global for more than 20 years have their overseas businesses covering dozens of countries. One would think that their overseas businesses should be doing well. But after sorting out their overseas performance data in the past decade, we found that it was "sporadic countries, sporadic markets, and sporadic orders". In most countries, they "didn't make a deal for three years and then made a big one in one go". Their performance was very unstable, with obvious alternation between "good years" (years with good performance) and "bad years" (years with poor performance), basically relying on opportunism by chance.

 

Overseas - going enterprises should reject opportunism and give priority to breaking into two or three key markets. Because choosing two or three strategic key markets (such as countries with large economic scales and strong market demand) in the early stage can enable enterprises to effectively concentrate human, financial, and operational resources, which helps enterprises better adapt to the local market and quickly form competitiveness. Some strategic key countries are also "central countries" in local regions. For example, when it comes to Southeast Asia, people first think of Singapore or Indonesia, which are the "central countries" in Southeast Asia. Once an enterprise seizes this strategic high - ground of the "central country", it will be much easier to expand the entire regional market.

 

 

The "casting a wide net" strategy faces greater uncertainties, especially in different countries with significant differences in policies, cultures, and markets, which may lead to a mismatch between input and output, and it is also difficult for enterprises to effectively adjust their strategies. On the contrary, the strategy of focusing on breakthroughs can effectively avoid high - risk countries and enable enterprises to gain experience from successful markets.

 

Therefore, choosing two or three key markets for in - depth layout in the early stage is more conducive to the stable development of overseas - going enterprises. Huawei's overseas expansion process is also like this.

 

In 1996, Huawei officially went global and began to layout the Russian market. But it wasn't until five years later, in 2001, that its sales orders exceeded 100 million US dollars. By 2011, its sales orders exceeded 1.6 billion US dollars, and Russia became a "big granary" for Huawei overseas.

 

After opening up the Russian market, Huawei then entered the markets of surrounding countries, achieving a breakthrough from point to area.

 

3. Enter the mature markets first or engage in differential competition in new markets?

 

Choosing countries where domestic peers have already established a mature presence has the advantage that enterprises can quickly integrate into the market, reduce the early trial - and - error costs. The market infrastructure is relatively complete, the industry rules and market demand are relatively clear, and the risks are controllable. Moreover, the experience of domestic peers can be used as a reference for subsequent enterprises. However, entering a mature market often means facing strong competition from domestic peers and international enterprises. Enterprises must have a strong differentiated strategic advantage to stand out.

 

Choosing emerging countries for differential competition means choosing new markets that domestic peers have not yet deeply explored or developed. Enterprises may have more first - mover advantages in the market. The competition pressure for enterprises in these markets is relatively small, and they can quickly occupy the market and establish early brand awareness. However, the rules in emerging markets are imperfect, the policy risks are relatively large, and the market demand is highly uncertain. Enterprises may need to invest more resources in market cultivation and face higher market risks and operational challenges.

 

So, if an enterprise is small in scale, not strong in comprehensive strength, and going global for the first time, it is recommended to closely follow the steps of domestic leading enterprises and fully "copy" their overseas expansion models, with the principle of stepping into fewer pitfalls and paying less tuition fees, so as to achieve low - risk and low - cost overseas expansion.

 

If an enterprise has strong comprehensive strength and its own core competitiveness, it is recommended to choose new countries for differential competition and explore new markets. After accumulating sufficient market capabilities, brand influence, and management capabilities in the new market, it can then "return" to the mature - country markets.

 

From the perspective of asset investment, when choosing target countries, light - asset enterprises should focus on countries with fast economic growth, large market demand, low competition pressure, low market access thresholds, low labor costs, high - skill levels, good business environments, and obvious tax incentives. There are many countries suitable for light - asset operations, such as India, Brazil, Russia, Malaysia, etc. Enterprises need to make a choice based on their own business models and the characteristics of the target markets.

 

 

Country selection is a key step in an enterprise's global strategic layout. From a macro - strategic perspective, enterprises should not ignore the complexity of international relations, but nor should they be restricted by it. When screening countries for overseas expansion, they should regard it as a core element in building a global strategic map. Different countries play different roles and have different statuses in the global economy. Some countries can serve as the "bridge - head" for enterprises to enter regional markets, while others may be important positions for enterprises to obtain high - end technologies and innovative resources.

 

Enterprises should view country selection from a long - term perspective and not casually change their target countries due to short - term market fluctuations. Instead, they should lock in countries with sustainable development potential based on global industrial trends. For example, seizing the rising opportunities in emerging - country markets or deeply exploring the value of mature markets in developed countries.

 

In short, in the process of going global, enterprises should elevate country selection to a strategic level. By accurately grasping the characteristics and opportunities of different countries, they can steadily advance in the global market and finally achieve the grand blueprint of their global strategy.

 

This article is from the WeChat official account "Xiaguang She", author: Xiang Guohua.