From Zhejiang to the Asian Olympic Stage, This Chinese Enterprise Saw a 471.1% Surge in Overseas Orders Last Year | Global Trailblazers

Introduction:

Looking globally to explore the second growth curve has become a definite direction. However, how to go global still tests the wisdom and courage of every Chinese enterprise. There are numerous paths for going global, such as brand expansion overseas, supply chain globalization, and cross - border e - commerce, but there is never a one - size - fits - all answer. Markets like North America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America are vast, yet each has its own challenges and risks. Behind every overseas expedition is the exploration of Chinese enterprises. More Chinese figures are emerging on every distant coastline.

The "Overseas Pioneers" column aims to seek out overseas benchmarks in different fields, analyze real - world cases from a professional perspective, precipitate methodologies through consensus, and discover new possibilities in differences.

In Dushanbe, the capital of Tajikistan, a magnificent building with a green circular dome and a white facade, combining Islamic charm and modern style - the National Theatre of Tajikistan is即将竣工.

This is a key project dedicated to the 35th anniversary of Tajikistan's independence. After its completion, it will become one of the largest and most technologically advanced performing arts venues in Central Asia. It is hailed as the "Presidential Project" of Tajikistan and is also a national - level cultural landmark that has been planned for a decade and restarted several times since Tajikistan's independence. President Emomali Rahmon has visited the construction site several times to console the construction team.

The contractor behind this "Presidential Project" is a private enterprise from Zhejiang, China - Zhejiang Dafeng Industry Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Dafeng"). In 2018, Dafeng was recognized as a national - level single - champion enterprise in manufacturing by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology for its main product, stage machinery.

Dafeng started as a factory in Yuyao, Zhejiang, producing accessories for film and television equipment. After more than 30 years of development, its business has gradually expanded from stage machinery to creative planning, intelligent operation, etc., providing integrated solutions for culture, sports, and tourism. From providing the stage control system for the Spring Festival Gala stage for 28 consecutive years to serving the stages of the Beijing Winter Olympics and the Hangzhou Asian Games, most of the stage equipment for major domestic events and competitions is provided by Dafeng.

Dafeng created the main torch "Qianjiang Tide Surge" for the Hangzhou Asian Games

Overseas, Dafeng has also witnessed rapid business growth. In 2025, its overseas contract orders increased by 471.1% year - on - year. Currently, it is not only a partner of the Olympic Council of Asia but also has won the rights to create the opening and closing ceremonies and the torch system for the 2026 Nagoya Asian Games. At the same time, Dafeng is still accelerating the expansion of its global layout, continuously extending from traditional advantageous markets to regions such as the Middle East and Africa.

In the process of Dafeng's overseas market expansion, the Comprehensive Service Port for Zhejiang Enterprises Going Global (referred to as the "Service Port") also plays an important role. Like a true professional companion, it has provided a lot of practical help from resource matching to on - the - ground services. As a provincial - level physical platform for Zhejiang Province to improve the overseas comprehensive service system, it brings together resources from the government, institutions, and organizations to help enterprises match all - round services required for going global.

Since 2025, the Service Port has maintained close communication with Dafeng on how to expand its overseas business. In May last year, the Service Port took the initiative to lead Dafeng to visit the consulates - general of BRICS countries in Shanghai, helping them connect with opportunities for the construction and operation of large - scale sports venues in those countries. Subsequently, the Service Port also facilitated introductions, bringing the cooperation opportunity of a landmark fountain project in the capital of an African country to Dafeng.

Not only introducing projects, the Service Port has also helped Dafeng open more cooperation windows. For example, it introduced the Dubai Chamber of Commerce to visit Dafeng's headquarters in person. They not only learned about Dafeng's overseas business layout but also showed a strong interest in cooperating on Dafeng's new business of embodied intelligent robots. At the implementation level, the Service Port has also provided Dafeng with detailed services such as overseas company registration, tax, and compliance consulting, making every step of Dafeng's overseas expansion more stable and less error - prone.

01 Winning the overseas market with on - the - ground execution ability and local integration

Dafeng's globalization journey can be traced back to 2004. At that time, Dafeng won an important cooperation and became the supplier of seats and movable bleachers for the venues of the 2004 Athens Olympics. In this international bidding competition, facing numerous peer enterprises from Europe, America, and other Asian countries, Dafeng finally won the bid and provided more than 90,000 seats for seven major venues of the Athens Olympics, accounting for more than 50% of the seats and movable bleachers in the Athens Olympic venues.

Since then, Dafeng's overseas business has gradually expanded to more regions around the world, successively participating in projects such as the Sirius Theatre and Concert Hall Complex in Sochi, Russia, the Sri Lanka International Arts Theatre, the Myanmar National Theatre, the African Union International Conference Center, and the Dubai Expo.

Now, Dafeng's overseas business has become the company's second growth curve, covering 6 continents, more than 100 countries and regions, and involving digital art technology, venue operation, and cultural and tourism integration.

According to Jiang Fan, the general manager of Dafeng's Brand and Marketing Department, Central Asia and Southeast Asia are Dafeng's fastest - growing global markets.

Specifically, Dafeng's rapid growth in the Southeast Asian market is due to the upgrade cycle of local cultural, sports, and tourism facilities. In the Central Asian market, which is the traditional territory of European established enterprises, Dafeng achieved a breakthrough by virtue of its stronger project implementation ability.

"In Germany and Japan, there are enterprises with a century - long technological accumulation, and they still have a strong say in the high - end stage machinery field. However, their shortcomings are also obvious - a fragmented industrial chain and high comprehensive costs." Jiang Fan analyzed that European enterprises generally only excel in one aspect, such as single machinery, acoustics, or lighting, and still require customers to integrate all aspects by themselves.

As one of the few global enterprises with the ability to integrate the entire industrial chain, Dafeng can provide customers with a one - stop solution from creativity, construction to post - maintenance. At the same time, relying on the complete domestic supply chain advantage, Dafeng can also complete the delivery within a shorter construction period.

If the ability to integrate the entire industrial chain is Dafeng's hard power, then respect for local culture is its soft power. It should be noted that the climate and cultural environments of different countries are completely different, and the safety standards, environmental protection requirements, and labor laws of each country also vary greatly. Implementing large - scale cultural and sports projects places extremely high requirements on personnel management and business communication.

"All of Dafeng's expatriate employees receive training on local culture, laws, and customs before departure." Jiang Fan introduced that in the National Theatre of Tajikistan project, Dafeng's plan incorporated Tajik national elements and architectural aesthetics, and adjusted professional acoustic decorations according to Tajik folk songs and musical instrument parts. "The purpose is to make customers feel that Dafeng is not just'selling products' but also helping customers'realize their dreams'."

Rendering of the National Theatre of Tajikistan project

Specifically in terms of overseas talent management, Dafeng adopts a dual - wheel drive approach of "localized teams + international standards". Project managers and core technical engineers are senior Chinese employees to ensure that Dafeng's technical standards and management concepts are implemented without compromise. Positions such as construction workers and auxiliary technical personnel are preferentially recruited from locals to promote the integration of the team with the local community.

A construction site composed entirely of Chinese people is seen as an "outsider" by locals; while a team with local participation can better become "one of their own".

In international business communication, Dafeng will hire a consultant team familiar with local laws and business practices to identify potential risks before the project starts. One of Dafeng's experiences is that if there is a need to adjust the plan during project implementation, all changes must be confirmed in writing, and all commitments must be recorded in emails.

02 From an equipment company to an integrated solution provider, and then to the layout of embodied intelligence

Dafeng's development process has gone through three key leaps.

When it was founded in 1991, Dafeng was just a factory in Yuyao, Zhejiang, mainly producing special power connectors for film and television, with a staff of only dozens of people. At that time, it was the early stage of the development of domestic TV stations and theaters. The founding team keenly observed that almost all domestic stage machinery equipment relied on imports and was expensive. So Dafeng果断 shifted its main business from power connectors to combined glass stages. In 1993, it successfully developed the first domestic combined glass stage, and the product quickly became popular across the country.

After establishing a foothold in the stage machinery field, Dafeng faced a business crossroads: should it vertically deepen its products or horizontally develop the ability of the entire industrial chain? Dafeng chose a more difficult path that could better strengthen the enterprise's moat.

At that time, with the maturity of Chinese manufacturing, more and more factories could also produce similar combined glass stage products, but they generally did not have the ability to provide an overall solution that deeply integrated creativity, technology, and operation. Dafeng did not want to be just a product sales company. It hoped to become a formulator and leader of industry standards by accumulating systematic industrial chain capabilities.

In 1996, Dafeng won the stage machinery system project of the Shaoxing Grand Theatre for the first time as an integrated solution provider. During the preparation for the 2008 Olympics, Dafeng participated in the construction of more than 80% of the Olympic venues, including the Bird's Nest and the Water Cube.

Currently, the first stage control system in China to pass the SIL3 international highest safety certification and the most comprehensively certified so far is produced by Dafeng. At the industry standard level, Dafeng has led the formulation of more than 30 national and industry standards, covering fields such as stage machinery, control systems, and safety specifications. For example, in the National Theatre of Tajikistan project, many of the technical standards involved replaced the traditional "European standard + Russian standard" framework with the "Dafeng standard".

In recent years, Dafeng has been continuously expanding the boundaries of its cultural, sports, and tourism business, integrating embodied intelligence into it. In June 2025, Dafeng and Zhiyuan Robotics jointly established a new company, Silicon - based Ark. It will focus on scenarios such as intelligent guided tours, performances, and operations, and develop embodied intelligent products that meet the needs of culture, sports, and tourism. Among them, Zhiyuan provides the robot body support, and Dafeng is responsible for providing the scenario entry in the cultural, sports, and tourism fields, application scenario solutions, data assets, and local deployment teams.

The world's first human - robot interactive robot band - the "Aribadi" band

In October 2025, Silicon - based Ark announced the establishment of the world's first human - robot interactive robot band, the "Aribadi", in collaboration with Pang Kuan, a member of the New Pants band. It is reported that the robot in the band acts as a musician, can read sheet music and keep in rhythm with human teammates, and can also complete an impromptu solo with its internal generative music model. In January 2026, the band released its first single, "Interpersonal Dance Contest". Currently, it has achieved regular operation and has released a total of 5 singles.

This year, Dafeng also made two consecutive investments in "Qingtian Rent", the first domestic robot rental platform, through its subsidiary Dafeng Fund.

Establishing a company to develop products, forming a band to verify performance scenarios, and investing in a rental platform to expand commercialization channels... Dafeng is gradually perfecting its strategic jigsaw puzzle in the field of embodied intelligence.

*The views expressed are from the interviewed institutions or individuals and are for reference only.

This article is from the WeChat official account "Comprehensive Service Port for Zhejiang Enterprises Going Global", author: Zhejiang Enterprises Going Global, published with authorization from Qiantang.