（Singapore, 23.09.2026）For years, the narrative of Chinese agribusiness “going global” revolved around exporting seeds, transferring technology, or shipping equipment. But this long-standing logic is being rewritten by new demands in the ASEAN market.
Liang Chengwang, Executive Chairman of Zixin Group Holdings, said that over the past few decades, Chinese agriculture had largely absorbed overseas seed varieties and technologies to fill gaps in its own industrial chain. But in Zixin’s own overseas operations, demand from markets such as ASEAN has undergone a fundamental shift — from “buying products and single-point technologies” to “bringing in entire industrial development capabilities.”
ASEAN agriculture is dominated by smallholder farming, with limited mechanization, incomplete cold-chain and warehousing infrastructure, and insufficient deep-processing capacity. These shortcomings were once seen as entry points for Chinese companies. But after actually entering local markets, many companies found that what partners were asking for no longer stopped at a single link.
The reason is that ASEAN agriculture’s weaknesses are systemic, not localized. A lack of cold-chain logistics constrains distribution, insufficient processing capacity suppresses added value, and inconsistent standards hinder cross-border coordination. Improving any one link requires simultaneous upgrades in adjacent links.
On the demand side, expectations in the ASEAN market are also shifting. When Shenzhen-based Digital Harvest Technology (Shuying Technology) implemented a full-chain digital pig farming project in Vietnam, its Chairman Zhang Yan observed that “market focus is gradually shifting from single-equipment procurement toward more systematic, complete intelligent solutions.”
When selling products alone becomes unsustainable, building ecosystems becomes the new choice.
At the 23rd China-ASEAN Expo, this trend was increasingly evident. For the first time, the expo introduced a “chain leader” model where industry leaders bring upstream and downstream companies to exhibit together.
Lei Xiaohua, Deputy Director of the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies at the Guangxi Academy of Social Sciences, said that as China-ASEAN economic and trade cooperation shifts from “selling single items” to “building ecosystems,” exhibition platforms are no longer just about displaying goods and closing orders — they are about finding the “missing pieces” in the industrial chain and bringing together capital, technology, markets, and supply chains on a larger scale.
Guangxi’s practice offers an observation window. By the end of 2025, Guangxi had established overseas agricultural cooperation demonstration zones in nine ASEAN countries, with 99 registered overseas agricultural, livestock, and fishery investment enterprises, using this as a lever to push companies to “go global together” and embed themselves in industrial chains.
At the corporate level, the partnership between Zixin Group and ZTO Nongte offers another model. In August 2026, the two parties established a joint venture, ZTO Zixin (Shandong) Potato Industry Co., Ltd., integrating Zixin’s variety breeding and deep-processing capabilities with ZTO Cloud Warehouse’s national warehousing and distribution network and cross-border supply chain capabilities, building a “Shandong production + Southeast Asia operations” dual-hub model.
Liang Chengwang said: “We are not going overseas alone. We are linking with ecosystem partners to jointly build overseas industrial parks and supply chain systems, so that industrial construction and market monetization advance in tandem, creating differentiated competitiveness.”
Institutional progress is also advancing. In October 2025, the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 Upgrade Protocol was formally signed, incorporating supply chain connectivity as a standalone chapter in the free trade agreement for the first time. An official from the Ministry of Commerce’s Department of International Trade and Economic Affairs noted that both sides will “jointly promote the free flow of key products and services,” “strengthen infrastructure connectivity,” and “jointly build a safe, stable, smooth, and efficient regional supply chain system.”
China and ASEAN have been each other’s largest trading partners for years. In 2024, China’s outward direct investment reached US$192.2 billion, with agricultural outward investment stock reaching US$32.739 billion, covering 116 countries and regions. Beneath the volume, the quality of overseas expansion deserves more attention than the quantity.
But building ecosystems also means higher entry barriers and longer return cycles. It requires overseas companies to have not only technical capabilities, but also the ability to coordinate multi-party resources and organize industrial chain collaboration.
