Hotpot, bubble tea and sportswear: China's new exports take on the world

Hotpot, bubble tea and sportswear: China's new exports take on the worldJust nowShareSaveAdd as preferred on GoogleSuranjana TewariAsia Business Correspondent, SingaporeGetty ImagesMixue has more outlets than McDonald's and StarbucksStep into pretty much any shopping mall in Singapore and you're likely to find queues snaking outside shops with catchy names and bright-coloured branding. Chinese brands like Chagee, Molly Tea and Mixue are drawing crowds – not just in Asia, but increasingly in cities from Sydney to London and Los Angeles.Alongside fashion labels, toy stores and sportswear giants, these tea chains are riding a new wave – as Chinese firms move from low-cost manufacturing to globally recognisable consumer brands.Built in the world's second-largest consumer market, they already have scale and operational muscle. But competition is intensifying at home, and so expanding overseas has become a necessity. At the same time, they are entering markets where the perception of "Made in China" is often still associated with cheap, low-quality goods."China has moved beyond a replication economy," Tim Parkinson of consultancy Storytellers China notes. "Its products now meet the expectations of a new generation of demanding global consumers."Factory of the worldChina has long been the world's workshop, producing goods for Western companies. In the process, suppliers learnt not only how to make goods, but how to brand, distribute and sell them at scale.Companies like Miniso have benefitted from that kind of know-how. The retailer - which sells toys and movie merchandise from Disney, Marvel and Warner Bros - now operates stores in more than half the countries around the world."Consumers aren't particularly concerned about where the brand comes from," says Vincent Huang, general manager of overseas markets at Miniso. They're more focused on the shopping experience - the designs, value for money, an...