**Southeast Asia**: Chinese e-commerce giants like TikTok Shop, PDD Holdings, and Alibaba are rapidly expanding into Southeast Asia’s booming online retail market. With investments focusing on cross-border trade, video commerce, and competitive pricing, these firms aim to capitalise on the region’s $114 billion market and growing digital economy.
Chinese e-commerce companies are accelerating their expansion into Southeast Asia, aiming to tap into new customer bases and boost sales amid growing importance of cross-border online marketplaces for China’s foreign trade. This strategic push comes despite a backdrop of global economic uncertainties, with several key players intensifying regional operations to capitalise on favourable market dynamics.
TikTok Shop, affiliated with the widely used short-video platform TikTok owned by the Chinese tech conglomerate ByteDance, has extended its presence to Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Thailand. Shou Zi Chew, the CEO of TikTok, revealed plans to invest billions of US dollars in Southeast Asia over the upcoming years. Speaking to Ecns.cn, he elaborated that the company intends to offer extensive training and support to small vendors joining TikTok Shop. Chew highlighted how the platform’s content diversified beyond advertising to e-commerce, facilitating purchases directly via links embedded in livestreaming sessions.
Momentum Works, a Singapore-based venture capital firm, notes TikTok Shop is now the second-largest e-commerce platform in Southeast Asia, trailing only Shopee. Vietnam and Thailand stand out as the fastest-growing markets in the region, reflecting strong consumer demand and increasing online shopping adoption.
Another significant player is PDD Holdings, the parent company of Pinduoduo, which has introduced its cross-border platform Temu into countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines. Temu’s strategy focuses on attracting price-conscious customers by offering a broad product range — including apparel, electronics, jewellery, cosmetics, and baby items — accompanied by deep discounts and coupons. The majority of Temu’s merchandise ships directly from factories or warehouses located in China. Chen Lei, chairman and co-CEO of PDD Holdings, stated the company aims to leverage its robust supply chain to facilitate direct sales from factories to consumers internationally, promoting more flexible, personalised supply chains alongside cost-effective shopping benefits.
The overall e-commerce landscape in Southeast Asia is showing remarkable growth. According to research firm eMarketer, the region’s e-commerce market revenue reached approximately $114 billion in 2023, an increase of 18.6 percent year-on-year, significantly outpacing the global average growth rate of 8.9 percent. Supporting this, a joint report by Google, Temasek, and Bain & Company revealed Southeast Asia’s digital economy had a gross merchandise value (GMV) of $263 billion in 2024, with e-commerce segments growing by 15 percent year-on-year to $159 billion. The report underscored video commerce — encompassing live shopping and creator-driven content — as a transformative force reshaping shopping behaviours and driving strong growth in the region.
Chen Tao, an analyst with Beijing-based internet consultancy Analysys, remarked to Ecns.cn that Southeast Asia presents “vast opportunities” due to rising internet and smartphone penetration, alongside progressively enhanced logistics, payments, and supply chain infrastructure. He pointed out that consumers predominantly prioritise price, quality, and service, with competitively priced, cost-effective goods enjoying clear advantages amid global economic pressures. Chen also noted that the success of Chinese cross-border platforms in Southeast Asia heavily relies on their capacity to provide competitive pricing coupled with swift delivery, both underpinned by well-established supply chains.
China’s cross-border e-commerce sector as a whole has demonstrated vigorous expansion. The General Administration of Customs reported that total imports and exports reached 2.63 trillion yuan (approximately $360 billion) in 2024, marking a 10.8 percent year-on-year growth.
In addition, Alibaba Group, a major Chinese technology and e-commerce entity, continues to bolster its investments in Lazada, its Southeast Asia-focused online retail platform. Alibaba first acquired a controlling stake in Lazada in 2016 and is intensifying capital injections to strengthen its competitive position amid intensifying rivalry in the region’s vibrant e-commerce ecosystem.
Collectively, these developments indicate a significant and strategic commitment by Chinese e-commerce firms to deepen their influence in Southeast Asia’s rapidly expanding digital retail markets, with cross-border trade and video commerce emerging as pivotal areas of growth.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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