On January 16th, the Group’s Southeast Asia Supply Chain Communication Meeting was held via video link connecting Ningbo, Yiwu, Shanghai, and Ho Chi Minh City. Attendees included President Tom Tang, Group leaders Jeff Luo and Eric Zhuang, Rotating President Amanda Chen, Rotating General Manager Alfredo Lin, as well as relevant business heads for Southeast Asia.
Wilson Chu, Director Manager of S2G, remarked: In 2025, business growth was achieved by leveraging tariff windows. However, Southeast Asia has now entered a phase of capacity competition and price differentiation. He suggested laying out strategies according to product category characteristics, with trade taking the lead followed by gradual deep cultivation. He recommended planning the Southeast Asia layout based on product categories, pricing, and customer needs.
Eva Qiu, Manager of BRIGHT MAX, remarked:Factories in Southeast Asia show severe polarization—some are operating at full capacity while others are on the verge of idleness. Current pain points include weak industrial chain support and complex logistics and customs clearance processes, necessitating advanced risk prevention and control.
Jony Zhu, General Manager of GREENHILL FURNITURE, provided a written statement:Developing supply chains in Vietnam requires prior value assessment and is a tough battle requiring “complete immersion.” The model of “full authority for the Vietnam office” has issues such as information silos and inefficiency. Adjustments will be implemented this year: supply chain management authority will be recalled to Ningbo, while the Vietnam team will shift to quality inspection and on-site support. He suggested starting with factories run by Chinese entrepreneurs and emphasized negotiating payment terms.
Kathy Kim, Deputy Manager of SHINDA, remarked:Based on experience shipping solar lights from Vietnam, on one hand, existing experience should be quickly replicated to other products and orders; on the other hand, consider deepening cooperation with factories that have willingness but lack orders, assisting them to scale up capacity. Beyond the orders themselves, the professionalism, diligence, and hard work demonstrated by the MU team are also crucial foundations for building long-term trust and cooperation with factories.
Anita Zhou, General Manager of TOLEAD, remarked:The core of the Southeast Asia layout is to avoid compliance risks such as “anti-dumping” in destination countries and to diversify supply chain disruption risks caused by policy changes in a single region. From a practical cross-border e-commerce perspective, the tariff advantages in Southeast Asia are not absolute; after factoring in comprehensive customs clearance costs, the benefits are limited. The core of cross-border e-commerce supply chains lies in “flexibility and efficiency,” while heavy asset investments have long return cycles and are unsuitable for cross-border businesses.
Robin Li, Deputy Manager of the Hard Goods Division of MU, remarked: Establishing a supply chain middle office in Southeast Asia and adopting a “domestic sampling + data transfer” approach to improve local quotation accuracy. Last year, a Vietnam manufacturing section was set up in the sample room for display.
Thomas Wu, Manager of ARTCOOL; Gigi Xu, Deputy Manager; and Cleo Wang, Assistant Manager, speaking from the perspective of paper products, pointed out that multi-country capacity layout helps counter “anti-dumping” but faces challenges such as high logistics costs and insufficient certification support. They suggested the Group integrate supply chain and logistics resources and establish support systems like cross-border factory audits.
Jason Wu, General Manager of MU PROMOTIONS, remarked:Overseas supply chain development should transcend a purely production perspective; its greater value lies in sales empowerment and localization. Although actual production scale in Vietnam and other regions has been limited over the past two years, establishing local overseas teams has brought significant incremental value to the business. The core significance of overseas layout is to demonstrate to clients the Group’s capability to “produce and deliver from any corner of the globe,” thereby building deeper cooperative confidence.
Representatives from the Vietnam team shared local perspectives and thoughts via video link:
Ho Xuan Phu (Patrick), Business Assistant of MU PROMOTIONS, remarked:The team has established stable operations in the Vietnamese market, serving local clients and engaging in B2C e-commerce. The main current challenge is that the team is busy with daily tasks, lacking time for in-depth visits to clients and factories. Closing deals still relies on face-to-face communication to build trust. In the future, the team hopes to further expand B2C online channels, such as TikTok, and plans to build a B2B official website, leveraging the Group’s supply chain advantages in China to offer competitive products to Vietnamese clients.
Tran Hoang Long (Louis), Business Assistant of MU PROMOTIONS, remarked:Collaborating with factories in Vietnam faces numerous external challenges, including policies, macroeconomic environment, and significant seasonal factors—during harvest seasons, workers leave factories, affecting production stability. To be competitive in the Vietnamese market, there is an urgent need to establish a professional local finance team to better understand and utilize local regulations.
Bui Huy Son (Harry Bui), Business Assistant of the Hard Goods Division of MU, remarked: Profit is the primary goal. Vietnam holds strategic potential due to its free trade agreements and can serve as an important backup node in the supply chain. However, Vietnamese manufacturing also relies on importing raw materials from China, making prices susceptible to fluctuations. Additionally, local orders are often small-scale, resulting in weak bargaining power. The Group’s long-term goal is to inject economies of scale into the Vietnam supply chain through global business volume, making it a robust “second sourcing option” for the Group.
Alfredo Lin, General Manager of the America Division of TOPWIN, remarked: From the perspective of the Latin American market, Southeast Asia’s supply chain can serve as an important supplement, especially offering substitution value for “anti-dumping” categories like ceramics.
Eric Zhuang stated that it is essential to change the mindset of inefficient inquiries and superficial cooperation. Business must deeply engage with industrial clusters, genuinely help factories solve technical, managerial, and raw material issues, and build a community of shared interests. From the strategic perspective of promoting “global sourcing, global sales,” supply chain layout must precede orders, and the key lies in having “local footholds” in target markets.
Jeff Luo pointed out: First, strengthen resource sharing regarding Southeast Asia supply chains and enhance internal resource integration. Second, focus resources on medium-sized factories with growth potential as a practical entry strategy. Third, the real opportunity lies in using existing orders to build deep mutual trust with selected medium-sized factories, gradually developing them into close strategic partners, transforming the handling of fragmented, scattered orders into supply chain influence.
Tom Tang emphasized that the Southeast Asia supply chain represents a long-term opportunity. We must pursue goals beyond mere profit, forsake short-term gains, and not target short-term profits, anchoring ourselves in the medium-to-long-term process. Managing companies across cultures increases work difficulty and communication complexity, requiring greater effort and dedication—this is a difficult but correct path! Southeast Asian companies are not subsidiaries but parallel entities to Chinese companies. Only by nurturing a Southeast Asian management team and transforming into our own factories, technology, and products, digging deep moats, can we truly take root overseas. We need to find the right people, invest considerable time, and guide, accompany, and develop them.
The market measures by strengths, not enthusiasm. For companies whose clients, orders, and products are not concentrated, it is difficult to develop a Southeast Asia supply chain. We advocate “integrating trade and industry, with trade as the main driver,” using factories as support and industrial manufacturing to promote trade orders. Simultaneously, focus on large orders and key clients, build super factories through acquisitions, subsequently establish super showrooms in Southeast Asia, support commodity and enterprise expansion overseas, and develop a “dual-line” business of buying and selling.