A Shanghai slingshot for overseas expansion

Asset-light initiatives

The shift toward asset-light investment has emerged as another major trend. Sectors such as technical services, the digital economy, and cultural creativity, which are asset-light yet high-value-added, have become key drivers of Shanghai's outbound investment, according to He of the Shanghai Commission of Commerce.

The demand for computing power and digital technologies has risen significantly as more Chinese companies expand their overseas businesses, said Zheng Maokuan, deputy secretary-general of Shanghai Digital Globalization Association. As a result, Chinese companies are bringing more digital technologies to emerging markets and developing economies to help intelligent and digital upgrading.

Shanghai Linshu AI is one such pioneer.

Founded in 2024, the company aims to digitize cultural heritage around the world and produce various cultural products, including games, animation, or immersive experiences with the help of augmented reality and virtual reality.

This will help cultural heritage across the globe be more accessible to a larger audience. Digitization can also better preserve cultural heritage, transcending the limits of time and geography, according to company partner and general manager Zhang Xiaoping.

Currently, Linshu is working with the Cambodian government to digitize Angkor Wat. This is by no means an easy job: not only because it requires interdisciplinary cooperation across cultural heritage preservation, archaeology and artificial intelligence, but, more importantly, because it needs to access data owned by Cambodia, according to Zhang.

"But gradually, the Cambodian government came to realize their data governance is still at a relatively low level. The participation of Chinese entities can bring in the most up-to-date technologies and even facilitate their own legislation for the cross-border transfer of cultural data," he said.

The Shanghai government has played an important role in helping Linshu's business move forward.

Lin-gang Special Area, a part of the China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone, in April 2024 introduced a special service to process cross-border data.

Lujiazui, a part of Pudong New Area financial cluster, introduced supportive policies for one-person companies to form an industrial ecosystem for game and animation production, Zhang said.

These outbound companies are mostly knowledge-intensive. Instead of bringing products to new markets, they are now introducing technologies, skills, operational capabilities and intellectual property rights, according to Adaline Zheng, president and CEO of UOB China.