A plate of stir-fried pork with chili sells for 180 yuan in Singapore, Chinese tea drink shops draw long queues in New York's Times Square, and MIXUE Ice Cream & Tea's overseas stores have surpassed 5,000... Behind these booming scenes is the growing trend of Chinese brands choosing Shanghai's Changning District as their gateway to the world. On January 28, Changning District held a conference on optimizing the business environment and promoting the high-quality development of the private economy, releasing the “Changning District Action Plan for Accelerating the Development of a World-Class Business Environment (2026).” Notably, "establishing itself as a gateway for global expansion" is placed in a key position, with the goal of building an efficient and convenient "15-minute global expansion service circle." This means that in the future, companies in Changning may find "one-stop" answers within a 15-minute service radius—from initial ideas about going global to solving a series of complex issues such as legal, financial, data, and logistics challenges. This is not an abstract vision but the result of Changning's intensive and sustained efforts over the past year in building a service system for corporate global expansion.

 Well-considered top-level design 

Changning's global expansion strategy began with deliberate top-level planning. The year 2025 can be termed Changning's "Year of Building a Global Expansion Service System."

In March, Changning District signed agreements with Ingka Centres and Alibaba.com to jointly build an enterprise global expansion headquarters cluster, marking the beginning of government-enterprise collaboration to create an ecosystem for international expansion. Through steady development, the cluster has begun to take shape.

In October, the Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District and Changning District proposed building a "15-minute global expansion service circle." Simultaneously, they established the Hongqiao Professional Service Alliance for Enterprise Global Expansion, forming a "10+10" service matrix of "government services + market-driven professional services."

In November, Changning issued eight measures to support enterprises in digital expansion and unveiled the Shanghai Digital Public Service Center (Hongqiao Digital Valley) to provide public support for corporate digital transformation.

From co-building the cluster to releasing the action plan and introducing targeted policies, Changning has established a multi-layered global expansion service system within a year. This series of "combined efforts" laid a solid foundation for upgrading and strengthening its role as a "gateway for global expansion" in 2026.

 Providing a ‘compliance navigator’ for enterprises 

In the era of digital trade, the compliant flow of data is an unavoidable core challenge for companies expanding globally. Actively addressing this, under the guidance of the Shanghai Cyberspace Administration, Changning officially launched a pilot run of the Changning District Cross-Border Data Service Station on September 1, 2025. The station provides professional services such as policy consultation, security assessment guidance, and filing material assistance to companies with data export needs, aiming to lower their compliance barriers and operational risks in cross-border data transfer. 

Data compliance is one of the biggest headaches for companies going global. The service station functions like a "cross-border data lawyer" for enterprises, offering policy consultation, security assessment guidance, and filing material assistance to help minimize compliance costs.

Meanwhile, the Hongqiao Digital Valley provides 30 services across 10 categories, including computing power, networks, and data, through an "online + offline" model. The strengthening of digital infrastructure equips Changning's "gateway for global expansion" with an intelligent navigation system, making the path smoother for companies venturing abroad.

 From ‘going alone’ to ‘forming expansion brigades’ 

Changning's "gateway for global expansion" is fostering three distinct and dynamic new models of international expansion.

‘Brand Expansion’ achieves value leap

In 2025, the new-style tea beverage brand Chagee, starting from Changning, successfully entered the capital market, becoming a model for the multinational operation of local brands. In the same year, Yang Guofu Group launched a series of themed marketing campaigns during the Paris Olympics. By combining online traffic explosions with offline pop-up experiences, it presented Chinese specialty snacks on the international stage in a fashionable light, achieving a brand value transformation from "street food" to "trendy light meals."

‘Neighborhood Expansion’ exports lifestyles

Changning innovatively facilitated the overall "cultural packaging" and export of the century-old Yuyuan Road. At the 2025 Osaka "Shanghai Manufacturing Excellence Collection" overseas event, Yuyuan Road made a stunning appearance with a real-scale replica of its "Plane Tree Corner" art space. It not only showcased the creative products of over 20 local brands like Saturnbird Coffee and SENPICE but also, through scenographic displays, Shanghai dialect art installations, and immersive interactions, fully conveyed the neighborhood philosophy of "integrating art into life and life into art." This completed a paradigm shift from single commodity trade to cultural ecosystem export.

‘Industry Expansion’ builds ecosystem clusters

In January 2026, the first CFA China Catering Global Summit, hailed by the industry as the "Davos of Chinese Food Expansion," was held in Changning. During the summit, Hongqiao Catering Innovation Valley, the country's first vertical industry platform focused on smart catering and Chinese food expansion, was officially launched. Located in Changning's Hongqiao International Technology Plaza, the platform aims to integrate catering brands, supply chain management, digital services, and expansion platforms from the source. It provides catering enterprises with full lifecycle services, from product development and central kitchen solutions to digital operations for overseas stores, marking a new stage for Chinese food expansion characterized by industrial chain collaboration and digital-intelligent empowerment.

 Building a high-level professional service network 

The significance of a gateway lies in connection and service. Changning District is committed to building a high-level professional service network guided by the government and operated by the market, clearing obstacles for corporate global expansion.

At the institutional and platform level, in 2024, Changning established Intellectual Property Overseas Rights Protection Assistance Station and created Shanghai's first overseas testing and certification service platform for enterprises. In the field of trade facilitation, Changning deepened strategic cooperation with customs, innovatively launching the city's first regular "Customs-Local Coordinator" connection mechanism, making customs clearance services more efficient and better aligned with corporate needs.

Furthermore, by creating branded events like the Hongqiao Global Expansion Salon, Changning regularly hosts policy briefings, talent training, and resource matching sessions. Since 2024, it has collaborated with professional institutions to hold over 20 high-profile, impactful global expansion events, continuously empowering the expansion community and upgrading the "15-minute service circle" from a physical cluster to an efficient, collaborative ecosystem. Through systematic institutional innovation, solid digital infrastructure, and active ecosystem cultivation, Changning is accelerating the transformation of its "gateway for global expansion" blueprint into reality.

Today, regarding corporate global expansion, what Changning offers is no longer just individual policies or services but a complete, organically collaboration ecosystem with all necessary elements. This "bridgehead" in western Shanghai is becoming the anchorage of choice for Chinese enterprises setting sail for distant shores.