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Huawei's Head of Product Andreas Zimmer displays the Huawei's first tri-foldable Mate XT smartphone on stage during an event for its global launch in Kuala Lumpur on February 18, 2025. Photo: AFP

On Tuesday, Huawei held an event in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to officially launch the tri-foldable phone, the Huawei MateXT, globally, attracting significant attention from overseas media. They viewed the launch conference as a symbol of Huawei's return to the global market as a representative of Chinese tech companies that have broken through the "encirclement" after experiencing suppression. The driving force behind Huawei's "resurrection," according to analyses by the Chinese edition of Japanese media Nikkei Asia and other foreign outlets, comes from advances in core technologies that "should have been blocked by the US government."

Huawei has indeed undergone a process of "breaking through a cocoon and turning into a butterfly" since it was subjected to extreme pressure from the US in 2019. Relevant data shows that from June 2020 to March 2021, Huawei cellphones at one point fell from No.1 in global market share to dropping out of the top five. How to break through "the wall" after facing it for so long? Here is Huawei's answer - independent R&D and innovation, with its R&D expenses increasing from about 10 percent of its annual revenue before the sanctions to about 20 percent. Consequently, Huawei's revenue in 2024 is also close to its all-time high. 

The Huawei Mate XT, launched in Kuala Lumpur, is the world's first tri-foldable phone and won the Most Innovative Inventions of 2024 award by Time Magazine. It can be said that what the world saw was not only a cellphone, but also the determination of Chinese science and technology enterprises to overcome the technology blockade through independent innovation.

In recent years, Chinese tech companies expanding overseas have shifted from "borrowing a boat to go out to sea" to "building their own ships for long voyages." Huawei's tri-foldable smartphone, BYD's blade battery, DJI's drones - more and more "China-made innovations" are leaving their mark in global high-tech industries. Bloomberg noted that the first generation of Chinese exporters found success by manufacturing for Western companies like Walmart, Apple, and Nikon. However, a new wave of young Chinese brands - such as Narwal (robot vacs), Boox (e-ink tablets) and Laifen (electric toothbrushes and hair dryers) is charting a different course. Their pitches are based on product performance. Chinese companies are shifting from relying on "industry economies of scale" to building "internal innovation capabilities," which is becoming their core competitiveness in the global market.

While much attention was focused on Huawei's product launch, foreign media also noted Geely's signing a framework agreement with Renault to collaborate on the sales and production of zero- and low-emission vehicles in Brazil. Previously, the two companies launched their first co-developed mass-production model in South Korea, and a UK-based powertrain technology company has also been established.

From "going it alone" to "ecosystem-driven win-win cooperation," the Geely-Renault partnership offers a new solution for Chinese companies expanding globally. By leveraging Renault's distribution channels to rapidly enter the market, while promoting China's new energy technology, this strategy of "complementary strengths and shared risks" is driving profound transformations in the global industrial supply chain.

From CATL building a factory in Germany to TCL establishing manufacturing bases in Mexico, Chinese enterprises are replacing simple commodity trade with technology exports, upgrading "Made in China" to "Global Intelligent Manufacturing." This type of "root-taking global expansion" achieves genuine mutual benefits and fosters win-win cooperation.

From shoes, bags, and toys to smart hardware, new energy vehicles, and games and films, Chinese companies have expanded their focus from targeting developed countries like European nations and the US to exploring emerging markets in regions such as Asia, Africa, and Latin America. They have shifted from a "cast-one's-net-widely" approach to a more tailored and in-depth strategy. Moving from merely selling products to sharing experience and technology, they are jointly exploring optimal development paths. 

As Chinese enterprises venture abroad, they not only strengthen themselves but also bring greater benefits to the world. In the process of pursuing modernization alongside "Global South" countries, China is not just playing the role of a "supplier," but is instead a partner walking together and a sharer of development opportunities.

When the international communication network that reaches all six continents allows billions of people to share the benefits of internet development, China's building materials and photovoltaic industries become key supports for infrastructure upgrades in "Global South" countries. The world discovers that Chinese technology capacity not only offers cost-effective solutions but also contributes wisdom for sustainable development, thus dispelling the false narrative of "overcapacity" without needing to argue against it.

Currently, the rules-based multilateral trading system is being severely disrupted by the unilateralism of some major powers. Chinese enterprises demonstrate through their actions that isolation leads nowhere, and that cooperation is the right path. True competitiveness does not lie in building walls and barriers, but in benefiting humanity through innovation and creating prosperity through collaboration. When Huawei rebuilds the HMS ecosystem overseas and attracts over 5.4 million developers globally, and when Geely shares green technology with Renault through the joint powertrain technology company, the world sees not only impressive products and the commercial success behind them, but also a vivid interpretation of a developing technological power's commitment to a "community with a shared future for mankind."