Narongsak Putthapornmongkol, president of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, recently led a delegation to Shantou and Chaozhou in Guangdong. When he left Bangkok, he used his APEC Business Travel Card to clear immigration through a dedicated lane, completing the formalities in less than ten minutes. Valid for five years, the card allows him to travel efficiently among APEC economies that have granted him pre-clearance.
For earlier generations of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs, however, crossing borders was far from easy.
Li Guixiong, vice president of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, recalls that more than 40 years ago, overseas Chinese entrepreneurs venturing into Southeast Asia relied largely on hometown and kinship networks to build their businesses. Every cross-border journey was a challenge.
China's reform and opening up brought new opportunities for overseas Chinese. APEC, established in 1989, gave them a broader platform for regional cooperation. Overseas Chinese entrepreneurs began to move beyond hometown ties and take an active part in regional multilateral cooperation.
In the 1980s, Li Guixiong left Chaoyang in Shantou for Thailand, drawing on his family's jewellery trade to start his own business. He later reached out to the Chinese market, gradually opening up sales channels for semi-finished jewellery from Thailand.
In Malaysia, Low Kian Chuan started with a single planer, gradually building a timber export network and eventually becoming chairman of the Malaysia-China Business Council (MCBC).
Since APEC was established, a small travel card has become one of the clearest examples of the dividends of greater openness. Cardholders can make multiple trips among the relevant economies over a five-year period, with fewer immigration formalities making each journey easier. "For us, APEC's most direct benefit is this travel card," said Low Kian Chuan, who has experienced the difference firsthand. Li Guixiong also recalls that, in the early days of doing business abroad, obtaining a visa could take weeks. Today, large numbers of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs are applying for APEC Business Travel Cards, making it easier to travel abroad for business at short notice.
As their businesses grew through greater openness, overseas Chinese entrepreneurs also took on a new role as bridge-builders. Low Kian Chuan has spent more than 40 years in business, leading companies to adopt international standards and successfully enter the European market. In his view, under APEC, China and Malaysia have gradually expanded their cooperation beyond trade in primary commodities to digitalisation, the green transition and more closely integrated supply chains centred on semiconductors.
A new generation of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs is now taking up the baton. Ho Can Hao, a third-generation Malaysian Chinese born in the 1990s, spent several years working in Beijing and Shenzhen, where he saw how Chinese digital technology was being applied in education. Returning to Malaysia with these insights, he entered the education infrastructure sector, seeking to match Chinese technology with local needs. He has not had to endure the hardships earlier generations faced when they ventured to Southeast Asia, but he shares their enterprising spirit and determination.
The 2026 APEC "China Year" is drawing widespread attention. Low Kian Chuan says the Malaysia-China Business Council plans to organise a delegation of entrepreneurs to attend meetings in Shenzhen around this year's APEC events, with a focus on semiconductors, the digital economy, green energy and cross-border e-commerce. Li Guixiong hopes to see more young faces at the APEC meetings in Shenzhen, helping broaden cooperation and take it further. From voyages to Southeast Asia a century ago to handshakes and plans for shared development at APEC meetings today, the way overseas entrepreneurs connect with the world has changed. The connections themselves have endured.
Reporters: Yang Qiong, Peng Yifei, Zhang Yin
Photo & Video: Zheng Xinqia
Video Editor: Zhou Xinyu
Planning: Luo Yanjun, Wang Haijun, Hu Nianfei
