KEY POINTS
  • Chinese home appliance company Hisense has big plans to sell more goods overseas, but it said global shipping congestion has multiplied costs and caused delays.
  • It's not been easy, generally, for Chinese multinationals. Out of about 3,400 Chinese companies that operate internationally, only about 200 make more than $1 billion in sales overseas, said James Root, partner at Bain.
  • However, Alibaba's international e-commerce platform AliExpress claims it hasn't seen delays or costs rise for cross-border selling, thanks to air cargo charters.
A ship leaves a container port in the evening in Lianyungang in east China's Jiangsu province Thursday, July 22, 2021.

BEIJING — Chinese companies wanting to go global are running into shipping problems.

Access to cheap manufacturing at home gave Chinese businesses an advantage overseas. But it's turning into a disadvantage now, as the pandemic and trade tensions disrupt international supply channels.