China digital exports surge as Alibaba and Tencent lead global push

BEIJING - Chinese revenue from digital services sold abroad is soaring as tech champions from Alibaba to ByteDance to Tencent ramp up their overseas push in live streaming, e-commerce and artificial intelligence (AI).

The trade surplus from digital services, which encompasses a wide scope of businesses from telecommunications operations to cloud computing, more than doubled in 2025 to a record US$33 billion (S$42 billion), data from the State Administration of Foreign Exchange (SAFE) shows. The category of telecoms, computer and information services, which includes AI, expanded close to 30 per cent in 2025, according to Bloomberg’s calculations off balance of payments data.

The increase underscores a growing urgency in seeking growth beyond the world’s second-largest economy, where intense domestic competition and lacklustre demand are weighing on profitability.

Alibaba Group Holding, Tencent Holdings and ByteDance account for the lion’s share of China’s digital exports, operating in e-commerce, gaming and social networking via household names such as Lazada and TikTok. US export restrictions on high-end chips have driven China’s AI developers to build overseas data centres for easier access to more advanced technology.

Alibaba and its rivals operate vast computing platforms that serve mainly Chinese firms’ international operations. Tencent’s cloud facilities span Silicon Valley to Riyadh and Singapore, supporting services such as video conferencing and gaming. And ByteDance’s TikTok is building a US$38 billion AI-related data centre in Brazil, the company’s latest push in South America after years of gradual expansion in Europe, the US and South-east Asia.

Overseas growth by Chinese electric vehicle, renewable energy and manufacturing companies further increases the need for digital services abroad. Such companies require processing and storing of data offshore, boosting demand for Chinese cloud providers including state-backed telecoms operators, Huawei Technologies, Alibaba and Tencent.

SAFE’s data – which does not break down company-level detail – covers cross-border money transactions between domestic and overseas firms, and does not include income that is not remitted back to the country. A net surplus reflects net inflows.

China’s overall trade surplus rose to a record US$1.2 trillion in 2025 thanks to

a rapid increase in exports.

But the country’s services trade had been in deficit for years. Beijing has vowed to find ways to help Chinese companies export services, including digital and AI-powered offerings.

Software and data are one of China’s strong suits. The country is the world’s fourth-largest provider of telecoms, computer and information services, according to the International Monetary Fund classification covering cross-border activities such as data transmission, cloud computing and software development.

India ranks first in the category, underpinned by its vast software outsourcing industry. BLOOMBERG