Chinese companies urgently need to find new markets. Competition is intense at home, where the collapse of the real estate market has left consumers reluctant to spend. And escalating trade tensions have made it more difficult and costly to sell things in the United States and Europe, long two of the largest destinations for Chinese exports.

中国企业迫切需要寻找新市场。国内竞争激烈，房地产市场的崩溃导致消费者不愿消费。不断升级的贸易紧张局势使得在美国和欧洲销售商品变得更加困难和昂贵，而这两个地方长期以来一直是中国最大的出口目的地。

As a result, some of China’s biggest internet and e-commerce brands have set their sights on establishing themselves as household names in other parts of the world, like Southeast Asia, the Middle East and South America.

因此，中国一些最大的互联网和电子商务品牌已将目光投向东南亚、中东和南美等世界其他地区，将自己打造成家喻户晓的品牌。

Brazil has emerged as the most coveted prize. Latin America’s largest economy, with a population of more than 200 million people, is a beacon for China’s delivery and ride-hailing companies looking to export their ruthlessly low-cost business models. Chinese e-commerce giants also see promise in Brazil as they seek new buyers for a flood of products after tariffs and other restrictions in the United States shut off their biggest export market.

巴西成为最令人觊觎的地方。这个有2亿多人口的拉美最大经济体令中国快递和网约车公司趋之若鹜，这些公司希望出口其极限压榨成本的商业模式。在美国的关税和其他限制关闭了中国最大的出口市场后，中国的电子商务巨头们正在为大量产品寻找新的买家，他们也在巴西看到了希望。

Meituan, China’s largest food delivery company, said in May that it would spend $1 billion to set up operations in Brazil. Mixue, the Chinese tea and dessert company that has eclipsed McDonald’s as the world’s biggest fast food chain, said it would hire thousands there. TikTok Shop, facing scrutiny in the United States and Britain about its Chinese parent company, launched in Brazil in May.

中国最大的外卖公司美团5月表示，将斥资10亿美元在巴西开展业务。超过麦当劳成为全球最大快餐连锁店的中国茶饮甜品公司蜜雪冰城表示，将在巴西招聘数万名员工。在美国和英国因其中国母公司面临审查的TikTok电商于5月登陆巴西。

蜜雪冰城现已成为全球最大的快餐连锁店，该公司表示将在巴西雇佣数千名员工，并将巴西食材融入其在中国的产品中。

“Chinese companies are finding it harder to grow domestically,” said Vey-Sern Ling, an equities adviser in Singapore at the private bank Union Bancaire Privée. “Exports and overseas expansion is one way to support continued growth.”

“中国企业发现，在国内实现增长越来越困难，”新加坡私人银行联合银行的股票顾问卫森·林（音）表示。“出口和海外扩张是支持持续增长的一种方式。”

Chinese interest in Brazil comes as the two countries deepen their economic ties. The overall value of trade between China and Brazil roughly doubled over the past decade, as Chinese companies bought Brazilian soybeans and consumers in Brazil bought Chinese cars and electronics.

中国对巴西的兴趣正值两国加深经济联系之际。过去10年，中国企业购买巴西大豆，巴西消费者购买中国汽车和电子产品，中巴贸易总额大约翻了一番。

Last month, while officials from Washington and Beijing were haggling over whether to roll back tariffs that had brought their trade to a standstill, Chinese companies announced plans to invest about $4.7 billion in Brazil. The investments include mining and renewable energy projects and expanded automotive manufacturing.

上个月，当华盛顿和北京的官员就是否取消导致两国贸易停滞的关税讨价还价时，中国企业宣布了在巴西投资约47亿美元的计划。这些投资包括矿业和可再生能源项目，以及扩大汽车制造业。

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil also met with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, in Beijing. The two leaders have positioned their relationship as a counterweight to U.S. influence.

巴西总统卢拉也在北京会见了中国领导人习近平，两国领导人将两国的关系定位为一种制衡美国影响力的力量。

Analysts say the good will has given Chinese consumer companies confidence to bet on Brazil. “The relationship between the two countries is really good, and they expect it to be good for a while,” said Jianggan Li, the chief executive of Momentum Works, a consultancy in Singapore.

分析人士表示，这种亲善的关系让中国消费品企业有信心在巴西下注。新加坡咨询公司Momentum Works的首席执行官李江玕表示：“两国关系确实很好，他们预计这种好的关系会持续一段时间。”

中国东部某港口正在卸载来自巴西的大豆。过去十年，中巴贸易额大约翻了一番。

But Chinese companies are not assured of success in Brazil. Their tactics may draw scrutiny from regulators as they try to attract customers and hire local workers, said Mr. Li, who was previously an executive at Food Panda, which competes in Hong Kong with Meituan’s food delivery service, Keeta.

但中国企业在巴西未必能够取得成功。李江玕说，随着它们试图吸引客户和雇佣当地工人，它们的策略可能会受到监管机构的审查。李江玕曾担任Food Panda的高管，该公司曾在香港与美团旗下的外卖服务Keeta竞争。

Meituan is known for its cutthroat approach. In China, it operated at a loss for years while offering shoppers steep discounts in order to undercut competitors. In 2023, the company launched Keeta in Hong Kong, its first foray outside mainland China. In less than two years, Keeta drove one of Hong Kong’s main food delivery platforms, Deliveroo, out of the market.

美团以严酷无情的经商手段著称。在中国，该公司多年来一直处于亏损经营状态，同时向消费者提供大幅折扣，以压低竞争对手的价格。2023年，公司在香港推出了Keeta，是其首次进军中国大陆以外的市场。在不到两年的时间里，Keeta将香港主要的外卖平台之一户户送完全赶出了市场。

Meituan deployed similar tactics last year when it rolled out Keeta in Saudi Arabia, where it quickly became the dominant delivery platform in most major cities.

美团去年在沙特阿拉伯推出Keeta时也采取了类似的策略，该公司迅速成为沙特多数主要城市占主导地位的外卖平台。

Analysts expect Meituan to operate the same way in Brazil. The company’s focus will not be on turning a profit, but instead be on becoming the delivery app used by the highest number of people.

分析人士预计，美团在巴西也会以同样的方式运营。该公司的重点不是盈利，而是成为用户最多的外卖应用。

“When the Chinese companies go abroad, making money is the secondary priority — they want to dominate the market first,” said Heatherm Huang, a co-founder of Measurable A.I., a Hong Kong-based tech company that analyzes online shopping data for financial firms.

“当中国公司走向海外时，赚钱是次要的——他们首先想要主导市场，”香港科技公司Measurable A.I.的联合创始人黄何说。该公司为金融公司分析网上购物数据。

Many Chinese consumer brands have already made inroads in Brazil.

许多中国消费品牌已经进入巴西市场。

The country is one of the largest markets for the fast-fashion retailer Shein, which has built three warehouses near São Paulo.

巴西是快时尚零售商希音最大的市场之一，该公司在圣保罗附近建了三个仓库。

Didi, known for running Uber out of China, took over a Brazilian start-up called 99 in 2018 and has been one of the main ride-hailing business in the country since.

以将Uber赶出中国而闻名的滴滴于2018年收购了一家名为99的巴西初创公司，自那以后一直是巴西主要的叫车服务之一。

中国电子商务公司Temu告诉巴西购物者，他们可以享受大幅折扣购买商品。

Temu, the international arm of the Chinese e-commerce firm Pinduoduo, started selling products to Brazilians last year. Temu’s main gimmick has been to tell shoppers that they are getting items at steep discounts, often 70 percent or more.

中国电商公司拼多多旗下的国际公司Temu去年开始向巴西人销售产品。Temu的主要卖点是让购物者能以大幅折扣（通常是70%甚至更高）买到商品。

The push to expand in places like Brazil is driven in part by increased competition in China, and restrictions and regulatory scrutiny in other major markets.

在巴西等地扩张的部分原因是中国日益激烈的竞争，以及其他主要市场的限制和监管审查。

Chinese e-commerce companies like Temu and Shein took a major hit in the United States last month when the Trump administration ended a policy that had allowed low-value packages from China to enter the country tax-free. Lawmakers in the European Union are debating a similar change.

上个月，特朗普政府结束了一项允许来自中国的低价值包裹免税进入美国的政策，给Temu和希音这样的中国电子商务公司造成重大打击。欧盟的立法者也在讨论类似的变化。

In Brazil, shipments from Temu and Shein have been hit with a tax on packages worth less than $50 since last year. But at 20 percent, the tax is less than half the rate now charged by the United States.

巴西从去年开始对来自Temu和希音价值低于50美元的包裹征税。但20%的税率还不到美国目前税率的一半。

The business models pioneered by Meituan and other Chinese internet companies have also raised concerns among Chinese regulators about the handling of user data and the treatment of delivery drivers.

美团和其它中国互联网公司开创的商业模式也引起了中国监管机构对用户数据处理和对快递骑手待遇的担忧。

Last year, a driver who worked such long delivery shifts that fellow drivers referred to him as the “order king” died while taking a break between deliveries, according to Chinese social media. After another driver fainted on the job and was hospitalized, Meituan published a report that said most of its drivers did not work such intense hours and made wages comparable to average salaries.

据中国社交媒体报道，去年，一名长时间送货的骑手在送货间隙休息时死亡，同行骑手称他为“跑单王”。另一名骑手在工作中晕倒并住院后，美团发布了一份报告，称其大多数骑手的工作时间没有这么长，工资与国内平均工资相当。

These sorts of incidents have prompted the Chinese government to issue rules for how e-commerce companies manage delivery workers.

此前，这类事件曾促使中国政府出台电子商务公司如何管理快递员的规定。

在中国，美团与其他外卖公司竞争激烈，并因其对待外卖员的方式面临监管机构的审查。

In February, competition intensified when the e-commerce giant JD launched a food delivery service in China. It and Meituan have tried to lure drivers from each other by offering increasingly generous, and costly, benefits.

今年2月，当电商巨头京东在中国推出外卖服务时，竞争加剧了。京东和美团试图通过越来越慷慨和昂贵的福利来吸引对方的骑手。

Meituan, Mixue and Temu did not respond to requests for comment.

美团、蜜雪冰城和Temu没有回应记者的置评请求。

“The golden time for Meituan’s food delivery business in China may be over,” said Ernan Cui, a consumer analyst at the research firm Gavekal Dragonomics in Beijing. Stricter regulation and tougher competition are “all adding pressure,” she said.

“美团外卖业务在中国的黄金时代可能已经结束了，”北京研究机构佳富龙洲的消费者分析师崔尔南（音）说。她说，更严格的监管和更激烈的竞争“都在增加压力”。

China’s stagnant consumer economy is another reason Chinese companies believe expanding in places like Brazil is worth the risk, said Mr. Li of Momentum Works. “Finding extra growth in China is getting harder and harder,” he said.

中国停滞不前的消费经济是中国企业认为在巴西等地扩张值得冒险的另一个原因，Momentum Works的李江玕说。他说：“在中国寻求额外增长变得越来越困难。”