Across the decades, overseas Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia have moved from relying on hometown and kinship bonds to crossing borders with official cards in hand, a shift that the reform era and the founding of APEC made possible. In Thailand and Malaysia, veterans who once waited weeks for a visa now pass through fast immigration lanes, and their sense of purpose has widened from trade in raw goods toward digital, green and semiconductor cooperation. As a younger generation steps into the work with its own ambitions, the story reads as a quiet passing of the bridge from one generation of
Overseas Chinese Entrepreneurs Credit APEC Openness for Easier Travel and Deeper Trade Bridges
Every cross-border journey was a challenge.
Mark
Start with the travel card. Why does a ten-minute immigration lane anchor a story about trade?
Mimi
Because it's the concrete before-and-after. Li Guixiong remembers visas taking weeks, and Narongsak cleared Bangkok departure in under ten minutes. Time is the thing a businessperson feels first.
Luke
Worth saying that's one chamber president's experience and a few recollections. The piece doesn't give figures on how many cards are issued or how much faster travel is on average.
Mark
The story also says cooperation has moved from primary commodities to semiconductors and digitalisation. Who says so?
Mimi
Low Kian Chuan, who has been in business more than 40 years and chairs the Malaysia-China Business Council. It's his reading of how China-Malaysia ties have developed under APEC.
Luke
Right, it's his view, not a measured trade analysis. And the credit given to APEC and reform is the interviewees' framing. The piece doesn't test other causes.
Mark
What about Ho Can Hao? He seems to represent something different.
Mimi
He's third-generation, born in the 1990s, and he worked in Beijing and Shenzhen before returning to Malaysia. He's bringing Chinese education technology to local needs, not building through hometown networks.
Luke
We know his sector and his path. We don't know the size of his business or any results yet.
Mark
And what's next?
Mimi
The MCBC plans a delegation to Shenzhen around APEC events, focused on semiconductors, the digital economy, green energy and cross-border e-commerce.
Luke
Plans, not commitments. No delegation size or dates are given.
El Pulso
- A once-slow visa process has been cut down to a card that clears immigration in under ten minutes.
- Entrepreneurs who started with a single planer or family jewellery trade now steer cooperation toward semiconductors and digital systems.
- Business councils are preparing delegations to carry these ties into the APEC meetings in Shenzhen.
- The next generation is returning home with Chinese technology, and organisers hope more young faces will join the Shenzhen talks.
Across the decades, overseas Chinese merchants in Southeast Asia have moved from relying on hometown and kinship bonds to crossing borders with official cards in hand, a shift that the reform era and the founding of APEC made possible. In Thailand and Malaysia, veterans who once waited weeks for a visa now pass through fast immigration lanes, and their sense of purpose has widened from trade in raw goods toward digital, green and semiconductor cooperation. As a younger generation steps into the work with its own ambitions, the story reads as a quiet passing of the bridge from one generation of traders to the next.
When Narongsak Putthapornmongkol left Bangkok for Guangdong, he skipped the usual queue. Leading a delegation of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce to Shantou and Chaozhou, he used his APEC Business Travel Card at a dedicated immigration lane, and the formalities took less than ten minutes. The card lasts five years and opens quick passage through the APEC economies that have granted him pre-clearance.
It was not always so easy. Li Guixiong, the chamber's vice president, remembers that decades ago overseas Chinese entrepreneurs relied mainly on hometown and kinship networks, and that a visa could take weeks. He left Chaoyang in the 1980s to build a jewellery business in Thailand, then gradually opened sales channels into China for semi-finished pieces made there.
In Malaysia, Low Kian Chuan began with one planer and built a timber export network that eventually made him chairman of the Malaysia-China Business Council. He says the travel card is APEC's most direct everyday benefit, and that cooperation has grown from primary commodities into digitalisation, the green transition and semiconductor supply chains. In his view, entrepreneurs have become bridge-builders as well as traders.
The next generation is taking up that work. Ho Can Hao, a third-generation Malaysian Chinese, worked in Beijing and Shenzhen and saw Chinese digital technology applied in education. Back home, he entered education infrastructure to match Chinese technology to local needs. Attention now turns to the 2026 APEC "China Year," when the Malaysia-China Business Council plans to send entrepreneurs to Shenzhen meetings, and Li hopes to see many more young faces there.
When Narongsak Putthapornmongkol left Bangkok for Guangdong, he didn't wait in the usual line. As president of the Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce, he was leading a delegation to Shantou and Chaozhou, and he used his APEC Business Travel Card at a dedicated immigration lane. The formalities took less than ten minutes. The card is valid for five years and lets him move quickly through those APEC economies that have granted him pre-clearance.
It was not always like this. Li Guixiong, vice president of the same chamber, recalls that more than 40 years ago, overseas Chinese entrepreneurs heading into Southeast Asia depended mostly on hometown and kinship networks to build their businesses. Each cross-border trip was a difficulty of its own. In the early days, he says, getting a visa could take weeks.
Li's own path began in the 1980s, when he left Chaoyang in Shantou for Thailand. He drew on his family's jewellery trade to set up his own business, then reached toward the Chinese market and gradually opened sales channels there for semi-finished jewellery made in Thailand.
In Malaysia, Low Kian Chuan started with a single planer. Step by step he built a timber export network, and he eventually became chairman of the Malaysia-China Business Council, known as the MCBC. He has now spent more than 40 years in business, and says he has led companies to adopt international standards and enter the European market.
The reporting frames two developments as turning points: China's reform and opening up, which brought new opportunities for overseas Chinese, and the founding of APEC in 1989, which gave them a wider platform for regional cooperation. Entrepreneurs began to look beyond hometown ties and take part in multilateral regional cooperation.
The travel card, in this telling, is among the clearest everyday dividends. Cardholders can make multiple trips among the relevant economies over five years, with fewer immigration formalities each time. "For us, APEC's most direct benefit is this travel card," Low said. Large numbers of overseas Chinese entrepreneurs are now applying for it, which makes short-notice business trips easier.
Low also sees a change in what the cooperation covers. Under APEC, he says, China and Malaysia have gradually moved beyond trade in primary commodities toward digitalisation, the green transition and supply chains more closely integrated around semiconductors. In that view, entrepreneurs like him have become bridge-builders as well as traders.
A younger generation is picking up the work. Ho Can Hao, a third-generation Malaysian Chinese born in the 1990s, spent several years working in Beijing and Shenzhen, where he watched Chinese digital technology being applied in education. He returned to Malaysia and entered the education infrastructure sector, aiming to match Chinese technology to local needs. He has not faced the hardships of those who first ventured to Southeast Asia, but the report says he shares their enterprising spirit and determination.
Attention now turns to the 2026 APEC "China Year." Low says the Malaysia-China Business Council plans to organise a delegation of entrepreneurs to attend meetings in Shenzhen around this year's APEC events, focusing on semiconductors, the digital economy, green energy and cross-border e-commerce. Li hopes to see more young faces at those Shenzhen meetings, helping widen cooperation and carry it further.
Citas Notables
For us, APEC's most direct benefit is this travel card.— Low Kian Chuan, chairman of the Malaysia-China Business Council
Li Guixiong hopes to see more young faces at the APEC meetings in Shenzhen.— Li Guixiong, vice president, Thai-Chinese Chamber of Commerce (paraphrased)
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