Stacy Boit,

Step into pretty much any shopping mall in Singapore and you’re likely to find queues snaking outside shops with catchy names and bright-coloured branding.

Chinese brands like Chagee, Molly Tea and Mixue are drawing crowds not just in Asia, but increasingly in cities from Sydney to London and Los Angeles.

Alongside fashion labels, toy stores and sportswear giants, these tea chains are riding a new wave – as Chinese firms move from low-cost manufacturing to globally recognisable consumer brands.

Built in the world’s second-largest consumer market, they already have scale and operational muscle. But competition is intensifying at home, and so expanding overseas has become a necessity. At the same time, they are entering markets where the perception of “Made in China” is often still associated with cheap, low-quality goods.

“China has moved beyond a replication economy,” Tim Parkinson of consultancy Storytellers China notes. “Its products now meet the expectations of a new generation of demanding global consumers.”