Insights Blog

Selling Software into China's Booming Antibody-Drug Conjugate Development Market

ADG China — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 11:48:55 GMT

China’s Biotech Inflection Point: Fast Follower to Strategic Force

ADG China — Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:15:00 GMT

Over the past two decades, China’s life sciences system has undergone a structural transformation that has reshaped global drug development and medtech strategy. What began as a scale-driven manufacturing ecosystem is now embedded in multinational clinical pipelines, licensing markets, and regulatory harmonization frameworks.

This evolution unfolded across three phases: capacity accumulation, regulatory modernization, and global integration under pricing reform.

The smart way to reduce your exposure to China

ADG China — Tue, 04 Jun 2024 23:20:29 GMT

How to exit China without upsetting existing customers or losing valuable revenues

How Global Software Companies Enter China

ADG China — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 21:22:11 GMT

A guide to the most common models software companies use to enter China

In the rapidly evolving global market, expansion into China can present an attractive opportunity for global software companies. Yet, the venture into the Chinese market is fraught with complexities, from regulatory hurdles to cultural nuances to risk and ROI considerations. A commonly asked question we regularly get from small and medium sized enterprise software / SaaS companies is:

"How did [fill in the blank company] enter the China market when we were told [something painfully hard our CEO or board will never approve]?"

Here is a real story. Until about five years ago, most companies primarily chose two models. 1) Go it alone and establish a WFOE (wholly foreign owned entity) and build a local team or 2) Find a distributor / reseller partner or several and try to manage them from overseas. Both directions were well trodden paths and had many successes and failures but were clearly preferred over the dreaded JV model that mostly disappeared years ago except when other options were not possible. There are of course many variations, but these were the primary ways.

With the emergence of cloud and the proliferation of data residency and geopolitical issues, the traditional entry models have become more challenging and expensive forcing many companies to either find alternative paths or avoid the market altogether. If you spend any time reading articles online you might be led to believe the only choices left are the very expensive and time consuming "all-in" forklift your business, cloud, products and team into China or the equally disliked option of handing your IP and licenses over to a local company to run your China business (think Ali/SF, Microsoft/21 Vianet, etc.).

To be fair, the distributor model can work for some on-premise or downloadable software solutions with proven demand but unfortunately most SaaS solutions don’t “just run” out of the box in China. The reasons are many and include technical, compliance or business model issues which means asking a distributor to invest into a product that could be months away from landing or potentially even longer. The roles and responsibilities of both sides become complex and many of these discussions quickly morph into the “Local China Operating Partner” model which can be too complex and expensive for most companies which are already not sure if they are fully committed to China.

It may sound a bit gloomy until you look deeply into the market like ADG has been doing for over 20 years. In reality the number of companies that enter the market in recent years is much greater than those choosing the "all-in", the "Local China Operating Partner" or the traditional Distributor Model. There are better ways for many companies, and we want to share how it is being done.

The way in which many companies actually enter is faster, allows them to maintain control and build the market traction they need before they consider a larger investment. The path we outline below is used by many small and medium sized software and SaaS companies that are looking to develop the local market or simply service their existing multinational customers in China.

The model below sounds obvious and natural - and it is. The problem is that many companies think it is not allowed because they misunderstand the following:

SaaS companies often do not have to land their entire global cloud in China to be compliant
Cloud companies have ways where they CAN often operate their own clouds without a local operating partner
Even when a local partner is required for a highly regulated sector the company can limit the role of the Local China Operating Partner
Companies do not need to lock themselves to a Local China Operating Partner before they have proven the market and tested and built their product.
A WFOE or local entity is not required or even recommended in many cases to get started in China

Here, we share the roadmap used by many companies and forged by ADG to allow companies to minimize their upfront investment until the market proves viable. This does not mean you can’t go all-in, copy & paste a full China cloud. You can. Just most companies will not. Here is the alternative approach that can work for many companies.

What Does it Take for Software Companies to Get it Right in China?

ADG China — Mon, 25 Mar 2024 21:00:04 GMT

Expanding into China requires navigating through the initial entry, growth, and consolidation phases, each demanding specific GTM and reseller management strategies. Leveraging local insights for market access, engaging with specialized resellers for deeper penetration, and ultimately focusing on compliance and diversification are key to successfully navigating China's software market.

Navigating China's Software Market: The Guide to Channel Partnerships

ADG China — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 22:31:24 GMT

Unlock Your China Software Sales: Is Your Reseller Network Holding You Back?

ADG China — Wed, 06 Dec 2023 19:46:31 GMT

Navigating The Chinese Software Market – Part 2

Hidden Problems Impacting Your China Sales

ADG China — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 15:25:13 GMT

Part One of our Three Part Series on Navigating the China Software Market. Discover reasons that the China market may be underperforming your expectations and why small changes can drive outsized improvements.

Get more from your China resellers

ADG China — Wed, 29 Mar 2023 19:20:12 GMT

Learn how China resellers post challenges for global software companies - and how to grow productive partner networks to drive China growth.

How to launch your optimal compliant China SaaS Cloud business

ADG China — Wed, 15 Feb 2023 15:27:17 GMT

For SaaS and Cloud providers seeking to successfully — and compliantly — launch and scale their business in China many challenges need to be managed.