From "Anhui Made" to "Used Worldwide" — Amway's 30-Year Journey of Going Global

(Source: Anhui Federation of Industry and Commerce)

From its establishment with just over 400 employees, to having its products on the training grounds of the World Cup and entering seven-star hotels in the UAE as a global benchmark for new materials; from the early 2000s, venturing into the Middle East and South Asia markets with “pure foreign trade,” to becoming the only domestic supplier of polyurethane synthetic leather and composite materials for Nike in mainland China, and including global leading brands like Adidas, Puma, Asics, Apple, Huawei, and Toyota into its core partnership landscape… Over more than thirty years of ups and downs, Amway Co., Ltd. has knocked on the door of the world in the name of new materials.

Riding the national “going out” strategy, more and more Chinese manufacturing enterprises are stepping out of the domestic market, using technological innovation as their core competitive advantage to seize technological and industrial heights in the global market, building Chinese brands. Anhui Amway Material Technology Co., Ltd. (referred to as “Amway Co., Ltd.”) is a vivid example of this. Founded in 1994, this company was born with an international gene, exporting “Made in Anhui” new materials to over 80 countries and regions around the world, demonstrating the code for high-quality overseas expansion of Chinese private enterprises with its strong technological capabilities and stable global layout.

With an inherent internationalization gene, the evolutionary transformation of the overseas path occurs in three steps.

“The ‘Li’ in Amway originally refers to Italy.” Amway Co., Ltd. Chairman Yao Heping revealed the company’s innate international gene. In 1984, Amway Co., Ltd.'s predecessor—China Amway Synthetic Leather Co., Ltd. was established. As the first Sino-foreign joint venture in Anhui, “An” stands for Anhui, and “Li” stands for Italy, laying the foundation for future global layout from the very beginning.

At its inception, the company realized product exports through a distribution agency model, with a rough business approach. In November 1999, after Yao Heping took charge, he proposed the business philosophy of “rooted in the local, facing the international,” actively developing international trade. In 2000, Amway Co., Ltd. entered the overseas 1.0 era. Yao Heping led sales staff to debut products at the Hong Kong Leather Fair, with a simple and direct overseas logic at that time: “The world has a large market, ample space, and great opportunities. Only by exploring international markets can we do well in our business.” The company set its sights on developing countries with large populations and high demand, leveraging the cost-effective polyurethane synthetic leather for shoes to open up overseas markets, completing the initial exploration of “sales going out, products selling out.”

In 2008, intensified market competition forced the company to upgrade, and Amway Co., Ltd. entered the overseas 2.0 era. The company decisively adjusted its product structure, focusing on higher-quality, higher-value polyurethane synthetic leather for sofa and home furnishings as a new export direction, shifting its target market to the quality-demanding developed countries in Europe and America. “This transformation is not only an upgrade of the market but also a comprehensive test of the company’s R&D, production, and quality control capabilities.” Yao Heping candidly stated that meeting the demands of overseas high-end markets became an important driving force for the company to enhance its core competitive strength.

In 2011, Amway Co., Ltd. was listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. Yao Heping proposed a transformation and upgrade, striving to enhance the brand and seeking cooperation with international leading brands; in 2013, Amway Co., Ltd. integrated into the Samsung supply chain. “Entering the global leading brand supply chain has never been a simple buyer-seller relationship.” Yao Heping remarked that these brands have extremely rigorous audits for suppliers, and aspects such as product quality, process flow, environmental safety, employee rights, and social responsibility must withstand strict scrutiny. Moreover, the trust and cooperative stickiness cultivated through this rigorous auditing process further constructs the company’s most solid brand moat.

Starting in 2015, Amway Co., Ltd. successively opened doors to global brands such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Asics, Decathlon, IKEA, Apple, and Toyota. Today, Amway materials have deeply integrated into the daily lives of global users, truly realizing “Amway materials, used worldwide.”

Following the industrial chain layout, overseas factories create a first-class international manufacturing benchmark.

In the process of globalization, the direction of the industrial chain defines the layout of the company’s overseas expansion. In 2017, Amway Co., Ltd. made two important decisions—acquiring a 51% stake in a Russian company and investing to establish a holding subsidiary in Vietnam. These two major moves marked the company’s formal entry into the overseas 3.0 era—deeply advancing from “product going out” to “capital going out” and “production capacity going out,” achieving resonance with the global industrial chain.

“Our products are mainly used in footwear and sofa home furnishings, and downstream brand clients like Nike, Adidas, and ZhiHuaShi are investing in factories in Vietnam, so we must follow the industrial chain.” Yao Heping explained the logic behind the layout in Vietnam.

After meticulous research, Amway Co., Ltd. recognized Vietnam’s multiple strategic advantages. Proximity to the core Southeast Asian market can greatly enhance response speed to customers; the concentration of downstream client factories offers vast market expansion space; and the geographical advantage is clear, helping to seize the developmental opportunity in the Southeast Asian new materials market.

In 2017, Amway (Vietnam) Material Technology Co., Ltd. was established in Ho Chi Minh City’s Singapore Industrial Park, with a registered capital of $35 million, planning to build four production lines, aiming to create an international first-class modern new materials manufacturing base. “From the beginning, we set high standards—not simply replicating domestic production capacity but building a benchmark factory with international standards.” Yao Heping introduced that the planning of the Amway Vietnam factory is scientific and reasonable, with an international standard administrative office building, production workshop, and warehouse, equipped with leading global production equipment and R&D testing facilities, laying a solid foundation for product quality. By the end of 2022, the first two production lines at Amway Vietnam began trial operations; in the second half of 2025, the remaining two production lines will also be put into operation as scheduled. Once all four production lines reach full production, they will have an annual production capacity of 18 million meters of ecological functional polyurethane composite materials, becoming an important support for the company radiating to the Southeast Asian and global markets.

Simultaneously with the establishment of the factory in Vietnam, Amway Co., Ltd.'s overseas layout in Russia is also progressing steadily. The Russian company acquired in 2017 is one of only two local polyurethane composite material factories, which, despite having established local channels, fell into losses due to issues like costs and management. In response, Amway Co., Ltd. dispatched marketing, management, and technical backbones to guide the factory, providing comprehensive empowerment through “outputting concepts, technologies, talents, and management” to help the company solve development challenges.

In 2025, Amway Co., Ltd.'s international layout will take another step—establishing a wholly-owned subsidiary, Amway (Singapore) Material Co., Ltd., focusing on import-export trade and capital settlement, further enhancing overseas market operational capabilities.

Compliance in operation breaks through overseas challenges, while localized cultivation solidifies the foundation for development.

Overseas expansion has never been smooth sailing; cultural differences, policy barriers, risk prevention, and talent shortages are all essential challenges for Chinese manufacturing enterprises venturing abroad. Amway Co., Ltd. has also encountered numerous unexpected challenges in its overseas practice.

In Vietnam, the company initially faced delays in project construction and production progress due to insufficient sensitivity to local policies, regulations, and market environments, failing to timely identify and address risks related to investment, taxation, and environmental protection. Additionally, the shortage of composite talents who understand polyurethane material technology and are familiar with local culture, laws, and policies became a significant bottleneck for the company’s development. In Russia, the acquired company faced issues such as differences in management concepts and a complex market environment, making local integration and efficient management urgent problems to solve.

In the face of a series of challenges, Amway Co., Ltd. provided the answer: compliance in operations as a bottom line, and localized cultivation as the core, achieving sustainable development while integrating into the local market.

Compliance in operations is Amway Co., Ltd.'s first principle for overseas development. In Vietnam, Amway Vietnam established a complete corporate governance structure, forming a board of directors and a supervisory committee, with clearly defined functional departments, building a comprehensive internal control system that ensures standardized and regulated operations across financial management, human resources management, contract management, and production management. In terms of environmental protection, the company adheres to the philosophy of “environmental protection first, green development,” planning environmental layouts from the source at the outset, with all production exhaust treated through advanced and efficient equipment, and all testing indicators far below local standards.

Localized cultivation is a key measure for Amway Co., Ltd. to integrate into overseas markets. In employee recruitment, Amway Vietnam insists on “local priority,” with nearly 90% of its 200-plus employees being Vietnamese nationals, providing competitive compensation and career development paths for local employees; in talent development, regular training programs are arranged for outstanding Vietnamese employees to go to the Hefei headquarters for training, cultivating a group of localized management and technical backbones; in cultural integration, regular employee discussions are organized to listen to local employees’ needs and suggestions, proactively resolving cultural differences faced by multinational enterprises and promoting cultural fusion and shared ideas.

Currently, Amway Vietnam has successfully passed supplier certification audits from leading domestic and foreign companies such as Nike, Adidas, Puma, Asics, RTG, LA-Z-BOY, Minhua, and Kuka, with broad market prospects. By 2025, Amway Vietnam’s production volume and sales will steadily increase, achieving profitability in the fourth quarter, with products sold to the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, and other countries, and the production and operation situation continuing to improve.

From Hefei to the world, from “Made in Anhui” to “Made in China,” with an annual output that could circle the globe twice, becoming the largest enterprise in the industry globally in terms of comprehensive scale, and the company with the highest export volume to developed countries in the same industry nationwide… Amway Co., Ltd.'s overseas practice is a microcosm of Chinese private enterprises upgrading from “product going out” to “technology going out,” “brand going out,” and “ecology going out.” In the deepening development of economic globalization, Chinese manufacturing enterprises represented by Amway Co., Ltd., based on technological innovation and guided by compliance operations, demonstrate Chinese wisdom in global industrial layout, driving more Chinese new materials and new technologies to set sail overseas, contributing Chinese strength to the stable operation of the global industrial and supply chains.