Tengen eyes global expansion

As the first listed company in China focused on packaging consumables, Tengen has steadily advanced alongside the boom in e-commerce and logistics since its founding in 2010 and its 2020 market listing.

Following its listing, breaking through its traditional business boundaries and achieving high-quality growth became a core challenge. Zhou Xiaowei, founder of Tengen, emphasizes: ‘Going public is a new starting point for us to break through
bottlenecks, upgrade our capabilities and lay the groundwork for long-term, high-quality development.’

Targeting e-commerce

With sharp industry insight, Zhou entered the printing sector in 2002, focusing on retail labeling, and co-founded Jiuheng Barcode before establishing Tengen in 2010.

He foresaw the explosive growth of e-commerce and express delivery, leading Tengen, from the start, to adopt a diversified strategy covering a full range of express consumables such as envelopes, courier bags, labels and sealing tape.

This forward-looking market insight fueled Tengen’s rapid growth over the next decade.

Full-category supply

After listing, Tengen carried out a pivotal strategic shift, moving beyond single‑category express consumables to become a full-category consumables provider, spanning graphic, catering, industrial, medical, aviation and other high-potential sectors.

Zhou notes that growth in e-commerce logistics consumables has peaked, and that only by expanding into cross-industry consumables, leveraging Tengen’s technical and operational strengths, can it avoid saturated markets.

This full-category expansion is rooted in precise integration around customer needs. ‘Our goal is to enable customers to access products and services with lower costs, better quality, higher efficiency and stronger service through our platform,’
Zhou says.

Backed by three production bases (Dongguan, Zhejiang, Hubei) totaling 300,000sqm, Tengen owns a diverse range of printing and converting equipment, covering paper, plastic, biodegradable materials, GRS-certified products and niche industry-specific items.

“Going public is a new starting point for us to break through bottlenecks, upgrade our capabilities and lay the groundwork for long-term, high-quality development”

Zhou notes: ‘Most consumables require printing processes, which is our core strength. This synergy allows us to enter new sectors with lower barriers and deliver consistent quality that meets industry-specific standards.’

Industrial internet platform

Zhou outlines four core strategies to transform Tengen from a product manufacturer to a comprehensive consumables service platform.

First is a consumables internet platform, which integrates cross-industry consumables into online platforms to connect directly with end users, simplifying procurement, eliminating intermediaries and ensuring price and quality transparency.

The next strategy is building a global production and service network to establish domestic and overseas regional subsidiaries. Tengen has opened a flagship store in Indonesia and is negotiating agency partnerships in Vietnam, Malaysia and Thailand. It also promotes a co-founder model, with company-borne risk and profit sharing, to empower entrepreneurs and build stable teams.

It’s third focus is on its win-win supply chain. The company cooperates with top suppliers to produce Tengen-standard consumables, reducing asset-heavy costs. Currently, 10 percent of products are outsourced; this ratio will rise significantly as the company transitions to an asset-light, platform-focused model.

Finally, Tengen is prioritizing product standardization and branding in 2026, launching Tengen-branded products with clear standards to build trust.

Notably, Tengen has closely followed the global sustainability trend, focusing on developing biodegradable, lightweight and material-reduced products. It plans to launch linerless labels and matching printers in 2026 to reduce waste and costs.

Future

Addressing post-listing development, Zhou expresses frankly: ‘After going public, we experienced “listing syndrome”, a period of adjustment where we took some detours and missed some opportunities. It took us three years to reflect, adjust our strategy and gradually turn the situation around.’

While its annual revenue has fluctuated slightly amid market changes, Tengen’s overall development remains stable and positive. Label products remain a core segment, accounting for roughly one third of the business. To support its full-category platform strategy, Tengen is increasing digital investment, recognizing that digitalization is key to operational
efficiency and customer engagement. The company plans to expand its 20-member IT professionals team to enhance its digital management capabilities, enabling precise control over products, supply chains and co-founders, including real-time sales and profit data, to optimize operations.

In brand promotion, both Zhou and the company are leveraging new media platforms like TikTok and WeChat. ‘Our
goal is to use such new media to attract more aspiring partners to join our co-founder program, building a stable supply chain and sales network. Using platform-based governance, I also want to ease pressure on the next generation of leaders and ensure smooth succession.’