This article explores the trend of China’s top 10 tyre brands establishing global production facilities. As the largest tire manufacturer, companies like Frico, Linglong, Zhongce, and Sailun are setting up overseas units in Southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, and North America. It highlights key projects such as Zhongce’s factory in Indonesia, Universal Shares’ facility in Cambodia, and Linglong’s plant in Serbia, along with Frico’s investments in Thailand. These efforts not only break trade barriers but also drive technological upgrades, promoting the globalization of “Made in China.” Ultimately, overseas investments reduce costs and provide new momentum for the development of the Chinese tire industry.
I. Introduction
China is the one of the largest tire manufacturer all over the world and its tire production is massively huge. Almost the Chinese tire companies are formulating the industrial landscape with a global vision: and for this reason around more than a dozen largest companies have setup their 27 overseas production units, established smart factories from Southeast Asia to Europe, Africa, and North America. Linglong’s European base has an annual production capacity of over 13.62 million tires, and Haohua’s Vietnam factory has an annual output value of US$770 million. They have not only broken through trade barriers, but also pushed the global tire industry into the “Made in China” era through technological upgrades.
II. A Wave of China’s Leading Tyre Manufacturers Companies Building Factories Overseas
Setting up new manufacturing facilities in other countries is becoming a growing consensus among most of the Chinese tire companies. Also leading major companies have started again a second wave of expansion, and establishing their factories in Europe, Africa, and North America.The recent Chinese truck and bus tire market is still in a very unclear era with a lot of players emerging and competing with each other. There are many tire brands, but among all only a few are top-notch tire brands.
In this article, we explore best chinese tyre brands and take a closer look its reputation and its impact on the tire market.
III. Top 10 Tyre Brands
1. Zhongce Rubber Tire
Zhongce Rubber (MTI) Indonesia, located in the Kendal Industrial Park in Semarang, Central Java, Indonesia, was established in January 2024 and they started its first phase of production on December 18, 2024. It shows the second overseas investment by Zhongce Rubber Group. And totally investment is of US$280 million which is covering 49.2 hectares, This factory specializes in the production of different category of tire products, which including truck and bus tires, two-wheel tires, bias tires, inner tubes, and crawler tracks. ZC company already featured with a carbon black production line with an exhaust gas co-generation project.
2. Universal Shares
General Tire Technology Cambodia Co., Ltd.: Located in the Sihanoukville Special Economic Zone, the plant occupies nearly 180,000 square meters. This manufacturing plant has an annual production capacity of more than 5 million semi-steel radial tires and 900,000 full-steel radial tires. The construction of this factory started on February 27, 2022, and then later their first tire came out of the production line on March 18, 2023. Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen also went to attend the prestigious opening ceremony on May 22, 2023.
3. Sailun Tire
Sailun Tire (Cambodia) Co., Ltd.: CART TIRE, Sailun Tire’s wholly-owned subsidiary in Cambodia, and it was constructed in February 2021 and this company was Cambodia’s first tire manufacturer. Sailun company’s major projects includes the Kampot Special Economic Zone, semi-steel radial tire production facility, and the expansion of its full-steel radial tire production. The Kampot Special Economic Zone project will be expected to have a total investment of US$110 million which aims to create a comprehensive industrial park. Recently, the company’s semi-steel radial tire project with an annual production capacity of 9 million units, the semi-steel radial tire project with an annual production capacity of 12 million units, and the full-steel radial tire project with an annual production capacity of 1.65 million units all are on its right track and reached to that point and have achieved consistent huge-scale production operations.
4. Linglong Tire
Linglong International (Europe) Co., Ltd., located in Zrenjanin, Serbia, is one of the first Chinese tire company in Europe. This company officially started mass production on September 13, 2024, in the presence of Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić. This project have a total investment of US$990 million, including annual production capacity of 13.62 million high-performance radial tires. As a main focus of Linglong Tire global strategy, this brand European factory integrates high-edge technologies like artificial intelligence, mobile sensing, industrial big data, and industrial robotics, achieving full automation and digital management of the complete production cycle and finishing process, setting a great benchmark target for many big factories in the international tire industry.
5. Doublestar Tire
Qingdao Doublestar Tire’s production unit in Cambodia is a joint venture between Doublestar Group and Zhongqi Group, with a total investment of US$200 million. This factory situated in Cambodia’s Special Economic Zone in Kratie Province, this manufacturing unit has an annual manufacturing capacity of 8.5 million high-performance radial tires, including 7 million semi-steel radial tires and 1.5 million full-steel radial tires. Phase I of the overseas investment project officially started its production on September 6, 2024.
6. Wanli Tire
The Wanli Tire Cambodia manufacturing unit is the first overseas investment and expansion plan of Wanli Tire, a subsidiary of Guangzhou Industrial Control Group. The groundbreaking ceremony for the factory setup was held on January 12, 2025, in the New Bavet Special Economic Zone in Svay Rieng Province, Cambodia. This manufacturing setup will be constructed in two phases. In the first phase, they will invest approximately US$239 million, covering about 32 hectares. Upon completion, this unit will have an annual production capacity of 10 million semi-steel radial tires and 1.2 million full-steel radial tires. When the first phase starts production, the target will be an annual production capacity of 6 million semi-steel radial tires, solidifying Wanli’s position among leading tyre manufacturers and one of the best Chinese tyre brands in the industry.
7. Sentury Tire
Sentury Tire’s Moroccan plant, this is the second largest overseas production unit, which is a integral step in the company strategic planning. This unit construction started on October 21, 2023, and manufacturing formally began on September 30, 2024 with a full investment of RMB 3.458 billion, the plant is expected to manufacture 6 to 8 million tires annually. So this we can consider high degree of automation and strategic location they are expecting to develop higher numbers of gross profit margins.
Frico brand has been passionate about prioritizing tire quality since our inception. After establishing our factory in Bangkok, we issued a common goal statement: to develop tires with superior performance, durability, and safety. As a leading tyre manufacturer, Frico focuses on creating tires made in Thailand through detailed and extensive R&D in tire engineering expertise, ensuring we produce the perfect tire. Committed to environmental sustainability, Frico implements various measures throughout the manufacturing cycle to minimize our carbon footprint and promote a greener future. We believe that our tires will provide safer and more cost-effective solutions for our customers.
9. Double Coin Tire
On May 11, 2016, Huayi Group and Thailand’s Taibega Enterprise Co., Ltd. signed a contract to jointly build a digital tire production line in the Lisheng Industrial Park in Rayong Province, Thailand. This project aimed to expand the production of the “Double Coin” brand tire, a prominent Thailand tire brand, to meet the global demand for truck and bus (TBR) tires. Just one year later, on June 30, 2017, the first batch of production was completed. With a total investment of approximately RMB 2 billion, the expansion plan is expected to achieve an annual production capacity of 1.8 million truck and bus tires and 50,000 OTR tires, contributing to the growing reputation of tires made in Thailand.
10. Prinx Chengshan
Prinx Chengshan Tire (Thailand) Co., Ltd.’s all-steel radial tire production base in Chonburi Province, Thailand, began construction on March 31, 2019, showcasing remarkable progress. With a total investment of approximately US$300 million (around RMB 2.1 billion), this project aims to establish a facility that will produce tires made in Thailand with an annual capacity of 4 million passenger car tires and 800,000 truck and bus tires. As one of the leading tyre manufacturers, Prinx Chengshan emphasizes quality and innovation in its production. On March 25, 2020, the first all-steel radial tire rolled off the production line, marking a significant milestone for this Thailand tire brand.
IV. Conclusion
The overseas investment and expansion strategy of many Chinese tire companies not only effectively circumvents international trade barriers but this also brought the production closer to raw material sources, So in result reducing costs and increasing profitability for the companies is the ultimate goal and aim for overseas investment. But the development and construction of overseas manufacturing units has become idealistic new driving force for the development of the Chinese tire industry.
