China Plus Strategy and EOR: How a European Agtech Firm Expanded Across Asia

Ma
Sep 22
5 min read

A few months ago, I came across an interesting case in the agriculture technology space. A European agtech firm — already well established in China — found itself at a crossroads. For years, China had been the backbone of its operations: a vast market, deep manufacturing capacity, and access to skilled technical talent.

But the global landscape was shifting. Rising costs, trade frictions, and supply chain vulnerabilities forced leadership to rethink their dependence on a single market. They weren’t ready to exit China, but they needed a “China Plus” strategy: maintaining their presence in China while expanding into other parts of Asia to spread risk and capture growth opportunities.

The question was: how do you expand across multiple Asian markets without sinking huge amounts of time and money into setting up legal entities in each country?

What is “China Plus” and Why It Matters

The “China Plus” strategy refers to companies maintaining a strong base in China, but diversifying part of their operations into other markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, or India. It doesn’t mean abandoning China — rather, it’s about building resilience by not being overly dependent on one country.

In practice, this could look like:

Keeping R&D or sales in China, while moving parts of manufacturing to Vietnam.
Retaining Chinese distribution hubs, but adding customer service teams in Southeast Asia.
Using regional hubs (like Singapore) for compliance and financial management, while still tapping into China’s vast supply chain.

This strategy has grown in importance for several reasons:

US–China trade tensions led to tariffs that made global supply chains more expensive.
Rising wages in China made certain industries, like textiles or electronics assembly, less cost-competitive.
COVID-19 disruptions revealed how risky it was to have supply chains tied too tightly to one country.
Geopolitical uncertainty continues to pressure companies to spread out risk.

For the European agtech firm in this case study, adopting a China Plus strategy wasn’t about leaving China. It was about ensuring long-term stability and opening doors to Southeast Asia’s rapidly growing agricultural markets.

Barriers to the China Plus Strategy Without EOR

On paper, expansion sounded straightforward. In reality, three major barriers stood in the way:

Entity setup was costly and slow.
Incorporating a legal entity in markets like Indonesia or Vietnam often takes 12–18 months, not including the time needed for licensing, banking, and compliance frameworks. For a company under pressure to diversify quickly, this was too slow.
Compliance risk was high.
Labour laws in Southeast Asia differ drastically. From payroll tax structures to social security obligations, mistakes could lead to fines, penalties, or even bans on hiring. The firm’s HR team, based in Europe and China, didn’t have the expertise to navigate each market.
Talent gaps needed urgent attention.
The company required skilled agronomists, field technicians, and supply chain managers to support local operations. Waiting over a year for entity setup would mean missing the window of opportunity.

In short, the firm needed a solution that balanced speed, compliance, and flexibility.

The Turning Point: Choosing EOR as a Bridge

Instead of pushing forward with multiple subsidiaries, leadership explored Employer of Record (EOR) models. An EOR acts as the legal employer on behalf of a company, allowing businesses to hire workers in foreign markets without setting up a local entity.

Through this approach, the agtech firm was able to:

Hire talent fast — workers in Vietnam and Indonesia were onboarded within weeks, not months.
Stay compliant — employment contracts, tax filings, and social contributions were handled locally by the EOR partner, removing a major compliance risk.
Maintain flexibility — instead of being locked into costly permanent entities, the company could scale teams up or down depending on project demand.
Keep focus on strategy — the leadership team could concentrate on agricultural innovation and distribution, not paperwork.

EOR didn’t replace the company’s ambition to one day set up its own entities — but it gave them a bridge solution to test new markets and prove viability before committing heavy investments.

From Risk to Resilience

The outcomes were clear within the first year:

Faster market entry — Vietnam and Indonesia operations launched in under three months.
Lower costs — avoided the heavy incorporation and legal fees required to establish multiple subsidiaries.
Risk reduction — compliance obligations were shouldered by the EOR provider, reducing liability exposure.
Agility — the firm could pilot projects in Southeast Asia, gather market data, and expand gradually — instead of being locked into premature investments.

But beyond the numbers, there was also a human element. Workers recruited in Vietnam and Indonesia felt more secure knowing their contracts were legally compliant and supported locally. Meanwhile, European managers appreciated being able to test new operations without uprooting their entire team. The EOR model created a smoother bridge between headquarters and local hires.

EOR as a Blueprint

This story highlights a broader reality: global expansion is no longer just about ambition — it’s about risk management.

Companies expanding in Asia need to move quickly, but without exposing themselves to compliance penalties.
The “China Plus” model is growing because diversification creates stability.
EOR is more than a hiring shortcut — it’s a strategic tool for testing markets, managing cost, and staying flexible.

For industries like agriculture, manufacturing, or logistics — where demand is seasonal and margins are tight — EOR can be the difference between a successful expansion and a stalled plan.

What makes this case compelling is that it’s not just about one company. It reflects a blueprint for future global expansion. As markets become more fragmented and regulations more complex, employers will increasingly need hybrid strategies: keeping direct operations in core markets, while using EOR to test and expand into secondary ones.

For the agtech sector, this approach is particularly powerful. Agriculture is affected by climate volatility, consumer demand shifts, and seasonal labour spikes. Having the ability to scale talent up or down quickly across borders is not just an advantage — it’s survival.

What we think?

In today’s environment, future-proofing your workforce is as important as future-proofing your supply chain. The agtech firm’s story shows that employers don’t need to choose between speed and compliance — with the right strategy, they can have both.

If your company is considering expansion into Southeast Asia, don’t wait for complexity to overwhelm you. Consult with us. We can help you explore models like EOR, guiding you through the challenges of international recruitment and helping you design a strategy that balances growth with resilience.

📌 Talk to us → Contact Us

TL;DR

A European agtech firm needed to expand beyond China into Southeast Asia but faced barriers of time, compliance, and cost. By leveraging EOR within a China Plus strategy, they achieved rapid market entry, reduced risk, and gained agility — all without setting up multiple legal entities. The lesson: resilience isn’t built by chance — it’s built by strategy.

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