by HOU Ruining

U.S.-listed Chinese tea chain CHAGEE said on March 9 it will enter the South Korean market, with its first store due to open in Seoul in the second quarter of 2026, marking the brand's eighth overseas market.

The first outlet will be in Gangnam, Seoul's main business district, with two more planned at I'Park Mall in Yongsan and in the university district of Sinchon, both popular retail areas.

Founded in 2017 in Yunnan province, CHAGEE opened its first overseas store in Kuala Lumpur in 2019 and later expanded into Singapore and Thailand. In 2025 it entered Indonesia, the United States, Vietnam and the Philippines.

As of Sept. 30, 2025, the chain had 262 overseas stores, including 196 in Malaysia, 22 in Singapore, 17 in Indonesia, 14 in Thailand, 8 in Vietnam, 3 in the Philippines and 2 in the United States.

Overseas markets are becoming a key growth driver. CHAGEE said gross merchandise value (GMV) from overseas operations exceeded 300 million yuan (about US$43 million) in the third quarter of 2025, accounting for 3.8% of total GMV. Overseas GMV has grown more than 75% year on year for two consecutive quarters and rose 27.7% from the previous quarter.

The company listed in the United States on April 17, 2025, becoming the first Chinese "new-style tea" chain — a category of fruit- and milk-based tea drinks popular in China — on a U.S. exchange.

Several Chinese tea brands have already entered South Korea, including Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, Heytea, Gong Cha and ChaPanda.

Data from Euromonitor International show South Korea's tea market grew from 1.1 trillion won in 2020 to 1.58 trillion won in 2024, up about 44%. The category is increasingly seen as a growth opportunity after coffee.

Growth in China's tea drink market has slowed after years of rapid expansion. iiMedia Research estimates the sector reached 354.7 billion yuan in 2024 and may rise to about 374.9 billion yuan in 2025.

Mixue Ice Cream & Tea, one of China's largest tea chains, had operations in 12 countries as of June 30, 2025, including Vietnam, Cambodia, Japan, South Korea and Australia, with more than 4,700 overseas stores.