Chongqing Flavours Get a "International Face": China-Singapore Design Collaboration Boosts "Xiangliao" Brand's Global Expansion by Creating International Packaging for Chongqing Noodle Sauce

According to China News Service reporter Liu Xinyu, the Singapore Design Council's Chongqing Representative Office facilitated the international packaging design collaboration between Chongqing noodle sauce brand "Xiangliao" and Singapore-based design firm Pinch Design, which has completed its initial draft and entered the prototyping stage. By leveraging Singapore's worldwide design knowledge, the brand is creating a "international face" for Chongqing flavours, increasing product competitiveness through design innovation, and enabling its global development into international markets.

Xu Fei, General Manager of Chongqing Xiangliao Brand Management Co., Ltd. and founder of the "Xiangliao" brand, told CNS reporters that the brand's international business is presently conducted via two key channels. The first is direct exports to Southeast Asian markets and European foodservice operations, which produce several million yuan each year and are rapidly growing. The second is that abroad consumers buy directly from the brand's e-commerce platforms, and the brand is increasing its growth into cross-border e-commerce and related foreign trade operations.

"The international perspective of the Singapore design firm and its understanding of the Southeast Asian market are precisely what our brand urgently needs for going global," Xu Fei stated. Although the company has an exceptional local design team in Chongqing, it decided to work with a more expensive Singapore design agency primarily for its "overseas market consulting capabilities, insights, and research capabilities." Xu hopes that this collaboration will align the product packaging with the visual aesthetics, brand perception, and consumer habits of Singapore's overseas markets, while maintaining core product strengths such as authentic Chongqing flavour, ease of use, and adaptability across various scenarios, allowing the world to fall in love with Chongqing flavours.

According to Xu Fei, the relationship with Singapore's Pinch Design started with online conversation in late 2025. The Singapore design team not only conducted dedicated overseas market research for the brand, but they also purchased "Xiangliao" Chongqing noodle sauce products through various overseas channels in Singapore to gain firsthand experience with the overseas consumer journey, broadening their approach to improving the product's international image.

In March 2026, three Singapore designers travelled to Chongqing expressly to visit traditional noodle stores and community noodle bars. They documented the flavour attributes, manufacturing methods, consumption scenarios, and shop owner anecdotes of Chongqing noodles, delving into local culture and design legacy to obtain authentic material for the packaging design. This attempt sought to effortlessly combine local Bayu characteristics with Singapore's worldwide design principles.

"After doing field research and several rounds of discussions, we adopted a design approach centred on internationalisation, digitalisation, industrialisation, and a premium feel. We want to break away from the traditional regional image of Chongqing noodle sauce and create a high-quality product packaging system that combines cultural richness with modern aesthetics while adapting to global consumption trends," Leeyau Chun Chuan, Senior Brand and Design Consultant at Pinch Design and Honorary Treasurer of the Singapore Design Council, told reporters. He stated that the team prioritises fundamental aspects such as visual design and functional adaptability to improve aesthetics, meet convenience needs, and assure social media appeal. Through design innovation, they hope to transform Chongqing's distinct flavours into a brand story that foreign audiences can understand.

The Singapore Design Council's Chongqing Representative Office, established as a key platform for international exchange in the design sector as part of Chongqing's "City of Design" initiative and the China-Singapore (Chongqing) Strategic Connectivity Demonstration Project, will open in December 2025. The council's single representative office in China is now located at the Chongqing Industrial Design Headquarters Base.

"Good design should lead to good business," Li Xiaomeng, Chief Representative of the Singapore Design Council's Chongqing Representative Office, stated to reporters. He emphasised that Chongqing, as a major manufacturing hub in China, provides a firm platform for transferring Singapore's creative concepts from blueprints to practical products. The design journey of a single packet of sauce exemplifies a new trend of tight integration between Chongqing's manufacturing industry and high-end productive services from Singapore, as they jointly explore regional markets.

Reporters found that the "Xiangliao" brand and Singapore's Pinch Design will collaborate in the next Chongqing Food Packaging Design Competition. Simultaneously, the created items will be displayed in supermarkets and other retail places around Singapore and internationally, accomplishing the dual goals of brand exposure and market testing, resulting in a closed loop from design to competition to market.

According to a representative from the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology, the 2026 Chongqing Food Packaging Design Competition, as a key event in advancing the quality construction of Chongqing's "City of Design," will bring together top-tier international resources to create a global platform for project incubation and results transformation. It seeks to accelerate design innovation from concept to reality, creating a virtuous cycle in which "design empowers industry and industry supports design." In the future, Chongqing will encourage the internationalisation and upgrading of more speciality food brands, leveraging design innovation to help Chongqing companies penetrate into worldwide markets.

Source: China-Singapore (Chongqing) Industrial Design Co., Ltd & ID