Chinese Creativity Empowers the World: EPWK Builds a "Digital Silk Road" for Cross-Border Services

Rhea-AI Summary

EPWK (NASDAQ: EPWK) launched EPWK International and a "Digital Silk Road" on Nov 27, 2025 to connect Chinese creative talent with global clients. The company highlighted its Feb 6, 2025 NASDAQ listing and historical scale: as of June 30, 2024 the platform served 8.74M buyers and 16.92M sellers, completed 4.6M projects (2019–2024) and recorded cumulative GMV > $1.67B. New features include a membership system (Basic/VIP/SVIP), a deposit-before-delivery escrow model, e-contracts and copyright protections to reduce cross-border trust friction.

The company aims to deepen presence in Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe and the US and to provide cost-effective creative services for SMEs worldwide.

Positive

• GMV exceeded $1.67 billion (2019–2024)
• 4.6 million completed projects (2019–2024)
• Platform served 8.74M buyers and 16.92M sellers (as of Jun 30, 2024)
• Listed on NASDAQ on Feb 6, 2025
• Launched membership tiers (Basic/VIP/SVIP) in Nov 2025

Negative

• None.

Insights

Global Marketplace Strategist

EPWK expands internationally with an "International" station, membership tiers, and a fund-escrow model backed by sizable historical GMV and user counts.

EPWK leverages scale and transaction history to connect Chinese creative suppliers and global buyers. The platform cites having served over 8.74 million buyers and 16.92 million sellers and completing 4.6 million projects with cumulative GMV exceeding $1.67 billion as of June 30, 2024, and notes a NASDAQ listing on February 6, 2025. The International site plus a tiered membership (Basic, VIP, SVIP) aims to productize access and improve supplier monetization and buyer matching.

Trust and payment security form the operational core: the platform uses a "deposit-before-delivery" third-party escrow flow, and it is enhancing e-contract and copyright protection systems. These mechanisms directly address cross-border payment and IP frictions cited, which are common barriers to remote creative work.

Key dependencies and risks include actual adoption of the International marketplace by overseas SMEs and non-Chinese suppliers, the conversion rate from platform traffic into paying members, and the effectiveness of escrow, e-contracts, and copyright enforcement in practice. Concrete monitorables are membership adoption metrics after the November 2025 launch, changes in GMV and project completion rates versus the stated baseline, and geographic penetration in November 2025 target regions (Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, United States). Expect these to reveal whether scale economies and network effects materialize over the next several quarters.

XIAMEN, China, Nov. 27, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- "Through the projects on the platform, I can quickly sense design trends in the Chinese market, which inspires my other design work. At the same time, the professional matching and fund escrow mechanisms allow me to collaborate with clients on the other side of the globe smoothly," shared Sophia Williams, a brand designer from the United States, explaining her reasons for choosing EPWK International.

What she praises is the core element driving the efficient global flow of creative resources—trust. Today, from Xiamen's Jimei Software Park Phase III to a listing on NASDAQ, from serving tens of millions of domestic users to connecting global creative resources, EPWK (NASDAQ code: EPWK) has demonstrated through practice that high-quality Chinese creative services are fully capable of showcasing their value on the world stage.

The new cross-border service, the "Digital Silk Road," fosters the flow of creativity and wisdom across borders, much like ancient silk. An Italian Chinese merchant found a Xiamen-based tech team via the platform to develop a B2B application; a US employer collaborated with a Chinese team to produce English video content; a Japanese company's multilingual logistics APP was undertaken by Chinese developers with extensive experience in the Japanese market. Behind these cross-border collaborations lies a rising global digital infrastructure for creative transactions.

Strategic Launch: A New Route for Chinese Creativity Going Global

Currently, Chinese brands are experiencing an explosive phase of international expansion. Companies in industries like new energy vehicles, consumer electronics, and cross-border e-commerce are accelerating their global layouts. However, they commonly face a challenge: a shortage of high-quality brand design, marketing planning, and localization services that align with local cultural aesthetics. This industry pain point presents a historic opportunity for Chinese creative services to go global and highlights the value of EPWK's globalization strategy.

On February 6, 2025, EPWK was listed on NASDAQ, becoming the "first Chinese crowdsourcing platform going IPO." Months later, the launch of EPWK International (intl.epwk.com) marked the full commencement of its global journey. This strategy is built upon a solid operational foundation: as of June 30, 2024, the platform had served over 8.74 million buyers and 16.92 million sellers, covering more than 2,800 counties and cities across China. Between 2019 and 2024, it cumulatively completed 4.6 million projects with a Gross Merchandise Volume (GMV) exceeding $1.67 billion. This vast user base and transaction scale provide strong support for global market expansion.

The launch of the International station not only builds a bridge for connecting Chinese and foreign creative resources but also provides Chinese creative services with a direct window to global clients. Focusing on the concept of "Creativity Without Borders," the platform integrates diverse service categories like design, development, marketing, AI, and writing, enabling efficient connections between global enterprises and creative talent, thus opening a new route for Chinese creativity to go global.

Ecosystem Construction: Dual-Wheel Drive and Trust Assurance

EPWK's global strategy, centered on "optimizing the supply-demand ecosystem and forming a network effect," builds a sustainable global creative service ecosystem through a dual-wheel drive mechanism and a full-chain assurance system.

On the supply side, the platform breaks geographical barriers. It continuously aggregates high-quality domestic creative talent, offering services with local insights and professional capabilities, while actively attracting designers and developers from regions like Europe, America, and Southeast Asia to join the International platform. This enriches service diversity and international standards, creating a global creative talent pool. On the demand side, a two-pronged strategy is employed: it serves the overseas expansion needs of Chinese companies, helping them connect with international creative resources for global brand building, while also proactively attracting overseas SMEs to post creative demands, forming a truly global creative marketplace.

In November 2025, EPWK International launched its membership service system. Structured into Basic, VIP, and SVIP tiers, it precisely matches the development needs of creative professionals at different stages, further activating both supply and demand ends and amplifying the cross-border network effect.

Trust is the core challenge in cross-border transactions. EPWK addresses this by building a full-chain assurance mechanism. The platform adopts a "deposit-before-delivery" fund protection model. Employers deposit the full project amount into a third-party supervised platform account when posting requirements. Funds are released according to the agreement only after the service provider completes the work and it passes the employer's review, fundamentally resolving fund security concerns in cross-border deals. Simultaneously, the International platform is enhancing underlying technical infrastructure like e-contracts and copyright protection systems, providing full-cycle trust and security assurance for cross-border creative collaboration.

Successful cases demonstrate the ecosystem's value: Weifang Wanma Information Technology matched with a Japanese employer through EPWK to develop a trilingual (Chinese, Japanese, English) logistics APP; Song Ju'an, co-founder of Hangzhou Yiyizhongliu Digital Technology Co., Ltd., connected with a European client via the platform and successfully developed a comprehensive platform for the Spanish Chinese community; Xiamen Yingchuang Information Technology started with a 3,000 RMB trial video production order for a US employer, gradually building deep trust and seeing the collaboration value increase to 9,000 RMB. These practices fully prove that with a robust ecosystem and trust as the bridge, efficient cross-border creative collaboration can be achieved.

Far-Reaching Impact: From Industry Empowerment to Global Connection

EPWK's international expansion goes beyond mere corporate growth. It demonstrates strategic significance in talent development, industrial upgrading, and global collaboration, outlining a future vision of becoming a global "router" for creative resources.

For Chinese creative talent, EPWK International opens a new "digital channel for going global." Domestic service providers can undertake international orders and participate in global competition "from their doorstep" without needing to relocate, enhancing their international service capabilities through practical experience. Cao Zhulin, responsible person at Xiamen Yingchuang Information Technology, stated that accessing previously unreachable international clients through the platform significantly boosted the team's professionalism.

Concurrently, the platform acts as a conduit for the two-way flow of creative ideas. It introduces advanced global creative concepts, project management experience, and industry standards into China, promoting the upgrading of the domestic creative industry. It also allows the deep local market insights of Chinese creative professionals to be transformed into more actionable solutions, creating value for international clients.

On a global market level, EPWK International offers a new path for SMEs to reduce costs and increase efficiency. Numerous SMEs in regions like Europe, America, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East face the persistent challenge of high costs for professional services. Through EPWK International, they can easily access cost-effective services for brand design, software development, digital marketing, and more, effectively lowering operational costs. This cross-regional optimization of resource allocation not only invigorates the global creative market but also fosters collaborative development among SMEs worldwide.

Looking ahead, EPWK International will continue to deepen its presence in key markets such as Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, and the United States. It aims to build a global collaborative network for creative services centered on technology and trust, striving to become the intelligent link engine connecting creative professionals worldwide with enterprise demand. This invisible "Digital Silk Road" is facilitating the free flow of diverse creative ideas across borders, allowing global talent to gain recognition on the international stage, closely integrating China's creative productivity with global market needs, and writing a modern chapter for the ancient Silk Road.

View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/chinese-creativity-empowers-the-world-epwk-builds-a-digital-silk-road-for-cross-border-services-302627563.html

SOURCE EPWK HOLDINGS LTD.

FAQ

What is EPWK's "Digital Silk Road" and how does it help SMEs (EPWK)?

The "Digital Silk Road" is EPWK International's cross-border marketplace that connects SMEs with Chinese and global creative talent to lower service costs and speed project delivery.

When did EPWK list on NASDAQ (EPWK) and how does that relate to the international launch?

EPWK listed on NASDAQ on Feb 6, 2025; EPWK International launched later to extend the company's global service offering.

What escrow model does EPWK International use to secure cross-border projects (EPWK)?

EPWK International uses a deposit-before-delivery fund protection model with third-party supervised accounts and staged release after employer review.

How large was EPWK's user and transaction base before the international push (EPWK)?

As of Jun 30, 2024, EPWK reported 8.74M buyers, 16.92M sellers, and 4.6M completed projects with cumulative GMV > $1.67B.

What membership options are available on EPWK International and when did they launch (EPWK)?

EPWK International launched membership tiers—Basic, VIP, and SVIP—in November 2025 to match creative professionals' development stages.

Which markets is EPWK International targeting for expansion (EPWK)?

EPWK International aims to deepen presence in Southeast Asia, Japan, Europe, and the United States.