China as a Gateway to Global Markets: The ApartX Case

PropTech startup ApartX has signed a white label contract with a Chinese technology partner for $100,000. The platform automates real estate rental and develops smart-lock infrastructure, digital contracts, AI agents, and rental operations management. The deal opens access to the EU, MENA, and North American markets through the partner’s distribution network, which has already deployed over 200,000 smart locks.

The contract involves licensing the ApartX software platform under a white label model, adapting it for international markets, and deeply integrating it with the partner’s hardware solutions — smart locks and IoT infrastructure for residential and rental properties.

Entering global markets via China — an opportunity window for Central Asian startups

The ApartX deal reflects a new stage of international cooperation between Central Asian startups and Chinese technology companies.

In recent years, Chinese businesses have faced increasing regulatory and operational restrictions in Europe and North America: more complex tax procedures, account blocks, rising bureaucracy, and additional compliance requirements. Formally, these are not sanctions, but such barriers significantly slow down scaling and direct entry into global markets.

In this context, Chinese entrepreneurs are increasingly choosing partnership models for development, teaming up with technology companies from other regions. Startups from Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan are getting a unique chance to become operators and owners of software solutions that scale globally with the support of Chinese manufacturing, capital, and distribution.

The Role of Khan Tengri Innovation Hub

Against the backdrop of growing interest in such cooperation formats, infrastructure is being developed in Shanghai to help turn such deals from rare exceptions into a clear and repeatable path for international scaling. One such platform is Khan Tengri Innovation Hub. With strategic support from Astana Hub and IT Park Uzbekistan, the hub connects Central Asian startups with Chinese corporate and technology partners and helps structure partnerships, including white label and licensing models aimed at global markets.

The hypothesis that China can become a stable “assembly point” for export technology contracts for regional startups will be tested and developed within the framework of an offline acceleration program in Shanghai in March. Applications are accepted until the end of January: https://scaleup.khantengrihub.com/.

The program will also focus on practical work with startups in the same areas as the ApartX case: entering the Chinese market, access to technology and production partners, launching white label and licensing models, and preparing for joint global expansion.

ApartX’s experience in this format becomes not just a “separate success story,” but a benchmark for what results can be achieved through systematic work at the intersection of Central Asia and China, and what tools are needed to scale these results to more companies in the region.