appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Peggy Ye

China’s largest second-hand electronics platform, ATRenew, plans to use its technology and trading standards to modernise Hong Kong’s huge wholesale market for pre-owned devices, as it seeks to make the city a springboard for its global expansion.
The New York-listed company on Tuesday launched FoneSquare – a cross-border business-to-business online marketplace for used electronics – as well as ReRe, a new consumer brand making its debut with a store in Hong Kong.
While the bricks-and-mortar outlet will test demand for certified second-hand products in Hong Kong, executives said the wholesale platform would be central to the group’s international growth strategy.
“We’re recreating overseas the infrastructure we spent the past decade building in mainland China,” said Jeremy Ji, the firm’s head of international business, at the company’s overseas strategy launch in Hong Kong on Tuesday.
“We’ve already proven the model in what is probably the world’s most complex second-hand electronics market,” Ji said, adding the company had built a mature sourcing network, merchant ecosystem, automated inspection system and unified grading standards.
Hong Kong is ATRenew’s first stop because it already sits at the heart of the global used-phone trade, according to the company.
Together with Dubai and Miami, it is one of three major redistribution hubs where devices collected in exporting markets – such as the United States, western Europe, Japan, South Korea and increasingly mainland China – are traded in bulk, before reaching buyers in importing markets.
Hong Kong primarily serves Southeast Asia, while Dubai covers the Middle East, Africa and parts of eastern Europe, and Miami serves Latin America. The three hubs handle about 100 million devices annually, the company said.
To tap into that ecosystem, ATRenew has rented a roughly 3,000 sq ft office at 1 Hung To Road, Kwun Tong, in a commercial building that has become the centre of Hong Kong’s wholesale second-hand phone trade. The building houses hundreds of wholesalers, exporters and repair shops.
Managing more merchants, pricing and warehousing would add significant complexity
Jeremy Ji, ATRenew
“The market has a long history and is already very mature and prosperous,” said Kerry Chen, the firm’s founder and CEO. “We’re bringing our platform and inspection capabilities to upgrade and accelerate it.”
ATRenew’s trading platform, FoneSquare, aims to digitise businesses’ workflows. Buyers can browse inventory online, verify artificial intelligence-generated inspection reports, lock in prices and complete transactions before collecting goods in Hong Kong.
The company said the longer-term goal was to establish unified grading standards and pricing benchmarks in the overseas markets, reducing the uncertainty that has long characterised cross-border trading.
The overseas push builds on ATRenew’s domestic wholesale business. Its PJT Marketplace, launched in 2017, has become one of China’s largest business-to-business marketplaces for pre-owned electronics.
ATRenew processed 41.8 million products and generated 21.05 billion yuan (US$3.1 billion) in revenue last year.
The company is currently refining its operating processes and risk controls in Hong Kong, ahead of opening the platform to a broader network of third-party sellers, according to Ji. Once the model is proven in Hong Kong, the firm plans to expand it to Dubai.
“Managing more merchants, pricing and warehousing would add significant complexity,” Ji said.
Besides its trading platform FoneSquare, ATRenew also opened its first overseas ReRe bricks-and-mortar outlet in Tsuen Wan on Tuesday.
The company chose the area over a tourist district to gauge whether Hong Kong residents would embrace certified second-hand electronics, luxury goods and sporting equipment, it said. If things go well, it plans to open stores in residential areas such as Sha Tin and Tseung Kwan O.
“We are delighted that Hong Kong can serve as an important showcase window for the group’s complete ‘from recycling to retail’ circular economy model,” said Alpha Lau, the director general at official government agency InvestHK, who also attended the event.


As Chinese consumption of gold jewellery slumps 34%, sellers look to markets abroad: WGC

In a first, top European design prize awarded to €20 uniform for China’s delivery drivers

China cracks down on big firms delaying payments to cash-strapped SMEs

Veteran investor Fang Fenglei on why the China ‘investibility’ debate is no debate at all

China’s private sector

China’s ATRenew has big plans for Hong Kong’s little-known phone trading hub

Customers browse used devices at the newly opened ReRe outlet in Hong Kong. Photo: Handout

Hong Kong’s Asean charm offensive bags US$1.5 billion Malaysian bond listing

Bursa Malaysia, a Malaysian stock exchange and one of the largest in Asean, in Bukit Kewangan, Kuala Lumpur. Shutterstock

Fast-fashion giant Shein swings to US$99m first-quarter loss ahead of Hong Kong listing

Shein’s net revenue edged up 1.1 per cent to US$9.05 billion in the first quarter of 2026. Photo: Reuters

Why do mainland Chinese firms refuse to give up on Wall Street IPOs?

A view of the New York Stock Exchange on Wall Street in New York City. Photo: AFP

The Wall Street entrance to the New York Stock Exchange in New York City. Photo: Reuters/File photo

Hong Kong’s Exchange Fund first-half earnings fall 37% on equity slump, softer bond income

The Exchange Fund’s earnings stood at HK$134.7 billion, down from the record half-year return of HK$214 billion in 2025, on Hong Kong equity losses. Photo: Edmond So

Investment with Chinese characteristics: how Beijing’s money is reshaping tech ventures

Illustration: Davies Christian

Business

China Business

Companies

New York-listed firm aims to modernise the city’s opaque wholesale market, which sits at the centre of a vast global network for used devices


New York-listed firm aims to modernise the city’s opaque wholesale market, which sits at the centre of a vast global network for used devices.


China’s ATRenew has big plans for Hong Kong’s little-known phone trading hub

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}New York-listed firm aims to modernise the city’s opaque wholesale market, which sits at the centre of a vast global network for used devices

New York-listed firm aims to modernise the city’s opaque wholesale market, which sits at the centre of a vast global network for used devices