Meaning:
“外” means “outward,” and “卷” means “to curl.” This is the opposite of “内卷” (nèijuǎn), which is translated as “involution” and refers to the scenario where over competition has forced all competitors to suffer from extreme stress; 外卷 refers to a new approach to competition. Depending on the context, Chinese netizens use the term to mean either “to find new growth points” or “to stop over competition.”
Example:
A: 隔壁的蛋糕店今天又推出两款特价点心，我们要不要也降价？
Gébì de dàngāodiàn jīntiān yòu tuīchū liǎngkuǎn tèjià diǎnxīn，wǒmen yàobuyào yě jiàngjià？
The bakery next door is offering two discounted cakes today. Are we going to lower the prices of our products too?
B: 这样下去不是办法，大家好好想想，开发一些新产品，要外卷不要内卷。
Zhèyàng xiàqù búshì bànfǎ，dàjiā hǎohǎo xiǎngxiǎng，kāifā yīxiē xīn chǎnpǐn，yào wàijuǎn búyào nèijuǎn。
That’s not a good solution. Let’s brainstorm and come up with some new products. We need to find new growth points rather than resorting to over competition.