The high-quality development of international Chinese language education urgently needs to cultivate a team of teachers with outstanding professional competence.The high-quality development of international Chinese education urgently requires the cultivation of a highly competent teaching force. However, prior research has inadequately explored the intrinsic mechanisms of international Chinese teachers’ professional development in the context of popularization and early childhood education.This study employs grounded theory methodology through in-depth interviews with international Chinese preschool teachers in Singapore, investigating the critical elements and mechanisms of teacher professional development to construct a dynamic symbiotic model. Key findings reveal: (1) Core elements encompass instructional adaptation, educational philosophy, differentiated instruction, home-kindergarten communication, professional support, and the integration and indigenization of Chinese culture. (2) These elements co-evolve through nonlinear interconnections, forming an interactive structure characterized by adaptation, innovation, support, and feedback. (3) Chinese cultural integration and indigenization serve a dual role as both the logical endpoint of the model and the starting point of the feedback loop, functioning as the core driver. (4) Educational policy and the socio-cultural environment of multiculturalism act as foundational elements, profoundly influencing the dynamic adjustments of all components and shaping a co-evolutionary symbiotic network. The study demonstrates that international Chinese preschool teachers’ professional development constitutes a dynamic, complex process shaped by institutional constraints, agentic practice, and environmental co-construction, with the depth of Chinese cultural integration contingent upon the synergistic efficacy of the model's elements. Accordingly, support mechanisms for the dynamic symbiotic model are proposed: developing a layered policy support system adaptable to multicultural contexts; building a hierarchical “adaptive-coexistence” framework for cultural pedagogy; and strengthening an ecological support network for multi-stakeholder collaboration to effectively underpin teachers’ professional growth and the high-quality dissemination of Chinese culture.