Tech pilgrims flock to China as global innovation race heats up

HUMANOID robots working on factory floors, AI models challenging global rivals and electric-vehicle plants churning out cars at breathtaking scale are drawing a new wave of foreign visitors to China. Investors and entrepreneurs are paying thousands of dollars for rare access to Chinese factories, seeking a front-row seat to what many believe could be the next technological revolution. The influx reflects mounting fears of a "China shock 2.0", with Western boardrooms and capitals confronting the possibility that Chinese companies are seizing the lead in advanced manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies. "Right now, people are looking at China as an object of study and learning — a trend that barely existed just a few years ago," says Robert Wu, CEO of Shanghai-based data research firm Baiguan. He noted that visitors often arrive with misconceptions — for instance, assuming China's robotaxi sector leads the US, when domestic policy caution around potential job losses actually keeps it a step behind. Wu has organised two tours for more than two dozen investors, entrepreneurs and executives so far, charging up to US$15,000 for a five-day programme. Around half the participants came from Southeast Asia. He is part of a growing cottage industry catering to foreign demand for first-hand access to China's innovation ecosystem. Many attendees avoid publicising their visits. Among those known to have made the trip are US investment firms Dimension, Capital Group and Thrive Capital, as well as US tech podcaster Lex Fridman. While data on tech tours is scarce, broader industrial tourism is booming. China's industrial tourism sector pulled in US$17.8 billion last year, according to state media, and is projected to blow past 300 billion yuan (US$44.6 billion) by 2029. Shanghai-based tech tour agency Glopen says inquiries jumped 50 per cent in 2026 from mostly European and Singaporean clients, and it now runs over 100 single-day company tours every month. "You cannot grasp the true scale, speed, and physicality of Chinese innovation without standing on the factory floor," says Bertrand Chen, CEO of the Global Shipping Business Network, who joined an April three-city robotics and emerging tech tour organised by Chinese American investor Rui Ma. Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China and organizer of 11 such tours since 2019, frames it as essential due diligence: "Even if you're not actively investing in China, you're increasingly likely to encounter Chinese companies as competitors, partners, suppliers, or investments in markets around the world." The circuit spans Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hefei, the industrial powerhouses at the heart of China's electric-vehicle, battery, AI and robotics boom. World leaders have also flocked to Xiaomi's Beijing auto factory, while Germany's Chancellor Friedrich Merz was famously filmed watching Unitree's dancing humanoid robots in Hangzhou, a high-profile showcase of the country's technological ascent. None of this is happening by accident. Beijing has explicitly pledged to "vigorously promote" industrial tourism, designating over 140 official demonstration sites. A growing number of factories are offering public tours at around US$60 a pop. Xiaomi's EV factory has welcomed more than 250,000 visitors since March 2024. Demand is so intense that lottery-awarded entry slots are scalped online for up to 2,000 yuan (US$300). For European executives wrestling with sluggish productivity growth and fears of falling behind in AI and robotics, China has become a particularly important destination. Alex Shengyun Lu, a Shanghai-based AI consultant at Praxis Advisory, has led seven delegations of up to 50 corporate visitors since late 2025 and describes an uneasy mood. "The smartest people in Europe are acutely aware of the situation. The insecurity is palpable," he says. Executives typically arrive seeking answers to two questions, Lu said: what they can learn from Chinese companies and from China's state-backed approach to technology investment. "They are coming here with a genuine mindset of humility and learning." No city embodies the trend more than Shenzhen. Taxis now carry English-language announcements and foreign influencers regularly appear at tech exhibitions. Czech entrepreneur Jan Smejkal, who has lived in the city for 11 years, says scarcely a day passes without a request from foreign startup founders keen to visit. "There is no other place on earth that takes technology to its core and integrates it into daily life quite like Shenzhen." * The writer is from Reuters