Last week, a massive high-tech trade fair in central China drew a significant Russian presence, but the only American visible was Elon Musk — or rather, his voice, promoting humanoid robots via a Tesla video. This scene set the stage for a showcase of China’s technological ambition.
Among hundreds of exhibitors, the Tesla booth was just one part of a dazzling, and at times peculiar, display of innovation. Attendees marvelled at boxing robots, toilet-cleaning robots, emotional support robots for seniors, self-driving police vehicles, a pioneering autonomous yacht, and a vast array of over 100 Chinese electric vehicle brands locked in fierce competition for market dominance.
Dominating Tesla’s section at the fourth Global Digital Trade Expo in Hangzhou was the Cybertruck, a formidable, tank-like vehicle unable to be sold in China due to regulatory hurdles. While other Tesla models are available, their sales have sharply declined, overshadowed by aggressive Chinese competitors who offer superior technology and significantly lower prices, despite many of these local brands struggling to turn a profit.
[Image caption]: Tesla’s booth at the expo featured a Cybertruck.
This enormous exhibition, spanning an area larger than 21 football fields, was a testament to China’s remarkable transformation. Once reliant on cheap labor for manufacturing, the nation has evolved into an economic powerhouse fueled by homegrown innovation and a commanding grasp of advanced technologies, areas traditionally led by the United States.
However, amidst rising global trade tensions and widespread concern in both developed and developing nations over a surge in Chinese exports, the expo inadvertently highlighted critical questions: Is there enough global demand for this massive output? And more importantly, can the companies behind these innovations actually achieve sustainable profitability?
The expo kicked off with an opening ceremony featuring high-ranking Chinese officials and Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Grigorenko. Their speeches emphasized the need for greater global collaboration, subtly criticizing the Trump administration’s inconsistent attempts to restrict China’s access to cutting-edge AI chips and impede its technological ascent.
Wang Hao, the Communist Party chief for Zhejiang Province—home to Hangzhou—revealed that the digital economy now contributes over half of his province’s total output, a remarkable shift for a region historically known for agriculture, tea, and silkworms. He expressed China’s desire to ‘collaborate with all partners to explore the vast opportunities in digital trade and forge a new era of mutually beneficial cooperation.’
President Trump, however, has often viewed such ‘cooperation’ through a different lens, famously stating in April that China ‘has ripped us off and left us for dead.’
A salesman promoting urinal-cleaning robots at the expo countered this perspective, arguing that such a view overlooks the universal benefits. ‘Nobody likes cleaning toilets,’ he reasoned, questioning why there would be an issue with Chinese robots performing these undesirable tasks.
His company, Hangzhou Star Species Robotics, has primarily served the domestic market, providing robots to sanitize public restrooms in Chinese railway stations and other venues. However, they are now ambitiously looking to expand their reach into international markets.
[Image caption]: A robot demonstrates cleaning a toilet at the expo.
The expo organizers subtly aimed to demonstrate the futility of American isolation efforts, without directly naming President Trump. They proudly announced a 64 percent increase in international buyer attendance compared to the previous year, with 11,000 registrations, underscoring the event’s growing global influence.
A Foreign Ministry-sponsored tour for foreign journalists through the Yangtze River Delta’s high-tech companies reinforced this message: despite the Trump administration’s attempts to curb China’s progress and any economic challenges the country might face, its AI, robotics, and other digital industries are advancing rapidly and unstoppably.
“If you face obstacles, there’s always an alternative route,” stated Kong Fuan, Communist Party secretary at the Hongqiao Overseas Development Service Center in Shanghai. His office actively works to attract foreign investment and talent while simultaneously assisting Chinese firms in their global expansion.
He contrasted China’s approach with that of the United States, which is making it increasingly difficult and costly for companies to hire foreign workers. Mr. Kong affirmed, “We warmly welcome talent from every corner of the globe.”
In a bid to further attract global expertise, China is rolling out a specialized visa, simplifying the process for STEM graduates from leading universities worldwide to come to China for studies or business ventures.
Hefei, a city west of Shanghai, has undergone a remarkable transformation from a quiet backwater into a bustling high-tech hub. Here, iFlyTek, an AI company, serves as a direct challenge to the Trump administration’s China policies. Since being blacklisted by the U.S. in 2019 over alleged human rights concerns—a move that barred it from acquiring American products—iFlyTek has impressively continued to innovate and expand its product line, unfazed by the restrictions.
Since then, the company has relocated to a sprawling, strikingly futuristic new office campus, reflecting its continued growth.
[Image caption]: The sleek headquarters of iFlyTek in Hefei, China.
Among its latest innovations are an automated exam grading system for schools and an AI chatbot capable of answering questions in half a dozen languages, including Chinese, English, and Russian. When queried about the reasons for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the chatbot offered a nuanced response, acknowledging Russian security concerns while also noting President Vladimir V. Putin’s use of propaganda and the war as a distraction from Russia’s ‘stagnating economy.’
Cheng Chen, general manager of iFlyTek’s consumer AI translation business group, clarified that the exam grading machine isn’t designed to replace teachers. Instead, its purpose is to free up educators, allowing them to dedicate more time to creative and essential aspects of their profession.
Despite intermittent U.S. restrictions on exporting advanced AI chips—which she acknowledged as ‘the best for training large language models’—Chen asserted that these measures haven’t hindered iFlyTek. She confidently stated that Huawei, another Chinese tech giant, is supplying entirely suitable alternatives.
With state-owned China Mobile as its primary shareholder, iFlyTek’s stock price has more than doubled since the imposition of Trump-era sanctions. The company’s market value appears largely insulated from recent U.S.-China trade tensions.
Last week’s news that China had reportedly barred its major tech firms from purchasing advanced AI chips from U.S. giant Nvidia further solidified the narrative that China is capable of independent technological development.
This pursuit of technological autonomy has become a central pillar of President Xi Jinping’s state policy. In recent years, Xi has frequently invoked the phrase ‘zili gengsheng,’ or ‘self-reliance’—a term popularized by Mao Zedong to describe a historically catastrophic economic policy that isolated China and impoverished its populace. Xi’s modern interpretation, however, aims for strategic independence, not total isolation.
Xi’s current vision of self-reliance isn’t about isolating China entirely. Instead, it emphasizes the Communist Party’s absolute control over any foreign elements that could potentially threaten national sovereignty. In the rapidly evolving high-tech sector, this translates to fostering an ‘autonomously controllable’ ecosystem of AI hardware and software, a goal reiterated by the president at an April Politburo meeting.
[Image caption]: The immense exhibition in Hangzhou featured a diverse range of Chinese innovations, highlighting the country’s growing prowess in advanced technologies once dominated by the U.S.
Despite China’s ambitious self-reliance narrative, there are clear limitations to its complete independence. The eagerness of many high-tech companies at the expo to secure foreign sales underscores their continued reliance on global markets.
China’s burgeoning trade surpluses, which last year contributed up to half of its economic growth, have been crucial in mitigating the fallout from a prolonged property market downturn.
Trade between China and the United States has seen a steep decline since President Trump assumed office this year, largely due to tariff-related uncertainties. Nevertheless, China’s total trade surplus is projected to surpass last year’s staggering nearly $1 trillion imbalance.
The question of whether China can truly thrive without the most advanced American AI chips remains a contentious point. At the Hangzhou expo, Chen Jiaxin, a marketing manager for Unitree Robotics, enthusiastically presented her company’s advancements in human-like robots that can dance and box. However, she sidestepped all inquiries regarding the impact of U.S. export restrictions on chips and broader trade tensions, stating, ‘It is not convenient to answer.’
Perhaps the most telling indicator could come from DeepSeek, a Chinese startup that last year surprised Silicon Valley by releasing a new AI system. This system, which notably utilized Nvidia chips, demonstrated capabilities comparable to chatbots developed at significantly higher costs by industry giants such as OpenAI and Google.
DeepSeek also had a presence at the Hangzhou digital expo, but its booth remained notably unmanned. This absence might stem from a reluctance to address sensitive questions, particularly whether the release of its new AI model this summer was postponed due to challenges with Chinese-manufactured substitute chips. The booth only featured a poster with its logo, offering no further details.