Foreign Interest in China Tech Tours Surges as AI Hardware Boom Gathers Pace

China’s factory floors are becoming destinations for foreign investors and technology executives. Humanoid robots, electric vehicles and artificial-intelligence systems are drawing visitors who want to see the country’s industrial scale up close.

Some visitors are paying up to US$15,000 for five-day programmes that include access to Chinese factories and technology companies. Robert Wu, chief executive of Shanghai data research firm Baiguan, has organised two tours for more than two dozen investors, entrepreneurs and executives. About half came from Southeast Asia.

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Right now, people are looking at China as an object of study and learning, a trend that barely existed just a few years ago.

“Right now, people are looking at China as an object of study and learning, a trend that barely existed just a few years ago,” Wu said. He added that visitors sometimes arrive with mistaken assumptions. One example is the belief that China’s robotaxi industry has already overtaken the United States, whereas domestic caution over possible job losses has kept the sector behind.

The growing demand has created a small industry offering foreign visitors direct access to China’s innovation ecosystem. Many participants keep their trips private, although visitors known to have travelled include US investment firms Dimension, Capital Group and Thrive Capital, along with technology podcaster Lex Fridman.

Shanghai-based agency GloPen said inquiries rose 50% in 2026, mainly from European and Singaporean clients. It now runs more than 100 single-day company tours each month. “You cannot grasp the true scale, speed, and physicality of Chinese innovation without standing on the factory floor,” said Bertrand Chen, chief executive of the Global Shipping Business Network, who joined a three-city robotics and emerging technology tour in April.

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You cannot grasp the true scale, speed, and physicality of Chinese innovation without standing on the factory floor.

Rui Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China, has organised 11 tours since 2019. She describes them as necessary 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,” Ma said.

The tours cover industrial centres including Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou and Hefei, where electric vehicles, batteries, AI and robotics are expanding rapidly. China’s industrial tourism sector generated US$17.8 billion in 2025, according to state media, and is forecast to exceed 300 billion yuan by 2029. Global leaders have also visited Chinese factories, including Xiaomi’s Beijing auto plant and Unitree’s humanoid robot operations in Hangzhou.

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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.