Industrial tourism booms in China as global firms seek lessons in ‘China speed’
International firms, once the leaders in getting products to market quickly, are now touring Chinese factories to study how the country turns research into mass production at unprecedented speeds.
Visitors are seen at a booth for Chinese AI semiconductor company Eastern Computing Chips at the World AI Conference in Shanghai on July 17.AP/YONHAP
Global companies once accustomed to setting the pace are now increasingly looking to China for lessons in efficiency, collaboration and getting to market quickly. Calling themselves fast followers, they are flocking to the country to learn “China speed” — the breakneck pace at which technologies in the country move from research labs to factory floors and into mass production.
AI models, humanoid robots and sprawling EV production facilities are turning Chinese factories into magnets for industrial tourism, Reuters reported earlier this month.
“You cannot grasp the true scale, speed, and physicality of Chinese innovation without standing on the factory floor,” Bertrand Chen, CEO of Global Shipping Business Network, told the news agency. Chen took part in a three-city robotics and emerging tech tour in April.
The country’s industrial tourism sector will grow by an average of 18 percent annually to exceed 300 billion yuan ($44.7 billion) by 2029, according to a projection by China’s state-run Xinhua News Agency.
Today the phrase “Made in China,” long synonymous with cheap, value-for-money goods, appears to have shed its former reputation.
“China is simultaneously building strength across a number of critical sectors,” the ITIF report wrote. “This broad-based industrial capacity enables China to shape multiple supply chains, creating dense industrial ecosystems that reinforce its long-term technological and manufacturing leadership.”
China’s rise is underpinned by what amounts to a “one-team” approach that coordinates state authorities, universities and businesses.
A view of the ARM-structure server processor Yitian 710, developed by Alibaba's in-house semiconductor unit T-HeadAP/YONHAP
In March, the China National Intellectual Property Administration announced that it had screened 1.35 million patents held by some 2,700 universities and research institutions, identified about 680,000 inventions with commercial potential and matched them with 460,000 companies. Patents that might once have languished in Chinese research labs are increasingly finding their way into industry as the government plays matchmaker.
Even corporate rivals in China can work together when technology is at stake. “I saw engineers from competing Chinese companies sit down together and dissect advanced equipment from overseas,” said a source from Korea’s semiconductor industry. “In Korea, people would call that collusion. In China, they use it as a competitive edge.”
China also produces about 50,000 doctoral graduates each year in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, while universities and industry operate in close coordination from research and development (R&D) to commercial deployment.
One area on which China has established a commanding grip is the global rare-earth supply chain. The country is backed by an ecosystem of more than 40 specialist rare earth laboratories and 11 universities and technical colleges, according to Reuters’ report in June.
Workers at the booth for Chinese chipmaker ChangXin Memory Technologies, also known as CXMT, wait for visitors at the 21st China International Semiconductor Expo on Nov. 20, 2024, in Beijing.AP/YONHAP
The Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen, which runs more than 100 research institutes in partnership with companies, climbed to No. 31 in the latest Nature Index just 14 years after its founding. Its ranking was ahead of Seoul National University, which landed at No. 58.
China also has unmatched spending power behind its research drive. Its R&D investment totals 97.14 trillion yen ($627.7 billion), ranking first globally, according to Japan’s National Institute of Science and Technology Policy.
“China goes as far as putting corporate research institutes inside universities and having them conduct long-term joint research,” said Cho Joon-mo, a professor of economics at Sungkyunkwan University. “Korean universities need to retain talent with comprehensive research packages that go beyond research infrastructure to include housing, health care and career support.”
China’s vast domestic market also serves as an all-purpose testing ground where new technologies can be put through their paces almost immediately.
“Korea urgently needs a two-track strategy: Tap into China’s manufacturing ecosystem where cost competitiveness matters, while maintaining a technological lead in core technologies that China cannot easily replace,” said Jeon Byeong-seo, the head of the China Economic and Financial Research Institute.
“Rather than simply fearing China and putting up barriers, Korea needs to be pragmatic about what it must protect and where it can benefit from China.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
