Visits to Chinese high-tech factories are booming business. Five-day programs costing up to USD15,000 have seen strong demand; free slots to tour Xiaomi's electric vehicle (EV) factory are allocated through public lotteries; and tickets have reportedly been resold on secondhand platforms for as much as USD300. Senior investment executives and technology professionals are flying halfway around the world simply to take a close look at the production lines of China's smart factories for themselves. The high price of the tickets reflects the value of China's intelligent manufacturing. The willingness of foreign business leaders to spend a fortune on cross-border study tours shows that the manufacturing methods on display in Chinese factories offer an irreplaceable opportunity for firsthand observation.
At Xiaomi's Beijing EV factory, a complete vehicle rolls off the production line every 76 seconds. Since opening to visitors, the factory has received more than 250,000 visits from people from over 70 countries and regions, receiving more than 10,000 people on one occasion. Humanoid robot demonstrations in Hangzhou have also become a regular feature of the itineraries of many foreign executives visiting China. Data from the International Federation of Robotics are even more telling: China installed 295,000 new industrial robots in 2024, more than the rest of the world combined, compared with approximately 27,000 in Germany and 34,000 in the U.S. during the same period. The essence of this “study-tour boom” is an opportunity for cooperation. Immersive experiences of China's technological capabilities are becoming an important window through which foreign investors can understand China and identify future opportunities.
Organizers of the tours have acknowledged that even companies that do not plan to invest in China will inevitably encounter Chinese companies in global markets, making firsthand visits an essential part of due diligence. One organizer of Chinese factory study tours noted that roughly half of its clients come from Southeast Asia. Since the end of 2025, a number of European business delegations have also visited China to learn from its experience. Shenzhen offers equally striking evidence: the number of inbound foreign visitors increased by 70% last year, and as of August 4 this year, the number of entries and exits made by foreign nationals through Shenzhen ports had exceeded 5 million. Those captivated by tours of Chinese factories are not limited to people in technology and industry. As another way to experience “China Travel,” China's advanced manufacturing sector is becoming a new window through which foreign visitors can understand the country, the Global Times reports.
