An overview of part of Songshan Lake industrial zone, in Dongguan, on June 23, 2025. (South Photo)
An underwater robot floats up and down, splashing in the pool from time to time. Robots in various shapes and wheels march and then bounce on the slope.
Such scenarios stunned delegation members of the Vibrant China Research Tour from June 23 to 24 when visiting tech firms in Dongguan, a city in Guangdong renowned for its high-tech manufacturing.
After thorough introductions of these cutting-edge products by their founders and engineers, one venue has been cited loads of times --- Songshan Lake, standing for a high-tech industrial development zone.
The cradle for innovation
Located in the golden hinterland of Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong SAR, Songshan Lake high-tech industrial development zone have attracted hi-tech enterprises and talents based on its adorable natural environment and robust science and technology root.
A robot march on the slope, in Dongguan, on June 23, 2025. (South Photo)
Direct Drive Tech specializing in developing robot actuators is one of the local firms. During the exchange with the delegation, Liu Xitong, Director of external relations of Direct Drive Tech, listed three factors for the company selecting here.
First, Dongguan possesses powerful manufacturing capabilities and supply chain ecology, which is very important for start-ups to start from scratch. They can turn design concepts into products fast.
Second, start-ups need to achieve rapid iterations of products in a period of from 1 to 100. They can only achieve this hinging on a robust supply chain system as it can compress the product iteration cycle as soon as possible then to lead the entire industry.
Finally, there must be policy support from local government. Songshan Lake high-tech industrial development zone is willing to access scenes for them to test products.
After two decades or so since its launch, GDP of the industrial zone reached 100 billion yuan in 2024. The zone's R&D investment rate reached 13.3%. The number of high-tech firms added to 770, and the total number of talents exceeded 240,000.
Tech firms in the zone for overseas expansion
Given the export-oriented economy mode since China joined WTO in 2001, the very year Songshan Lake high-tech industrial development zone was launched. Enterprises in the zone have always entertained a global vision for overseas market.
Zongliang receives the interview with South, in Dongguan, on June 23, 2025. (South Photo)
When answering the firm's overseas experience by a South reporter, "To some extent, if we were to classify it, we should be a born globalized enterprise," noted Pan Zongliang, co-founder and COO of ePropulsion, an electric boat motor manufacturer headquartered in the zone.
Pan then detailed that their initial products targeted countries in Europe and America such as the Netherlands and Germany. The firm started promoting the market in 2013 and shipping oversea in 2015.
"When we first started to engage in new energy boats, we are doing business to customer. If you are in the coastal cities of Miami and Florida in the United States, you can pull a boat and go directly to the lake to play," Pan pointed out.
An electric boat motor, in Dongguan, on June 23, 2025. (South Photo)
At the beginning, the enterprise aimed at establishing an overseas-renowned brand.
Pan told South this is attributed to DJI. According to Pan, Wang Tao, DJI founder once said to leaders of ePropulsion that if the product is highly technological and in various attributes, it should be sold overseas first.
The firm can gain a foothold in the overseas market before returning to China. In this way, it will have a certain potential. If the firm only does the domestic market at the beginning, it may sink into a price war, which will be very tough going overseas at that time.
Currently, ePropulsion leads the development of the entire new energy boat industry. Its global sales outlets cover over 60 countries and regions including North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. Electric outboard motor product shipments rank first worldwide.
Another shining example comes from Bluediver focusing on producing underwater robots.
Hu Gangyi receives the interview with South, in Dongguan, on June 24, 2025. (South Photo)
Hu Gangyi, General Manager of the firm told South that underwater operations of their products currently cover from 0 to 1000 meters of rivers, lakes and offshore economic zones.
At present, underwater robots are already world-class in some technical aspects, such as Underwater Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (SLAM) based on underwater sonar images, underwater scene reconstruction, and underwater automatic search and rescue based on laser gyroscope and inertial navigation.
An underwater robot detects in the pool, in Dongguan, on June 24, 2025. (South Photo)
Notably, Hu noted that the firm sent a prototype into Fukushima in Japan to conduct filming and exploration in 2018. China can use robots to replace manual operations in such complex and serious nuclear radiation application scenarios.
"We participated in the Zhuhai Air Show last year. A large number of foreign users showed great interest in Chinese underwater robots. We currently export some products to countries in the Middle East and Africa," he added.
Reporter: Zhang Ruijun
Photo: Zhang Ruijun
Editor: Yuan Zixiang, James, Shen He
