The latest technology trends transforming Chinese society.
After spending two months following Chinese social media for the latest socio-technological revelations and trends, I thought I saw the future of Chinese society, but I actually saw the future of a world yet to follow in China’s footsteps, as the future has already arrived there.
China is investing more into technology R&D than ever before, especially in the Information Technology and Robotics industries, as part of the 14th Five-Year Plan. Despite being areas previously dominated by other countries, China has no fear of rivaling the greatest powers in the world when coming out on top is expected. Its goal is that by 2025, it moves away from being the world’s factory to a technology-intensive powerhouse.
The following are major trends in the development of China’s technologically advanced smart cities.
Whether still in ideological conception or already in production, there is a huge push on finding more efficient ways to save lives. This is seen in the form of fire engines with expandable slides that can reach windows in 50m buildings, flying fire extinguishers and water tanks, and drones equipped with window breakers and firebombs with the potential to smother a fire before firefighters even arrive on the scene. One passenger Autonomous Aerial Vehicles (AAV’s), carrying 150 liters of extinguishing foam, await their call to save the day in some high-rise Chinese cities already.
This is the focus of leading experts, researchers, and robotic engineers from across China and is manifesting in two distinct forms:
i. The automation of hospital services, involving robots that deliver medicine and food to patients in isolation wards, and disinfection robots that aid staff in sterilizing corridors. This was critical to minimizing risk during the pandemic and is particularly helpful in large clean-up missions, like after serious flooding affected several Chinese cities.
ii. Robot-assisted minimally invasive surgery, which has seen the world’s first orthopedic surgical robot come from Chinese researchers and developers after 17 years in the making, with 0.82mm precision and operation times reduced by 27%.
More specifically within this topic, there have also been improvements in the quality of living for people who use wheelchairs, with break-through technology introducing the ability to control multiple chairs from one’s phone, removing the need to exert physical effort in moving a chair, and the never seen before the ability to synchronize chairs so users can dance together.
3. AI is entering parts of life we didn’t know it was needed in
Helping us to solve problems of every magnitude, Al has become more integrated and visible in Chinese society. Examples include AI mirrors in hairdressers that suggest the best hairstyle to suit you based on your facial proportions, AI grocery stores that allow you to pick up whatever you need and just walk out, and road barriers that determine when traffic has increased sufficiently enough to automatically open a new lane to manage capacity.
4. Future-proof cars
With a mandate in China requiring 40% of vehicle sales to be battery-powered by every manufacturer by 2030, future-proofing for long-term sustainability has pushed the emergence of innovative car concepts and designs, including cars with large in-built solar panels and the world’s most aerodynamic electric car (the Eno.146), which is even a six-seater vehicle.
In addition, every technology expo features a flying car of some sort, normally resembling a large passenger drone, but concepts vary with some manufacturers, like Xpeng affiliate HT Aero, teasing flying cars that can also operate on roads, planned for 2024 rollout!
However, while nice to imagine using them to travel someday soon, it is clear that this technology has been favored in areas of society where it is needed more, such as passenger drones for use in emergency fire rescue operations. It will take much longer for flying cars to become a commodity for the average Chinese citizen.
5. Logistics Management Technology
Within the sphere of e-commerce, major developments to gain competitive advantage are being trialed and they mostly focus on the end-stage of the consumer journey: delivery. The focus on maximizing delivery speed is expected to increase customer satisfaction and therefore sales. The automation of this process was therefore key for Alibaba which saw robots as a faster, more reliable, and relatively cheaper way to meet the demands of the world’s largest consumer market, as they released their delivery robots on university campuses this year.
Similarly, small drones have been tested by companies such as JD.com to deliver goods in cities and are also being used to deliver fresh produce to rural, mountainous regions. There are also huge drones more akin to airplanes being used to transport goods across 1,200km distances. More can be read about this here.
6. Gaming has created a huge community.
The lonely one-child generation has never felt so connected as it does through gaming. China’s recent win in the League of Legends World Championship proved this as millions of fans cheered throughout the country in support of the e-sport team. Gaming is so popular because of the qualities of inclusion, fun, and escapism it offers.
The mass popularity of PC gaming has also sparked the increase in home gamer stations, the likes of the video below, that dramatically enhance the personalization of the gaming experience.
Indeed, it is not uncommon to find most Chinese arcades featuring advanced VR games, with as many as eight 4D effects, and complete enclosures that soundproof a gaming pod, all to enhance the gaming experience. Traditional merry-go-rounds have also been enhanced with VR headsets, so children who are bored of moving in circles in real life can now experience more meaningful play by going in circles in a parallel universe instead…
These are the biggest technology trends in Chinese society I have seen as of the last few months but there is still a lot out of miscellaneous tech marvels out there; ping-pong playing robots, phone screens that can only be viewed through ‘spy’ glasses, and mountainsides that light up when they are screamed at. All of these are shared on the Sinofy Stories LinkedIn page and Sinofy Group TikTok, where you can keep up to date with the latest technological innovations and trends in the world today.
