Using the 2025 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas as a starting point, where over 1500 Chinese companies exhibited, I have written a piece describing how Shenzhen is becoming one of perhaps several Silicon Valleys in China. Shenzhen is home to 35% of Chinese companies at CES, and is one of the fast-growing cities in what China refers to as the Greater Bay Area, which includes Shenzhen, Hong Kong, Macao and 8 other cities in Guangdong province. Together they are building an innovation ecosystem rivalling the US Silicon Valley’s.
Within Zhenzhen is a new institution, XbotPark and InnoX, that is creating a pipeline of China’s next generation of leaders in high-tech product development. InnoX and XbotPark were developed by Professor Li Zexiang, who is one of China’s top entrepreneurs. The most famous of Li’s companies is DJI, which was started by Li Zexiang’s student at HKUST, Frank Wang. DJI is the world leader in consumer drones and now holds 75% of global market share with a valuation over $20 billion US. To learn more about InnoX and XBot Park, I interviewed Carol Yu, who is a founding Partner and the Associate Dean of Shenzhen InnoX Academy. Yu describes how InnoX and XBot Park work, and how it is beginning to transform STEM education in China and around the world
The piece is available on Forbes.com at this link: https://www.forbes.com/sites/bryanpenprase/2025/02/25/a-new-school-for-chinese-innovatorsinnox-and-xbot-park/