Two roads leading to Medog County, nestled deep within the Himalayas of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, have fulfilled the long-held aspirations of its local community.
At a relatively low average elevation of 1,200 meters, Medog in the city of Nyingchi, was once the last county in China without permanent road access. The place has much more moisture in its air than other place in the region, fostering year-round frost, rain, snow and heavy fog.
Facing the tough geography and climate, China's outstanding engineers, however, build roads through mountains and bridges over rivers. They also bored a 3-kilometer-long tunnel facing the magnificent, snow-capped Galongla Mountain, and set up long sections of shed tunnels to shelter their road from frequent avalanches.
The Medog Highway, the first highway leading to Medog with a total length of 117 kilometers, opened to traffic in October 2013 after more than 50 years of sincere efforts, connecting the county with Zhamog Township of Bomi County in Nyingchi.
According to statistics, since its opening, the highway has endured 652 continuous heavy rainfalls, 265 heavy snowfalls, 258 slope and subgrade collapses, 394 mudslides and 71 avalanches. Therefore, efforts to upgrade the highway have never stopped over the past decade.
In October 2022, construction of a second highway was completed. The second passageway to Medog is a 67.22-km highway connecting Pad Township in the city of Nyingchi and Medog County.
After the new highway was opened to traffic, the length of the road connecting the city proper of Nyingchi and Medog County was shortened to 180 kilometers from 346 kilometers, cutting travel time to four hours, and it only takes three hours to drive to Nyingchi Mainling Airport from Medog.
New roads leading to Medog realize Xizang's long-held dreams
From cutting-edge technology exhibitions to retail stores thousands of kilometers away from Europe and Southeast Asia, China-made robot vacuum cleaners are increasingly becoming a popular choice among consumers worldwide.
At electronics retailers in Berlin, Germany, Chinese brands such as Roborock and Dreame occupy prominent positions in dedicated robot vacuum sections, offering a wide range of products priced between 200 and 2,000 euros.
Many local consumers said that when purchasing smart home appliances including robot vacuum cleaners, they tend to give priority to Chinese-made products.
"It's a good price and good quality. It's also the innovation. I have a feeling that the European brands are not innovating enough," said one customer.
"I think they're always on top of the other technologies. They are getting them out faster. A lot of us are switching to the Chinese technology," another consumer said.
Germany is one of the most important overseas markets for China's floor-cleaning robots.
According to data from market research firm GfK, from January to November 2025, more than six out of 10 robot vacuum cleaners sold in Western Europe were Chinese brands.
Industry data also point to a strong global momentum.
According to the International Data Corporation (IDC), global shipments of smart robot vacuum cleaners reached 17.424 million units in the first three quarters of 2025, representing a year-on-year increase of 18.7 percent.
Chinese brands including Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame, Xiaomi and Narwal ranked among the world's top five in terms of shipment volume, with a combined share of nearly 70 percent of the global market.
At a robot vacuum cleaner manufacturing plant in Huizhou, south China's Guangdong Province, workers were seen stepping up production of newly launched models that recently debuted at the Consumer Electronics Show in the United States, which concluded Friday in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The factory adjusted its production lines as early as December 2025 and stocked inventory in advance for overseas markets to ensure that new products could be delivered to global consumers at the earliest possible time.
"In 2025, Roborock's global shipments exceeded 7.2 million units. Since 2024, overseas revenue has accounted for more than 50 percent of our total revenue. Our products have now been sold to more than 170 countries and regions, serving more than 20 million households worldwide," said Quan Gang, president of Roborock.
At another robot vacuum cleaner manufacturing facility in Dongguan, Guangdong, rising overseas orders have prompted the company to upgrade its production lines with intelligent technologies to further boost capacity. The factory is currently operating at full load to meet a growing demand.
"For 2026, we have already obtained overseas orders worth at least 300 million to 400 million yuan (around 43 million to 57.3 million U.S. dollars). In addition, we've engaged in strategic cooperation with European home appliance group Cebos Group, and our total confirmed orders have exceeded 600 million yuan (around 86 million U.S. dollars)," said Zhang Junbin, founder and CEO of Narwal Robotics.
Chinese robot vacuum brands gain strong global traction
