Robots, AI, and innovative drugs — the so-called new ‘New Three’ — have become China's newest foreign trade calling card, with state media highlighting their explosive overseas performance.
In the first half of 2026, China's industrial robot exports jumped 18.6% year-on-year, reaching 141 countries and regions. Surgical robot exports surged 3.3 times. The numbers signal more than industrial upgrading: they mark a solid entry into the global high-end medical market, confirming that Chinese manufacturing has evolved from the labor-intensive old 'New Three' to the technology-intensive new 'New Three’.
AI technology is accelerating integration with hardware, opening up new application scenarios in overseas markets.
As for AI: data from OpenRouter, a global AI model aggregation platform, shows that in the third week of July, China's large models recorded 36.11 trillion tokens in weekly usage, ranking first globally for twelve consecutive weeks.
That report card means China's large models are not only popular domestically but have also secured a leading position in the global AI application market, outpacing competitors for three straight months.
Innovative drugs also broke through. In the first half, China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) approved 11 innovative drugs with new targets and mechanisms, all independently developed by Chinese pharmaceutical companies.
AI-assisted R&D is shortening the cycle for new drug discovery, speeding up the internationalization of homegrown innovative drugs.
Out-licensing transaction value reached about $110 billion (HK$858 billion), already 80% of last year's total. Chinese companies also claimed eight of the top ten global pharmaceutical transactions. That shows Chinese pharmaceutical companies are no longer 'following' — they've taken the lead in the global innovative drug transaction market.
Global Impact and Open-Source Leadership
Chinese-made cleaning robots are replacing high-altitude 'spider-men' in Australia, cutting the risks of dangerous work. In Brazil, Chinese large models assist local power grids with maintenance and inspection in complex environments.
An innovative drug capsule from Shanghai has also been included in global authoritative treatment guidelines. These concrete cases show that China's new ‘New Three' are not just a slogan — they are genuinely changing daily lives in other countries.
NBC recently cited a Pew Research Center poll released July 15, pointing out that the view of China as a more reliable partner is gaining recognition in many regions. Even the Financial Times reported that international platforms like Pinterest and Airbnb have long used Chinese open-source models to optimize products and iterate services.
France's Libération added that thanks to a complete production system and economies of scale, Chinese innovative drugs often launch at prices far below European and American counterparts. After some cancer treatments enter the French medical insurance system, each patient can save tens of thousands of euros annually.
Some Western countries, in contrast, have been building walls and barriers to contain China's tech rise. But China is doubling down on an open-source ecosystem, giving small and medium-sized enterprises and developing countries worldwide access to top-tier computing power at rock-bottom costs.
Global downloads of Chinese open-source large models have surpassed 10 billion. And on July 28, the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization was officially established in Shanghai, hailed as a milestone in AI
Western Dependence and Expert Endorsements
A Morgan Stanley report put it bluntly: Without China, the supply-chain cost for Tesla's Optimus Gen 2 humanoid robot would multiply several times over. That's a stinging rebuke to the West — even Elon Musk's own robot project can't escape China's supply chain.
Industrial robots are now widely used in automated sorting and logistics, boosting supply chain efficiency
Wang Xiaosong, a professor at Renmin University's School of Economics, argues that China's manufacturing upgrade rests on a complete, constantly evolving industrial system, sustained R&D spending, and a super-sized market.
It's the fruit of hard work and open collaboration. Over the past five years, China's R&D spending has grown 10% annually, ranking second globally.
Retired Pakistani Air Force Colonel Sultan Hali, a China expert, recently argued that Chinese-style modernization shows tech innovation isn't just a national engine — it can also fuel global development through open cooperation.
That's, to some extent, a direct rebuttal to the 'China threat theory': China brings opportunity, not impact; empowerment, not threats.
Mao Paishou
** 博客文章文責自負,不代表本公司立場 **
Outside 1515 Broadway in Times Square, the usual line mostly leads upstairs to the theater where The Lion King musical has been running for twenty years. But on September 19 local time, this line turned the corner, stretched all the way to the next intersection, and seemed endless.
The Line That Stopped Times Square
The source of the line was not the premiere of a new Broadway show, but a newly opened Chinese camera store.
The store opening that day was the first US flagship store of Chinese imaging brand Insta360. It was also the brand's first directly operated store outside Asia.
Insta360 was founded in Shenzhen in 2015. It first made its name with a camera designed for shooting panoramic footage. Its main products are panoramic and action cameras that do not require cumbersome equipment and can be shared directly after shooting.
In June 2025, it listed on the Shanghai STAR Market. Its market value once exceeded 70 billion yuan, about 76 billion Hong Kong dollars. Industry insiders have called it the world's first listed smart imaging company. Overseas markets contribute about 70 percent of its overall revenue.
The store was originally scheduled to open at noon, but the number of people lining up far exceeded expectations. According to US imaging media outlet PetaPixel, the crowd on the scene that day may have exceeded 1,000 people. The first customer arrived at 2:30 a.m. and waited nearly 10 hours.
One American netizen uploaded footage to social platform X. She described the line as a massive procession that turned two corners. She jogged while high-fiving people in line, and it took her a full 61 seconds to reach the end.
Insta360's New York flagship opening drew massive launch-day crowds.
The young man at the front of the line wants to become a YouTuber. He headed straight to the site after finishing work and queued overnight, becoming the day's 'number one fan.' He received a limited-edition new gimbal camera with an exclusive gold logo.
When asked why he was so enthusiastic about a Chinese brand, his answer captured a recent shift in the US imaging market. He said he used to ride his bike near Central Park a lot. Back then everyone was using GoPro, but now almost everyone has switched to Insta360.
In the line there was also a race car driver who flew nearly 10,000 kilometers from Egypt specifically for this. Egypt still has no Insta360 dealer, and he had tried many places without being able to buy one. So he simply flew directly to New York.
There was also an American father who specially brought his 10-year-old son to New York so they could experience Insta360's latest camera together as a birthday gift.
Coincidentally, Tim Cook, who has stepped down as Apple's chief executive officer and now serves as chairman of the executive board, also posted on Weibo on September 20.
He said every time he sees customers experiencing Apple's new products at Apple Store retail locations in China, it is especially uplifting. The accompanying photo showed customers waiting outside the store in long, multi-layered lines.
It so happened that on September 18 this year, Apple's iPhone 18 Pro series also went on sale in many places around the world. That triggered a fair amount of queuing as well.
But the mindset behind the two types of lines is completely different. Most people buying an iPhone have a hard need to upgrade and see it as routine. People who queued overnight to buy a Chinese camera were actively pursuing an emerging category that was previously unheard of.
The difference is also why outsiders are paying attention to Insta360's opening.
GoPro Fades as Chinese Brands Take Over
To understand the weight of that New York line, you first need to understand the global imaging industry's power map over the past few decades. Japanese camera brands long monopolized the industry's discourse. The American brand GoPro defined the action camera category and was once synonymous with the product type. But market research data shows the landscape has reversed in recent years.
In 2022, GoPro still held about 84% of the global action camera market. That was an absolute monopoly. Within just a few years, its share collapsed. By the first three quarters of 2025 it had fallen to about 18%. In the same market, GoPro went from roughly eight out of ten cameras to fewer than two in ten.
In August this year, GoPro submitted documents to the US Securities and Exchange Commission that included the blunt warning "substantial doubt about its ability to continue as a going concern." A company that once defined an entire industry now has to admit operating difficulties in public filings.
It has even agreed to merge with an American company in the artificial intelligence optics business. The deal is valued at $285 million, about HK$2.22 billion. Original shareholders would keep only about 10% of the merged company's equity.
In name it is a merger. In substance it is close to being swallowed.
Meanwhile, DJI and Insta360 together account for about 87% of the global handheld smart camera market. This queue is not just one Chinese brand selling well. It is an industry reshuffle. The American company that once set industry standards has been pushed to the margins by Chinese brands in just a few years.
DJI and Insta360 now control about 87% of the global handheld smart camera market.
The shift in Japan is even more telling. Japan has long been seen as the birthplace of the global imaging industry. Local consumers are fiercely loyal to camera brands. On July 2 this year, Insta360 held a launch event for a new gimbal camera in Shibuya, Tokyo.
By 6 a.m. consumers had already arrived to line up. The longest wait reached 9 hours. The organizer temporarily distributed 450 admission tickets, and they were all claimed within half an hour. The white version sold out online in just 5 minutes.
Retail data makes the point even sharper. Japanese research firm BCN reports that in 2025, a Chinese brand won the annual sales crown in the action camera category for the first time. DJI and Insta360 together took about 78% of the Japanese market. GoPro's share collapsed from 34.3% the previous year to 18.9%.
In other words, even in Japan, widely regarded as the birthplace of global imaging technology standards, local consumers would rather queue overnight to buy Chinese cameras.
Chinese brands now lead Japan, overtaking long-time giant GoPro.
What the Queues Really Mean
Back in New York, that flagship store means far more to Insta360 than an opening ceremony. On opening day, Insta360 also announced cumulative global camera shipments had passed 10 million units. That is more than 10 million cameras sold over ten years.
The opening event drew Casey Neistat, a North American imaging creator with more than 10 million followers, along with die-hard users who have followed the brand for years. One of them, Anthony Quintano, was first in line at 3 a.m. for Insta360's first new-product pop-up in New York last year. He became the first person in the world to buy that new model.
Another was Kevin, a cycling community leader. He and 100 local riders in bright yellow jerseys rode through New York landmarks on opening day. They recorded the journey on Insta360 cameras the whole way.
From top influencers and veteran loyalists to ordinary citizens, three seemingly unrelated stories map Insta360's ten-year localization effort in the United States. This Chinese company did not simply move a store into another country. It cultivated local creator circles and vertical communities, embedding itself in local life.
Top creators and local cyclists joined the store ribbon-cutting.
Around Times Square, Insta360's store sits not far from a cluster of Chinese brands that have already entered the US market: Pop Mart, Miniso, and Heytea. But compared with these 'Chinese neighbors' opening stores in New York, Insta360 has cultivated the US market for a full decade. It started out unknown, and now it draws a thousand people to queue overnight at the world's crossroads.
From Tokyo's Shibuya to New York's Times Square, Chinese camera brands are not riding a one-city viral moment. They are on a structural upward trajectory that spans regions and is backed by data.
Going overseas has never meant copying a store into a foreign country. It means making yourself part of local life. That may be the real strength of Chinese brands that has been most easily underestimated in recent years.
