For years, Chinese entrepreneurs lived out of suitcases. They crisscrossed the globe with samples in hand, hustling for customers at trade show booths across Europe, America, Japan, and South Korea. That was just how business got done.
But the tables have turned. Now it's overseas bosses who are chartering flights and rushing into China in groups. They're lining up to learn from Chinese companies.
CCTV Finance's long-running program “Dialogue” recently revealed this quietly emerging trend. They call it 'reverse business travel'. The program selected several concrete cases to illustrate the phenomenon which is quite captivating.
Overseas Clients on a Pilgrimage
In the August 17 episode of Dialogue, host Chen Weihong sat down with several founders of Chinese tech companies. They talked about the shift. In the past, foreign companies held the power to define technology. Chinese firms toiled as contract manufacturers, earning hard money.
But today the script has completely flipped. In cutting-edge fields like low-altitude economy, large AI models, and humanoid robots, some Chinese companies have seized the initiative. Now it's overseas clients who proactively organize groups to fly to China to learn from the Chinese experience. The program dubbed this 'reverse business travel'.
The program also revealed a set of eye-catching figures. According to the latest weekly ranking from global AI model invocation platform OpenRouter, as of August 3, the top five spots on the global leaderboard were all dominated by models developed by Chinese companies. Over the past 28 days, Chinese models accounted for 63.5% of total invocations.
In other words, the AI most used by global users today is very likely 'Made in China.' The speed of this shift has surprised even many industry insiders.
'Reverse business travel' takes hold in China — overseas buyers weave through expo halls, samples in hand.
One Robot Expo, 3,000 Foreign Buyers
The program pointed to a telling example of just how intense this pilgrimage-style business trip craze has become. The second Hangzhou International Humanoid Robot and Robot Technology Exhibition, which wrapped up in May, pulled in more than 80,000 professional visitors over three days. Among them, 3,178 were from overseas. By the time it ended, the event had produced 56 formally signed projects and 237 cooperation intentions. The total value topped RMB 21.3 billion.
That scale is unprecedented. It has far outstripped any previous edition of a similar exhibition. Many industry insiders now say China's robotics industry has officially shifted from the product showcase phase into large-scale commercial deployment.
The humanoid robot expo pulled in professional crowds — many overseas buyers flew in just to see the latest tech in action.
The program also shared a more vivid detail. A Nordic automotive supply chain company flew to China three times in just nine months to visit an AI technology firm. After witnessing the speed of technology iteration and product deployment at Chinese enterprises, the Nordic company made a bold move. It relocated its annual global innovation summit directly to the Chinese company's laboratory.
In other words, they didn't come to China to "attend a meeting." They came to "hold a summit." That was almost unheard of before.
30-Minute Supply Chains, $100 Billion Drug Deals
The CCTV program then went through the mechanics behind this "China speed".
Take humanoid robot maker AgiBot. Nine out of ten components in its supply chain are sourced locally within the Yangtze River Delta, and for core parts, suppliers respond in a matter of hours. A technical drawing goes out, and the first sample comes back that very night — a level of efficiency overseas firms have never experienced.
Then there's Shanghai's Brain-Intelligence World. Numerous brain-computer interface companies cluster there. A high-frequency feedback loop among talent, technology, supply chain, and users has taken shape. The result is a deployment efficiency that is frighteningly fast.
From Selling Products to Selling Solutions
Chinese innovative drugs are storming the world just as fiercely as robots and AI.
In the first half of 2026, mainland innovative drug out-licensing deals hit 81, with a potential contract value of around $110 billion. That already matches 80% of the total for all of 2025. A new record.
Industry database PharmaCube puts the figure slightly lower, at $99.7 billion. But the trend is unmistakable: Chinese innovative drugs are accelerating from follower to leader. At an industry summit in Shanghai on August 5, that figure left attendees breathless, as insiders described.
From Selling Products to Selling Solutions
The program's analysis: in the past, the global industrial division of labor was simple. Overseas companies defined the products. China buried its head in production. Now, Chinese enterprises do more than execute plans. They dive into problem definition, product design, scenario validation, and continuous iteration.
In other words, someone else is calling the shots now.
From smart home solutions entering European households to intelligent inspection systems deployed in overseas mines and factories, Chinese companies are now delivering more than mere goods. They bring complete problem-solving packages to the table.
Chinese firms now call the shots in frontier tech — foreign companies flock to China on study trips, going straight into the labs for answers.
The program's final take: the suitcases of 'reverse business travel' carry more than orders. They are vivid proof of China's industrial leap.
Will this 'reverse business travel' trend keep heating up, or will it prove a flash in the pan? The answer lies in the number of overseas buyers at a string of international exhibitions in the second half of this year.
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.
