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From solar to AI: why China may be entering its ‘Go Global 3.0’ era

As a new wave of Chinese firms captures global demand for hi-tech goods, a new report highlights a strategic shift towards AI hardware and robotics

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China’s humanoid robot sector has accelerated rapidly in recent years, with mass production and commercial deployment advancing across industries. Photo: Xinhua
Xinyi Wuin Beijing

Chinese corporate expansion overseas is shifting from solar equipment to artificial intelligence-enabled industrial technology, with a new generation of companies targeting global markets from inception, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs.

“China has entered the ‘Go Global 3.0’ era,” wrote the investment bank’s team, led by Jacqueline Du, in a research note published on Tuesday.

The evolution moves beyond low-cost manufacturing goods and the “new three” sectors – electric vehicles, lithium-ion batteries and solar photovoltaic technology – that drove the first two export eras. Domestic firms are now targeting hardware across the AI value chain, from data centre infrastructure to automated industrial systems.

The analysts said overseas demand was largely driven by global supply shortages outside China, which created an immediate need for Chinese suppliers, as well as products benefiting from new technology adoption cycles.

Among these firms are an emerging group of “born global” tech companies. “Unlike traditional manufacturers that spent decades saturating the domestic market before venturing abroad, these firms – such as Unitree Robotics in the humanoid robotics space – treat the global market as their primary market from day one,” the analysts wrote.

These humanoid robotics firms were helping create entirely new demand pools, according to the report, with Unitree establishing a global market lead.

The Hangzhou-based manufacturer shipped over 5,500 humanoid robots last year, far above three of its US rivals: Tesla, Figure AI and Agility Robotics. Each of those companies delivered about 150 units, according to data from technology research firm Omdia cited in the Goldman Sachs report.

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