Leveraging a complete industrial chain and favorable policies of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area city cluster, south China's tech hub of Shenzhen is accelerating its robotics industry and enabling local start-ups to turn their robot product visions into reality.

At an exoskeleton robotics company known as Hypershell Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. in Shenzhen's Nanshan District, testers can be seen walking around in exoskeleton suits while adjusting data.

According to trial users, the device is easy to put on. It instantly senses the wearer's movement intention when lifting and lowering the leg, delivering a thrust to the thigh. The users reported no soreness or fatigue even after prolonged use.

The company's founder, Sun Kuan, is a post-90s entrepreneur who majored in exoskeleton simulation during his graduate studies. When starting up the business, he and his team set their sights on turning medical-grade exoskeletons priced at tens of thousands of dollars apiece into affordable daily-use equipment for ordinary people.

"Exoskeleton development is a highly interdisciplinary project. In Shenzhen, we can bring together experts and partners from various fields and source all the raw materials and suppliers we need in a very short time. We might send out the parts we want to sample in the morning, and we can get the samples in the evening," Sun said.

The complete industrial chain in the Greater Bay Area has greatly accelerated the iteration of hardware products. In addition, the local government provides comprehensive services for start-ups in terms of industrial space, investment and financing, application scenarios, and human resources.

"In the new arena of humanoid robots, Nanshan District has already gathered more than 25 companies in finished robot manufacturing alone. The overall entrepreneurial environment here makes companies eager to come together for exchanges and cooperation. In the Robot Valley, there are also many universities and research institutes. From drawing up blueprints to prototyping and testing, companies can find upstream and downstream partners at every stage of the entire chain, making the synergy highly efficient," said Wang Xiaomei, head of the Key Industries Division of the Nanshan District Industry and Information Technology Bureau.