The bionic mechanical horse developed by Deep Robotics boasts a load of about 50 kilograms. [Photo/zhengjieclub]

From AI glasses and humanoid robots to exoskeletons that helped a disabled visitor stand again at the 139th Canton Fair, Hangzhou's tech companies are increasingly capturing global attention — not just through innovation, but through powerful storytelling.

The latest breakout moment came when an Argentine buyer named Maria Laura used an exoskeleton developed by Hangzhou-based Technik Technology Co to stand and walk again at the Canton Fair in Guangzhou. The emotional scene quickly spread online, sending the company's search traffic soaring and attracting waves of investors and buyers.

In recent years, Hangzhou has produced a growing list of headline-making tech firms, including DeepSeek, Rokid and Unitree Robotics. Promotions of their products have repeatedly gone viral — from Rokid founder Zhu Mingming demonstrating AI-powered glasses during a government conference, to Unitree's humanoid robots performing on China's Spring Festival Gala stage.

Behind those epic moments lies a fast-growing innovation ecosystem.

In Hangzhou's Xihu district alone, universities, research institutes and startups are tightly connected through mature commercialization networks. Companies such as Wheeltop are transforming academic research into robotics, flexible sensors and smart manufacturing products.

Hangzhou is also becoming a major hub for embodied AI. The city's Embodied Intelligence Exhibition and Application Center now brings together 87 companies, 136 robots and nearly 40 real-world application scenarios, covering fields from industrial inspection to agriculture and healthcare.

Zhejiang's broader innovation momentum provides strong support. By June 2025, the province had accumulated 451,000 valid invention patents, while patent-intensive industries accounted for more than 20 percent of provincial GDP — 7.3 percentage points above the national average. Zhejiang's technology commercialization index has nearly doubled since 2020.

Government support has also played a key role. Technik Technology Co revealed that local officials helped secure exhibition space and registration support for the Canton Fair, giving the startup its breakthrough opportunity. Across Hangzhou, officials increasingly act as industry-savvy partners rather than traditional administrators, helping startups connect with funding, policy support and commercialization channels.

At the same time, Zhejiang is strengthening its "patient capital" strategy. State-backed investors have begun supporting long-cycle, high-tech ventures, including niche manufacturing and robotics companies that may take years to scale globally.

As global competition shifts from manufacturing alone to branding, visibility and narrative power, Hangzhou's companies are showing how technology, storytelling and ecosystem support can work together to turn local startups into global names.

Maria Laura (second from left) takes a photo with Liang Linchao, founder of Hangzhou Technik Technology Co. [Photo/zhengjieclub]