Global tech leaders and ‘AI tigers’ join inaugural Hongqiao Tech Week, spotlighting Shanghai as China’s tech heartland

SHANGHAI / LONDON, CHINA, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Debut Shanghai event from the team behind Tech Festivals unveils a new wave of global speakers from the innovators, investors and policymakers driving China's growing technology sector.

Hongqiao Tech Week (HTW), the new international technology event from Informa, has today announced a new wave of global speakers ahead of its debut at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC), Shanghai, from 20 to 22 November 2026.

The event comes at a pivotal moment for Chinese technology. Its AI models are increasingly competing with global leaders, its data centre capacity is growing at pace and it has more robots on the factory floor than anywhere else in the world. Yet despite its emergence as a global technology leader, for many international businesses, the companies driving that shift remain largely unknown.

Hongqiao Tech Week is designed to change that, creating a two-way bridge between global business leaders and China’s industrial and technology ecosystem. The speakers announced today offer international audiences a rare, close-up view of the companies driving China’s growth, from the robotics firms putting embodied AI to work on factory floors to the energy, infrastructure and security companies powering China’s digital economy.

New speakers announced today include Ning Ning, VP of International Business and AI Consulting at 01.AI, the AI lab founded by Kai-Fu Lee and one of China's 'AI tigers', alongside senior leaders from Roche, Sungrow, HUTCHMED, Zai Lab, XtalPi and COSCO Shipping Technology, and Yaning Wang, former Director of the US Food and Drug Administration's Office of Clinical Pharmacology.

They will join previously announced speakers that include senior executives from Baidu, Pony Ai, Hitachi Vantara, Siemens and Standard Chartered.

Senior Shanghai government officials will also take part, including:

- Jiang Ge, Deputy Director, Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission
- Li Hong, First-Level Inspector, Shanghai Municipal Commission of Commerce
- Chen Xiqi, Deputy District Mayor, Qingpu District People's Government
- Yang Xubo, Deputy Director, Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Management Committee.
- Celina Huang, General Director, Shanghai Technology Innovation Center

Yang Xubo, Deputy Director of the Shanghai Hongqiao International Central Business District Management Committee, said: “Over the next three years, we want Hongqiao Tech Week to become a globally recognised platform for innovation, connecting international technology businesses with the manufacturing strength and market opportunities of the Yangtze River Delta.”

Robotics, AI, and industrial innovation
A central theme of the event programme, the AI stage will explore China’s approach to the AI sovereignty debate, how to create AI-ready societies, and the next generation of industrial robotics, reflect the growing strength of China’s capabilities. Speakers include:

- Ning Ning, VP International Business, 01.AI, one of China’s ‘AI tigers’
- Baoqiu Cui, Founder and CEO, Ruopan Technology, and former Vice President, Xiaomi
- Dapeng Liu, CEO, AUBO Robotics
- ​​Dangyang Jie, Founder and CEO, Jodell Robotics
- Zichao Zhang, VP, RobotPhoenix
- Yi Han, General Manager of R&D Innovation Center, COSCO Shipping Technology
- Feng Geng, CIO, CIMC Qingdao Refrigeration
- Yong Gong, Asia Pacific CIO, Arkema Group

The event will also explore AI-enabled drug discovery and biotech innovation, with sessions on brain-computer interfaces, and ways that AI and quantum computing could uncover the next billion-dollar GLP target. Speakers include:

- Harm-Jan Borgeld, Vice President, Head of Asia Partnering, Roche
- Bin Yang, Senior Vice President, Global Development, HUTCHMED
- Lipeng LAI, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer, XtalPi (Jingtai Technology)
- James Yan, COO, Global R&D, Zai Lab
- Yaning Wang, Founder and CEO, Ruiningkang BioPharma, and former Director, Office of Clinical Pharmacology, US FDA
- Peng Zhang, General Manager of Biopharmaceutical Division, DP Technology
- Yuchao Zhu, GM, Hanz Bio

Energy, data centre, and digital infrastructure
Rystad Energy Senior Analyst Simeng Deng will provide insight into AI, data-centre demand and the global power transition, while previously announced Simon Ninan, Chief Strategy Officer, Hitachi Vantara will explore how to build the infrastructure required to power the world's AI ambitions.

Other speakers on the Digital Infrastructure and Future Mobility & Energy stages include:

- Teddy Zhang, President of AIDC Business Unit, Sungrow
- Di Wang, Vice President of Product R&D, StarCharge
- Zhigang Xu, Chief Scientist of Intelligent Driving, BAIC Automotive Research Institute

The event will have six stages, covering topics including cloud, cybersecurity, energy, and enterprise technology, and featuring speakers including:

- Ben Ji, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, UCloud
- Christoph Weber, GM China, AutoForm
- Leslie Gyertson, Co-Founder, METiS TechBio
Xiaosheng Tan, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, Genius CyberTech
Yuan Fan, Co-Founder and Chairman, DAS-Security
Despina Panayiotou Theodosiou, CEO, Tototheo Global
Mantas Mazeikis, CISO, HELM AG

A gateway between global innovation and China
Athena Gong, Vice President of Asia and Managing Director of China at Informa Markets, said: “China is an increasingly important market leader within the global tech economy, and for too long, international companies have watched its growth from afar. Hongqiao Tech Week has been designed to change that and to give global organisations an opportunity to experience its innovative ecosystem and meet the innovators, policymakers and investors driving its growth."

Hongqiao Tech Week will include a dedicated Yangtze River Delta Innovation Corridor exhibition area, showcasing the region's strengths in research, manufacturing, and commercialisation.

Hongqiao: China’s innovation gateway
Hongqiao is positioning itself as a gateway to the Yangtze River Delta, a region that generates around a quarter of China’s GDP. The district is home to a growing cluster of technology-service firms, high-tech enterprises and specialised manufacturers, with technology-service revenue rising 15.8% year on year between January and July 2026.

The area’s industrial strengths include life sciences and health, the digital economy, low-carbon energy, the low-altitude economy and aerospace information.
Registration is open now at hongqiaotechweek.com, and visitor passes, required for country entry, are available via the registration portal.

ENDS

About Hongqiao Tech Week
Hongqiao Tech Week is a new international technology event bringing China's innovation ecosystem together on a single stage, and connecting international companies with it in both directions. The first edition takes place from 20 to 22 November 2026 at the National Exhibition and Convention Center (NECC) in Shanghai's Hongqiao CBD, the city's international gateway to the Yangtze River Delta, a region that generates around a quarter of China's GDP. The event is expected to bring together 30,000 attendees and more than 200 speakers across six content stages, spanning artificial intelligence, Industry 5.0, future mobility and energy, digital infrastructure, startups, and life sciences and health, alongside more than 50,000 square metres of exhibition. Hongqiao Tech Week is produced through a partnership between Tech Festivals and Informa Markets China, with the backing of the Hongqiao government, and is part of the Global Tech Festivals family alongside London Tech Week.
Registration: hongqiaotechweek.com

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Gerry Wisniewski, Catchfire – gerrywiz@catchfire.co
Terrie Barron, Catchfire – terriebarron@catchfire.co

Gerry Wisniewski
Catchfire PR Ltd
+44 7875 264534
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