Chinese Tech Incubator XbotPark Outpaces Western Rivals, Says Founder Li Zexiang

Li Zexiang, founder of XbotPark and a well-known Chinese academic, spoke at the opening of Macao’s 2025 Beyond Expo. He highlighted how his tech incubator is leading over Western competitors. XbotPark, based in Dongguan, focuses on robotics and smart hardware startups. Since its start, it has helped build some of China’s biggest tech firms.

Li began by sharing XbotPark’s history and current growth. He recalled his early days at the Shenzhen InnoX Academy and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s 3126 Lab in 1992. Li and his team benefited from Shenzhen’s fast tech rise in the 1990s. In 1999, he started Googol Tech, a major Chinese semiconductor supplier.

Li has always worked closely with students to inspire entrepreneurship. In 2014, he and his team proposed a student-centered startup platform to Dongguan’s mayor, Yuan Baocheng. This led to XbotPark 1.0 (2014-2020), which incubated over 60 tech startups. Some, like Ecoflow, Narwhal, Switchbot, and HaiRbotics, are now famous in China and beyond. Li shared that 15% of these startups became unicorns, with a total value over US$10 billion.

Since 2020, XbotPark 2.0 has grown beyond Dongguan. It now has branches in cities including Ningbo, Changzhou, Chongqing, Hong Kong, and Shenzhen. This expansion helps more startups get support across China.

Li emphasized the importance of solving real consumer problems when building a business. He said entrepreneurs must research their product’s use and define its purpose clearly. XbotPark’s model supports students by offering internships, exhibitions, camps, and campus programs before they launch startups.

To build talent, XbotPark partners with Changzhou University’s CI Xbot School, a collaboration since 2018. The incubator also focuses on younger learners, running a tech kindergarten for children aged three to six.

Li compared XbotPark to Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute, a leading Western incubator. He pointed out that XbotPark’s capacity is 5 to 50 times greater. For every 1,000 candidates, XbotPark supports five startups, while Fraunhofer supports only 0.7 to 1 startup per 1,000 staff members.

Between 2014 and 2023, XbotPark helped grow more than 85 tech hardware firms. In 2024 alone, it hosted 40 companies generating a total revenue of 18.44 billion yuan (about US$2.7 billion).

Beyond Expo 2025, running from May 22 to 24 in Macao, showcases the latest in Asian tech. It offers a platform for industry leaders to share ideas and collaborate.