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Yahoo
28-01-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Chinese robot maker sees Hong Kong, Macau as strong markets for large cleaning units
Chinese start-up Suzhou Intelligence Technology, a maker of large cleaning robots for commercial properties, is eyeing Hong Kong and Macau as key new markets for its products, founder and chief executive Kong Bing said. Kong, who previously worked at Swedish-Swiss electrical engineering firm ABB and German industrial robot maker Kuka, said his company's products under the Partner Robot brand are used on special surfaces such as marble and granite. "Hong Kong and Macau are definitely key markets for us [to expand operations]," Kong told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the China Conference: Greater Bay Area 2025 - a two-day event held in Guangzhou, capital of southern Guangdong province, earlier this month. Do you have questions about the biggest topics and trends from around the world? Get the answers with SCMP Knowledge, our new platform of curated content with explainers, FAQs, analyses and infographics brought to you by our award-winning team. "Given high labour costs and requirements for hygiene, [the two markets] are perfectly suitable for the promotion of our robots," he added. Compared to household robot vacuum cleaners from the likes of iRobot and Roborock, products from Suzhou Intelligence Technology are bigger in size and used at large commercial establishments such as shopping centres and airports. Commercial-grade cleaning robots are harder to obtain because these have not been widely adopted, according to Kong. As such, these products offer more growth potential, he said. "The target users of household cleaning robots are very clear. One can simply market it as a housewarming gift or a gift for the elderly," Kong said. "It's much more complicated to persuade commercial property management companies to buy a cleaning robot, which has to involve many stakeholders in these firms." Kong Bing, founder and chief executive of Suzhou Intelligence Technology, speaks at the South China Morning Post's China Conference: Greater Bay Area 2025, an event held last month at the Nansha Bay Marina Convention Centre in Guangzhou. Photo: Nora Tam alt=Kong Bing, founder and chief executive of Suzhou Intelligence Technology, speaks at the South China Morning Post's China Conference: Greater Bay Area 2025, an event held last month at the Nansha Bay Marina Convention Centre in Guangzhou. Photo: Nora Tam> Suzhou Intelligence Technology's push into Hong Kong and Macau reflects how commercial properties are increasingly paying attention to proptech - the use of information technology to help companies manage real estate - as a means to enhance customer experience, save energy, boost safety, and reduce pollution and other harmful substances in the environment. In 2023, total shipments of commercial service robots in China reached 53,000 units, according to data from market research firm IDC. Cleaning robots made up the third largest group of service robots, with a 13.5 per cent market share. That was behind waiter robots used in restaurants and room service robots for hotels, which had shares of 43.6 per cent and 36.1 per cent, respectively. Although China's robotics industry started later than in Europe, Japan and the United States, domestic firms are leading in certain applications such as service robots. "China has become a major exporter of some applied robots, such as swimming pool cleaners and lawnmowers," Kong said, adding that China has the edge in terms of manufacturing cost, speed and quality, as well as the integrity of its supply chain. Kong pointed out that he never considered entering the household cleaning robot space because "that market was already saturated". He saw greater opportunity in the commercial cleaning robot field because the user case is more diverse. Suzhou Intelligence Technology - with dual headquarters in Shanghai and Suzhou in eastern Jiangsu province - is using distributors to promote its products in Hong Kong, especially in the shopping centres, according to Kong. "If shipments go up [in the Greater Bay Area], we may consider setting up local research, development and production teams," he said. This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP's Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Copyright (c) 2025. South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved. Sign in to access your portfolio
South China Morning Post
27-01-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
Chinese robotics start-up pushes large cleaning robots in Hong Kong, Macau
Published: 5:40pm, 27 Jan 2025 Chinese start-up Suzhou Intelligence Technology, a maker of large cleaning robots for commercial properties, is eyeing Hong Kong and Macau as key new markets for its products, founder and chief executive Kong Bing said. Kong, who previously worked at Swedish-Swiss electrical engineering firm ABB and German industrial robot maker Kuka , said his company's products under the Partner Robot brand are used on special surfaces such as marble and granite. 'Hong Kong and Macau are definitely key markets for us [to expand operations],' Kong told the South China Morning Post on the sidelines of the China Conference: Greater Bay Area 2025 – a two-day event held in Guangzhou , capital of southern Guangdong province, earlier this month. 'Given high labour costs and requirements for hygiene, [the two markets] are perfectly suitable for the promotion of our robots,' he added. Compared to household robot vacuum cleaners from the likes of iRobot and Roborock , products from Suzhou Intelligence Technology are bigger in size and used at large commercial establishments such as shopping centres and airports. Commercial-grade cleaning robots are harder to obtain because these have not been widely adopted, according to Kong. As such, these products offer more growth potential, he said. 'The target users of household cleaning robots are very clear. One can simply market it as a housewarming gift or a gift for the elderly,' Kong said. 'It's much more complicated to persuade commercial property management companies to buy a cleaning robot, which has to involve many stakeholders in these firms.'
