Yesterday morning, I traveled from Jiading to the Shanghai Cross-Border Procurement and Exhibition Center for the Sensor China 2025 Sensor Expo. It took over an hour to visit most of the booths on the 1st and 2nd floors. I met many old friends, as well as numerous followers of the "Gu Ge Sensor IoT" official WeChat account. I attended forums hosted by sensor industry experts and participated in the annual Sensor Industry Friends Gala Dinner. By the time I returned to the hotel, I felt quite exhausted.

       This morning, I visited a client in Shanghai, and in the afternoon, I went back to the expo to attend a seminar co-hosted by exhibitors and the German AMA organization, focusing on Chinese sensor enterprises expanding into overseas markets. The sky in Shanghai today was particularly striking. Although the Didi driver mentioned that the temperature was higher than usual for this time of year, the beautiful sky still prompted me to take many photos.

       Ms. Zhong Haiyan from Shanghai Science and Technology Exhibition Co., Ltd., the expo organizer, told me that nearly 400 domestic and foreign enterprises participated in this year’s expo, with 20% being foreign brands—setting a 10-year record. This reflects, on the one hand, the growing strength and development momentum of Chinese sensor enterprises, as well as their willingness to showcase themselves. It is believed that the expo will soon surpass the scale of the post-pandemic Sensor+Test Expo (a major German sensor exhibition) to become the world’s largest sensor expo in terms of the number of exhibitors. Combined with the annual Sensor ShenZhen Expo held in early April in Shenzhen, China’s sensor industry and its scale will soon lead the world. At the same time, we sincerely hope that China’s sensor technology will also take the global lead.

          Regarding the 2025 Shanghai China Sensor Expo and the forums/interviews, Gu Ge believes there are three phenomena worthy of attention.

       First, large foreign-funded enterprises in China are talking more about localization and independence. With the escalation of China-US trade wars, technology wars, and tariff wars, foreign-funded enterprises in China are also exploring their future development paths.

       In his speech in Jiading, General Rong from Honeywell emphasized repeatedly that Honeywell’s concept of "In China, For China" is not just a slogan, but a commitment put into action. The company is building an independent industrial chain system in China, using raw materials sourced locally and serving Chinese customers.

       Yesterday, in the forum titled "Breaking the Deadlock, Reconstructing: Global Sensor Supply Chain Security Collaboration and Local Ecosystem Construction" hosted by Brother Liu Qin, two well-known international companies—Switzerland’s TE Connectivity and Europe’s STMicroelectronics—also participated. All participants faced realities and challenges head-on, exploring ways for both Chinese and foreign sensor enterprises to survive and develop. As the situation continues to evolve, solutions are also adapting accordingly. Under the interference and impact of geopolitics, foreign enterprises in China face the same challenges as Chinese enterprises.

       Second, this year, we saw many central state-owned enterprises (SOEs) participating in this market-oriented sensor expo, including AVIC (Aviation Industry Corporation of China), CETC (China Electronics Technology Group Corporation), NORINCO (China North Industries Group Corporation), and CASIC (China Aerospace Science and Industry Corporation). Notable participants include Wuhan Instrument Company of AVIC, Siwei Technology of AVIC Xi’an 618 Institute, and Chengdu Kaitian Company. Particularly noteworthy is Bengbu 214 Institute of NORINCO—its General Manager Xu participated in an interview program and also launched new products. Xi’an 44 Institute of China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation (CASC) Fourth Academy also registered to participate in the expo in the final days after learning about it. Gu Ge believes this is a commendable and admirable development.

       Third, the fact that foreign brands—especially small foreign brands that were previously little-known—account for 20% of exhibitors is also worthy of attention. This fully demonstrates that with China’s technological progress and market expansion, more foreign enterprises hope to enter the Chinese market with their technologies and products.

       The entry of foreign brands allows Chinese sensor industry professionals to gain a better understanding of the current state of foreign technological development and engage more closely with foreign technologies. At the same time, visitors from foreign brands can also gain a genuine understanding of the current state of China’s sensor technology and industry. Mutual communication between people is the most direct and simple way to enhance understanding.

       At this afternoon’s overseas expansion seminar, a German female professor, who appeared to be nearly 60 years old and visiting China for the first time, was supposed to talk about the German gas sensor company she now works for. However, she couldn’t help but share her impressions of China: first, she was amazed; second, she found it extremely wonderful; and third, she felt the Chinese people were very friendly. Of course, Germans are also friendly, she added. Yesterday, a Chinese student discussed technology with her, and today, the student brought his Chinese teacher to their German booth. The German professor did not hesitate to share her PPT materials with the Chinese teacher.