Chinese tech firms prioritize European market at Smart City Expo

BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 10 (Xinhua) -- Gaining a better understanding of Europe's technology market and trends is one of the key objectives for Chinese tech firms participating in this year's Smart City Expo World Congress (SCEWC) in Barcelona.

Held from Nov. 7 to 9 under the theme "The new urban era," this year's event was the largest yet, organizers said. Over 1,000 exhibitors from 800 cities worldwide attended, with a total of 25,000 delegates.

Among the key areas in the spotlight for urban transformation through technological solutions at this year's SCEWC were mobility, environment, energy, governance and infrastructure.

"The main objective of this exhibition is to know this market better, to know more about the trends in technology in Europe, and to know our customers here," Zhiyuan Xie, regional sales director of the overseas division of Maxvision Technology Corp., told Xinhua.

Alongside eye-catching innovations such as data gathering robots, delivery drones and autonomous vehicles, the show also featured AI data management software, urban monitoring sensors, smart street furniture, and lighting systems.

"At the moment we have different offices and partners in the Middle East, in Asia and Africa, and this is the first exhibition we've come to in Europe and in Spain. We are very pleased to be here," added the sales executive, whose company makes smart products based on biometrics, image and video analysis, and AI.

In total, some 20 companies from China took part in this year's SCEWC, including business delegations from Shenzhen and Zhejiang.

"Our goal is to bring our high-tech products to the world. We also want to conduct technical exchanges and improve innovation with professionals around the world. Barcelona is a city that attracts me very much," Julia Zhou, president and CEO of GAOKE GmbH, told Xinhua.

"We also want to make contributions to the development of smart education in Spain, and we hope to have some exchanges with technical personnel from both sides," added Zhou.

Other senior representatives of Chinese companies also stressed the importance of international cooperation and communication for their businesses, encouraged by events such as SCEWC.

"We hope that by participating in this event we can see how other cities or manufacturers in the world develop smart cities. We also hope we can learn from some of the world's experiences and go back to build China's smart cities even better," Hongming Zhao, president of Zhejiang SUPCON Information Technology Co., Ltd., told Xinhua.

"We want to showcase some of the good progress we have made in smart city construction and also hope to expand our overseas markets," said the head of the Hangzhou-based provider of automation and information technology products and solutions.