Beyond Borders at CIIE: Chinese Tech Startups Take Drones, Spatial AI and Digital Entertainment Global

Chinese tech startups are exhibiting at the China International Import Expo, where autonomous drones navigate overseas oil fields and generative AI turns text prompts into 3D models in seconds.

Beyond exhibiting innovations, these emerging firms are using CIIE to launch domestic technologies into international markets.

Attending the CIIE for the fourth consecutive year, the low-altitude company Vertaxi showcased its flagship M1 Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) aircraft – a full-scale "flying taxi" designed for urban air travel – along with its lineup of commercially deployed industrial drones.

In 120-to-300-meter airspace, Vertaxi's E-series drones are proving their commercial and operational value in infrastructure inspection, public safety emergency response, and logistics. After Typhoon MaySak disrupted communications in July, the company's drones with satellite communication gear and public base stations served as airborne signal routers. The fleet transmitted live high-altitude disaster footage to rescue commanders and hosted 16,597 user connections and 1,192 phone calls.

These autonomous platforms are already impacting the world beyond China. A major oil company in the Middle East uses Vertaxi drones for energy pipeline inspections. Traditional manual checks took two operators an hour to inspect two oil wells; the drone checks 70 wells in four hours. By August, the E6A drone fleet had flown nearly 10,000 missions, with over 9,000 flight hours and 800,000 kilometers.

Making its debut at CIIE, AI startup VAST demonstrated an end-to-end "idea-to-object" workflow powered by 3D generative AI. Visitors watched as text descriptions or image uploads were transformed into production-grade 3D digital assets within seconds, followed immediately by real-time physical output via on-site 3D printers.

VAST, founded in 2023, specializes in 3D foundation models and spatial computing. Its Tripo model engine produces standardized industrial mesh geometry for professional gaming and film production pipelines, serving tens of millions of creators worldwide. The technology is rapidly moving from demonstration to industrial use in automotive design and digital entertainment, like NetEase game design.

"We want to transform the 3D creation capabilities refined in China into a shared utility for creators worldwide," said Simon Song, CEO of VAST. "Our goal is to turn Chinese-originated, world-leading 3D AI capabilities into a practical blueprint for global open innovation."

The international momentum of China's tech ecosystem was further highlighted at CIIE's 2026 Trade Digitalization and Cross-Border E-commerce Development Exchange forum. Russian internet giant Yandex detailed the expanding footprint and market potential of Chinese brands that are expanding abroad.

According to Yandex, Chinese enterprises and digital brands invested approximately 829 million yuan (US$115 million) in ad spend on the platform between January and September 2026. Advertising expenditure within the e-commerce category alone grew roughly ninefold year-over-year.

Mobile gaming publisher Efun Games provided a standout example of cross-border expansion. Leveraging Yandex Ads' cross-channel ecosystem over a 12-month campaign, Efun Games generated 135,000 incremental app installs while achieving a 240 percent Return on Ad Spend (ROAS).

In the platform CIIE, China's tech startups are demonstrating that their latest innovations are designed not just for domestic adoption but for integration into the global economy.