Global Times: Here Come China's 'next new three': AI, robotics and innovative drugs spearhead a new round of industrial upgrading

BEIJING, July 26, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- From four-legged inspection robots operating in European nuclear power plants to automatic coffee-making robotic arms serving travelers at airports and transit hubs around the globe and smart AI systems supporting local Chinese teaching in Thai schools, these varied overseas applications offer a vivid snapshot of how China's "next new three" industries are expanding globally.

Labeled the "next new three," AI, robotics and innovative drugs represent China's new core strategic industries and fresh economic growth engines. Their rise marks a major upgrade in China's industrial and export model. More importantly, this industrial shift is delivering open, inclusive and innovative solutions to support global industrial upgrading and shared development, experts said.

From 'old three' to 'next new three' 

For decades, China established its global manufacturing foothold by leveraging its labor-cost advantages, with apparel, furniture and home appliances becoming the iconic "old three" of Chinese exports.

In recent years, the export portfolio has undergone a remarkable green and tech transformation. Electric vehicles (EVs), lithium batteries and photovoltaic products, known as the "new three," have become the backbone of China's export growth.

Recent industry data demonstrates the strong growth potential of the "next new three" tech sectors: AI, robotics and innovative drugs.

Statistics from global AI platform OpenRouter show that domestic large models registered 36.11 trillion token calls in the week of July 13 to 19, a month-on-month increase of 30.93 percent, with growth sustained for eight straight weeks, according to the People's Daily.

In the first half of the year, the country's robotics exports reached 6.29 billion yuan ($929 million), covering 141 countries and regions with the exports of high-end surgical robots recording a striking 3.3-fold year-on-year increase. 

Meanwhile, China's innovative pharmaceutical sector has gained strong global influence, with outbound technology licensing transactions hitting $110 billion in the first six months of the year. Chinese pharmaceutical companies accounted for eight of the world's top 10 pharmaceutical licensing deals.

Wang Peng, a research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Sunday that the rise of the "next new three" represents China's industrial shift from exporting manufacturing capacity to exporting high-end innovation.

Competition now centers on original research, core underlying technologies and related services rather than production volume and costs, Wang said.

He noted that these industries help Chinese businesses move up the value chain from assembly processing to research and development, technical services and standard-setting, strengthening China's position in global industrial chains. 

Mirroring this trend, from January to May this year, China's total services trade volume rose 6 percent year-on-year, while the services trade deficit narrowed by around 20 percent. Exports of knowledge-intensive services surged 12.2 percent, highlighting the continuous improvement of China's services export competitiveness and the optimized structure of foreign trade, according to the People's Daily.

While the "new three" underpin China's foreign trade fundamentals, the "next new three" seize the commanding heights of future industries. Jointly, they shore up China's long-term economic competitiveness and inject sustained impetus into high-quality growth, Wang said.

Inclusive technological progress

China's high-quality exports of products and services have contributed to more inclusive technological progress to the global market, reflecting Chinese enterprises' core strengths in independent technological research, business model innovation and the ability to integrate global resources, as well as China's commitment to driving global development and benefiting humanity through technological openness.

Chinese startup DEEP Robotics told the Global Times that its quadruped robot intelligent inspection solution has been officially deployed at Switzerland's Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant, the largest and highest-output nuclear facility in the European country, providing a Chinese solution for the digital and intelligent upgrading of nuclear power operations and maintenance across Europe.

The quadruped robot can replace human workers to access high-risk areas, perform precise operations and conduct high-frequency regular autonomous inspections 24/7, fundamentally cutting safety risks for on-site maintenance staff. It can also move flexibly through narrow corridors and gaps between dense equipment, covering all key inspection points and significantly reducing monitoring blind spots that traditional inspection devices cannot reach, the firm said.

Chinese robotic firm DoBot told the Global Times that in the commercial services sector, coffee robots equipped with its Nova series collaborative robotic arms have been operating stably in more than 20 types of venues including airports, high-speed railway stations and shopping malls globally, with a track record of producing hundreds of thousands of cups without reported malfunctions.

Overseas landmark applications include unattended Coca-Cola beverage stations along the Mediterranean coast, mobile coffee kiosks in the United Arab Emirates that serve a drink within 45 seconds, and self-operated food trucks deployed in shopping malls in Singapore, the company said.

Chinese AI company iFLYTEK said that its AI-powered intelligent teaching system has helped expand Chinese language learning worldwide and supported the digital development of Chinese education in overseas markets. 

Since a Thai middle school adopted iFLYTEK's AI-powered intelligent Chinese teaching system in 2025, the technology has acted as a supplementary teaching solution amid growing local demand for Chinese learning and a shortage of qualified language instructors. It has greatly expanded students' practice opportunities: On average, learners now speak Chinese 12 times per session, compared with only twice in regular classes, Xie Fei, director of iFLYTEK's Global Chinese Learning Platform, said on Sunday.

From industrial robots to boost production efficiency for local factories to AI algorithms that improve local smart ecosystems, China's "next new three" allow countries at all development levels to access benefits from advanced technologies and narrow the global digital divide, Wang said.

By building a sound global industrial network and rolling out customized technology solutions tailored to local conditions, these technological exports help recipient countries nurture their own industrial capacities and climb up the value chain to move higher up the industrial value chain. In the long run, such efforts will drive the global industrial system toward greater diversification and more balanced development, Wang noted.

SOURCE Global Times