But then came the question many expats might have encountered: How would he obtain legal status with a visa allowing him to stay in China while self-employed after quitting his job?

After consulting with an incubator based in Shanghai’s Hongqiao area, Olivier found the answer to the question – “entrepreneurship visa”, which he soon applied for and obtained in August.

The incubator, K-Tech Hongqiao International Incubation Center |in Shanghai, provides working space, finance options, company registration and, more important for Olivier, visa service.

Zhu Peiyi, the managing partner of the centre, said that after consultation with the Shanghai Exit-Entry Administration Bureau, the centre’s staff helped Olivier apply for the special residence permit for entrepreneurs.

“That’s what people now call the ‘entrepreneurship visa’ or ‘business startup visa’,” Zhu said, adding that there are 20 startup companies working in the center, and one-third of them are foreign teams.

“Many foreign businessmen just didn’t know that they were qualified for it, and after the news is out, many consulates have contacted us for more details,” she added.

Since 2015, Shanghai has launched 25 pilot visa policies to streamline and simplify the foreigner visa application process and to diversify the visa types to better fit the demand, said Cai Baodi, |chief of the foreigner visa management division at the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau.

Among the 25 pilot visa policies, four are directly linked to foreigners opening businesses in the city. These include issuing visas that allow current international students in Chinese colleges to start businesses in the Shanghai Free Trade Zone and the Zhangjiang National Innovation Demonstration Zone, and allow foreign technological specialists or college professors to commercialize their research in those areas.

Computer science professor

Chinese-American Zhang Zheng is a professor of computer science at New York University Shanghai. Before joining the university’s Shanghai campus, he was the founder of the System Research Group of Microsoft Research Asia, where he served as principal researcher and research area manager.

Since his expertise was needed by Amazon’s Shanghai branch, Zhang was approached by the company to put the research into future products.

“Before, our visa policy didn’t allow foreigners to hold two jobs, but … Shanghai launched a talent visa program in May that made it possible,” said Cai, from the ShanghaiExit-Entry Administration Bureau.

Zhang got his new work permit on September 4, which allows him to work at both NYU Shanghai and Amazon.

Besides current students and professors, graduates with a degree from the world’s top 300 universities ranked by the Center for World-Class Universities at Shanghai Jiao Tong University can get the “entrepreneurship visa” within two years of graduation to live and work in Shanghai. Foreign entrepreneurs with a business plan and documents proving their investment and source of income can also apply.

Cai said his department has issued 95 such entrepreneurship visas in the past three years.

“We hope this kind of residence permit will encourage talent and entrepreneurs to come to the city with their innovative ideas and plans,” Cai said.

Compared with a business visa, which allows the holder to stay in China no longer than six months, the permit for entrepreneurs is valid for one year with multiple entries and can be extended to a maximum of two years.

“We will soon open a centre for entry-exit and immigration affairs in Zhangjiang, providing one-stop services, from language training and job hunting to legal consultation,” Cai said. “It’s going to be the first of its kind in the country.”

Equipped with sensors and image recognition software, they navigate the alleys between the shelves intuitively, choosing unobstructed straight lines that save time and enable efficiency, unlike human workers who might zigzag unconsciously.

“In Japan, the labour cost is very high with its shrinking pool of working population.

“The demand for workers in warehouses also changes with the alternating peak season and slack period in e-commerce. Our robots solve this problem with lower operating costs and higher efficiency,” Yu Zhenzhong, senior vice-president of HIT Robot Group, said.

With constant progress in research and development, Chinese robot makers such as HRG are increasingly going global.

At the same time, they are helping foreign companies better tap the potential in China, the world’s largest robot applications market, to deepen global exchanges.

“International cooperation is of crucial importance to build a well-organised global robotics industrial chain. Frequent communication can generate new ideas for cutting-edge technologies,” Yu said.

According to him, with robots increasingly intertwined with artificial intelligence and other technologies, Chinese companies and their foreign counterparts are realising the need to go beyond naked competition. Instead, they are trying to cultivate a win-win mentality, marked by shared interests and an intent to take full advantage of each other’s expertise.

Toward that end, HRG is partnering with multinational robot heavyweights such as ABB Group of Switzerland. Such companies are seeking to integrate robot systems to offer better localised solutions for diverse sectors.

The Harbin-based HRG is also teaming up with Israeli companies for research and development of drones. They hope to feed off each other’s prowess.

The push for closer ties has become a trend in China. Government officials, entrepreneurs and experts are all calling for deeper international cooperation in the booming robotics sector.

Miao Wei, minister of industry and information technology, said China will ramp up resources to strengthen international cooperation as it strives to build a globally competitive robotics industry and accelerate the use of smart machines in manufacturing, healthcare and other sectors.

“China, as the world’s largest robot market, sincerely welcomes foreign companies to partake of the strategic opportunity to jointly build a global industrial ecosystem,” Miao said at the 2018 World Robot Conference in Beijing last month. Over 160 companies from 15 countries participated in the conference.

According to Miao, the ministry will roll out measures to encourage wider cooperation among Chinese companies, their international peers and foreign universities in technological research, product development and technical education.

That would build on the achievements over the past five years. China’s robotics industry has been growing at about 30 per cent a year.

In 2017, its industrial scale hit 120 billion yuan (Bt570 billion), according to the Analysis Report on Robot Industry in China 2018, which was jointly released by HIT, and the China Institute of Science and Technology Evaluation, a research institute.

China became the world’s largest market for industrial robots in 2013, surpassing Japan, according to the International Federation of Robotics. Last year, sales of robots used in assembly lines exceeded 140,000 units in the country, up 58 per cent year-on-year.

Still, the robot density, a metric for measuring a country’s level of automation, in China is lower than that in many economies, indicating ample room for growth.

Density of robot workers

In 2016, the density of robot workers in China was 68 units per 10,000 people and ranked 23rd worldwide, lower than the global average of 74 units per 10,000 people.

Karel Eloot, senior partner at the McKinsey & Company consultancy, said: “We forecast in 2020, the demand for robots in China will account for 40 per cent of overall global demand. It will grow into a gigantic market for robot makers.”

Qu Daokui, president of Siasun Robot & Automation Co, agreed. “To better prepare for the upcoming opportunities in China, we [Chinese robot companies] must go global. The robotics industry is so globalised and changing so fast that no one knows what a robot will look like in five to seven years. If we only keep our eyes on the home turf, we will die out.”

Siasun Robot is looking to acquire cutting-edge robot technology leaders in Europe and the United States. Acquisition deals could be in the region of $1 billion upward. Similarly, HRG has set up a venture capital fund to invest in promising startups in the US.

Chinese home appliances maker Midea Group has bought a majority stake in German robot manufacturer Kuka GA.

“Broadly speaking, as the robot industry chain involves many categories and fields, it is difficult, if not impossible, for a single country to be an ‘all-round champion’ that fully controls the whole industry.

“Instead, countries tend to specialise in one area while relying on imports in other areas. That is also why international cooperation is so important,” Qu said.

Not just important but urgent, given the US’ groundless accusation that China has been limiting the market share of foreign companies in key sectors including robotics, industry experts said.

Zhu Sendi, a member of the National Manufacturing Strategy Advisory Committee, which advises the central authorities on manufacturing policies, said foreign robot makers have gained immensely from China’s growing investment in smart manufacturing.

According to data from the China Machinery Industry Federation, in the China market, the combined share of international robot makers jumped to 73.2 per cent in 2017 from 67.3 per cent in 2016.

Liu Fang, China market director at Festo, a German multinational industrial control and automation company, said as Chinese manufacturers scramble to deploy highly automated machines in assembly lines, the country has evolved into a strategically important market for Festo.

“We have served more than 50,000 clients in the country, ranging from sectors like automobile, food, consumer electronics to water processing. Their demand for better automation solutions is inspiring our innovation efforts,” Liu said.

The Korean automaker said it would announce more details, including data, development status and sales plans of its next-generation hydrogen trucks, at the upcoming IAA Commercial Vehicles 2018, which kicks off tomorrow in Hannover, Germany. The name of the vehicle and the actual vehicle will be unveiled in time for the launch next year.

The upcoming hydrogen truck has a strong image and motifs of hydrogen represented by geometrical grill patterns, the automaker said.

Hyundai is currently developing hydrogen cars, with the aim of targeting the eco-friendly car market globally amid growing interest in green cars driven by environmental regulations.

The automaker plans to advance into the European market first with the hydrogen trucks and expand to other markets based on demand and the status of hydrogen charging infrastructure.

“When the hydrogen truck is mass-produced next year, Hyundai’s hydrogen leadership will extend to commercial cars beyond sedans and sport utility vehicles,” said a spokesperson of Hyundai Motor.

Hyundai launched the world’s first hydrogen car, Tucson, in 2013 and its next model, Nexo, a hydrogen-powered crossover SUV, in March.

It will be the first mass-produced car in the world to adopt such mirrors, the Japanese automaker said.

Cameras are equipped to areas where side mirrors are usually located and will capture views of the vehicle’s sides and back, which will be shown on monitors in front of the driver’s and front passenger’s seats within the cabin.

The digital system automatically magnifies corresponding views when the vehicle turns left, right or gets into reverse gear. Brightness will also be automatically adjusted to increase visibility at night and in bad weather, improving security.

The digital mirrors are smaller than existing sideview mirrors that provide better forward visibility.

The landmark partnership will enable VisionFund Lanka to benefit from robust features that the Epic Mobile Branchless Banker module delivers by creating a digital banking touch-point on a smart device. This mobile platform enables VFL to significantly expand their reach and deliver service excellence to their customers at their door-step, while delivering a lower cost of ownership by utilising non-proprietary Android devices that are freely available in the market.

Among the many features the Mobile Branchless Banker offers, the platform enables VFL agents to perform loan collections from clusters, mark attendance of groups, generate a physical receipt upon completion of a transaction as well as perform online account opening for new customers.

Importantly, the online and offline modality embedded in the application enables agents to operate in areas with low or no mobile coverage without affecting their service delivery. The platform includes the time-tested Epic Omni Channel Synchroniser for back-end interfacing and switching, which provides VFL the ability to scale their front-end service delivery channels to include additional services.

France has offered India its expertise in space medicine, astronaut health monitoring, life support and radiation protection for India’s proposed manned space mission, a French space official said last week.

“As France has already developed the required technologies and applications for a manned space mission, a working group will be set up for us [France] to share its expertise in space medicine, astronaut health monitoring and others,” president of French National Centre for Space Studies (CNES) Jean-Yves Le Gall told IANS.

Gall, along with Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) chairman K Sivan, announced the countries’ intention to work together on India’s proposed human spaceflight “Gaganyaan” by 2022.

It was announced during the 6th edition of biennial Bengaluru Space Expo, touted to be the largest space conference in Asia, held earlier this month.

The French-Indian working group will exchange expertise in the fields of astronaut life support, radiation protection, space debris protection and personal hygiene systems among others.

“Engineering teams have already begun discussions and it is envisioned that infrastructures for the development of micro-gravity applications will be used for training of future Indian astronauts,” a statement from CNES said.

CNES will be sharing its expertise acquired from the French human spaceflights of Thomas Pesquet’s Proxima mission in November 2016, when the European Space Agency’s (ESA) astronaut was on a six-month mission at the International Space Station. Pesquet had conducted 50 scientific experiments for ESA and CNES.

The partnership between CNES and ISRO will also allow the French space agency to learn from India’s developments in the field of crew transport, Gall said.

The Indo-French space cooperation has been across the fields of climate monitoring, joint groups working on future launch vehicles, deep-space exploration with France contributing to India’s future missions to Mars, Venus and asteroids.