Before traveling to China in July, I knew very little about Wuxi.
I was familiar with nearby Shanghai and Nanjing, and I understood that the wider Yangtze River Delta was one of China's most important economic and technological regions. But Wuxi itself remained largely unknown to me.
Three days later, I left with a strong impression of a city that combines industrial ambition, technological experimentation, rich local culture and remarkable hospitality.
My Singapore-based company, AI Super Agency Pte. Ltd (AISA), had been selected to participate in Transfong's "Honey Peach" Singapore–China Tech Immersion Trip. The program brought a group of Singapore-based founders and technology leaders to Wuxi and Nanjing to meet local companies, government representatives, innovation institutions and potential partners.
I joined the trip primarily to discover China: To listen and learn.
The author, Sea Ansley, takes part in a business exchange event in Wuxi. [Photo provided to en.wuxi.gov.cn]
AISA is developing decision-intelligence and simulation capabilities intended to help organizations explore complex choices before committing significant time, capital or reputation. I was curious about China's innovation ecosystems, but I did not arrive expecting to sell. My larger question was whether a young Singapore-based company such as ours could eventually contribute anything genuinely useful to Chinese businesses, institutions or cities.
Wuxi offered an intriguing place to begin considering that question.
A city presented at scale
I traveled to Wuxi from Shanghai on China's high-speed rail network. The journey took approximately 45 minutes and was remarkably smooth, comfortable and efficient.
My first difficulty came only after arriving, when I struggled to activate the DiDi ride-hailing app and spent longer than expected waiting for a taxi. It proved to be one of the few logistical complications of the entire trip.
After checking into the futuristic Atour Hotel and meeting some of the other Transfong participants over lunch, our group boarded a golden bus that would become our shared transport throughout Wuxi.
Our first official visit was to the Wuxi National High-tech District Exhibition Center. Inside, an expansive illuminated scale model showed roads, neighborhoods, industrial areas, transport links and future development across Wuxi New District. It was visually impressive, but its deeper effect was to communicate the seriousness with which the city approaches long-term planning.
An expansive illuminated scale model of Wuxi New District. [Photo provided to en.wuxi.gov.cn]
We learned about Wuxi's work in smart-city development, renewable energy, transportation, robotics, manufacturing and other strategic industries. The exhibition conveyed a city seeking not merely to grow, but to shape that growth through infrastructure, technology and coordinated regional planning.
Towards the end of the visit, I was invited to strike a drum that had been used during the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. It was an unexpected cultural moment within an otherwise highly technological introduction to the city.
That combination — heritage alongside future-focused ambition — would become one of my strongest impressions of Wuxi.
Digital energy, life sciences and robotics
Our next stop was LongShine Technology, a major Wuxi-based provider of digital energy, utility and smart-city technologies.
The scale of its operations was significant. LongShine's platforms and services support hundreds of millions of users, while its work connects energy systems, public services and digital infrastructure. For AISA, which is interested in how complex systems can be modeled and improved, the visit offered a glimpse of the enormous operational environments already being managed through Chinese digital platforms.
The next morning, we visited the Wuxi International Life-Science Innovation Campus, or I·Campus, jointly developed by the Wuxi municipal government, Wuxi New District government and AstraZeneca.
The campus introduced us to healthcare and medical-technology companies working across areas including diagnostics, monitoring systems, medicine and emerging biomedical applications. Several members of our group were particularly interested in a continuous glucose monitoring technology presented during the tour.
What struck me was not simply the individual products, but the surrounding ecosystem. Government, multinational companies, researchers and younger ventures appeared to be operating within a deliberately constructed environment intended to accelerate healthcare innovation.
From medicine, we moved to embodied robotics. At IREDI — the Institute for Robotic Embodied Dexterity and Intelligence — we encountered numerous robotic form factors, including humanoid machines and a display of robotic hands. Each hand contained five fingers and different gripping capabilities.
We were told that reproducing the dexterity and sensitivity of the human hand remains one of the most difficult challenges in robotics. Standing between two humanoid robots, I found myself wondering whether machines must imitate the human body so closely. Might different numbers of fingers, alternative joints or entirely new mechanical forms ultimately perform human tasks more efficiently?
That question stayed with me because it reflected something broader about technological development. Innovation is not only about replicating what already exists. It is also about deciding which assumptions should be preserved and which should be challenged.
Conversations across borders
Technology demonstrations were only one part of the Wuxi experience.
Our group also participated in the Wuxi–Singapore Tech Innovation Industry Exchange, organized specifically to connect the visiting Singapore-based companies with local government and industry representatives.
Each participant delivered a short presentation based on pre-submitted slides. The projects represented a wide range of sectors, including robotics, water treatment, healthcare, neurotechnology, education, generative music and artificial intelligence.
For many of us, it was the first opportunity to understand what the other participants were building.
The atmosphere was practical and outward-looking. Wuxi was not simply displaying technologies it had already developed. Local leaders were actively exploring what could be created next, which overseas capabilities might complement the region, and how international companies could participate in its future economy.
Later, during another exchange in Yangshan, we delivered longer presentations and met additional local government and business leaders.
As an early-stage company, AISA was surrounded by several more established enterprises. That contrast was useful. It reminded me that international collaboration requires more than an interesting concept. It requires credibility, patience, an understanding of local needs and a willingness to build relationships over time.
The most valuable outcome of such a trip is therefore not necessarily an immediate transaction. It is the beginning of mutual understanding.
Hospitality around the table
Any account of Wuxi would be incomplete without mentioning the food.
Across lunches and dinners, enormous selections of shared dishes rotated around circular tables. Fish, poultry, eel, dumplings, vegetables, broths, fruit and unfamiliar regional specialties arrived in a seemingly continuous procession.
I normally follow a vegetarian diet, but temporarily adopted greater flexibility during the trip so that I could experience more of the local cuisine and participate fully in the shared meals.
These banquets were not simply about eating. They created space for conversations that would have been more difficult in formal conference rooms. Founders, organizers, officials and business leaders sat together, exchanged stories and gradually became more familiar with one another.
Hospitality became part of the business environment. The warmth and attentiveness shown to our group were among the most memorable aspects of the visit. At every stage, considerable effort had been made to welcome us, explain the region and ensure that we experienced more than a succession of corporate presentations.
Huishan Ancient Town after dark
Sea Ansley tours Huishan Ancient Town at night. [Photo provided to en.wuxi.gov.cn]
One evening, we visited Huishan Ancient Town.
A bilingual guide led us through historic streets, old storefronts, stone pathways and traditional architecture. After another generous dinner at a century-old restaurant, we walked beside waterways illuminated by lanterns and reflected lights.
The gentle rain, the old buildings and the glow of the lanterns created a very different impression of Wuxi from the innovation campuses and technology showrooms we had visited earlier.
Yet the two sides did not feel contradictory.
Wuxi's advanced industries appeared to exist alongside, rather than in place of, its cultural identity. The city's confidence seemed to come partly from its ability to value both.
For a visitor, that balance made Wuxi feel more human. Technology may shape the future, but culture gives people reasons to care about the places they are building.
The meaning of the honey peach
On our final morning, we traveled to Yangshan for a field study at the Huishan Modern Agricultural Industrial Park.
The region is famous for its honey peaches, celebrated for their fragrance, sweetness and soft texture. Only then did the name of the Transfong program — "Honey Peach" — fully make sense.
Sea Ansley visits Huishan Modern Agricultural Industrial Park in Huishan district, Wuxi. [Photo provided to en.wuxi.gov.cn]
After touring the agricultural site, we entered a conference hall for our final Wuxi business exchange. During the presentations, plates carrying slices of freshly cut peach were brought to the guests.
Later, over lunch, each of us received a whole freshly picked peach. The fruit itself was memorable, but so was the local pride surrounding it.
In Wuxi, advanced manufacturing, digital energy, robotics and agricultural heritage did not feel like competing identities. They appeared to form part of the same regional confidence: a belief that the city could modernize rapidly without losing the products, traditions and landscapes that made it distinctive.
Leaving with a different perspective
Three days is not enough to fully understand any city.
Our program was organized and intensive, and I recognize that it showed us selected parts of Wuxi's economy and culture. Yet even within that limited period, the city left a clear impression.
Wuxi felt ambitious without being disconnected from its local character. It was technologically advanced while remaining closely tied to food, history, hospitality and community. Its institutions appeared serious about attracting international expertise, but also proud of what the region had already created.
I arrived knowing little about Wuxi.
I left following its development with genuine interest, grateful to the people who welcomed us and curious about where future collaboration might lead.
For AISA, the visit also sharpened an important question. As we develop decision-intelligence tools designed to help organizations simulate complex choices and examine assumptions before acting, could these capabilities eventually contribute to the next stage of a city such as Wuxi?
I do not yet know the answer. But after this first visit, I would very much like to return, continue listening and continue the conversation.
The author Sea Ansley is a Canadian, New Zealand and British technology entrepreneur, and the founder and CEO of Singapore-based AI Super Agency Pte. Ltd (AISA), which develops decision-intelligence and simulation solutions.
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