The China being built right now
Artificial intelligence, robotics, industry 4.0, digital platforms: ten days inside the companies writing the decade. Shanghai · Hangzhou · Ningbo.
- Duration
- 10 days · 7 hotel nights (6 to 14 days depending on the school)
- Group
- From 20 participants
- Price
- From CHF 2,500 per student, flights included · from CHF 1,500 land only
- Departures
- Two windows a year: March–April and early November
- Edition
- 2026–2027
Your students know. They have not seen.
In one generation, China has gone from being the world's workshop to one of its laboratories. A graduate leaving an engineering, business or design programme today will spend an entire career working with — or against — the companies visited on this trip. They will have heard of them in a lecture, read a case study, watched a video. They will never have set foot in the factory.
That is exactly what this trip makes possible: not a sightseeing tour, but a series of doors opened one by one in companies that do not receive individual visitors. In five years Hangzhou has become the epicentre of the "six little dragons" — quadruped robots, brain-machine interfaces, game engines, large language models. Thirty kilometres away, Alibaba has completed its transformation into a "full-stack" AI company. In Ningbo, the Zeekr plant builds electric vehicles in fully robotised workshops. In Shanghai, ByteDance, Xiaohongshu and Poizon are inventing consumption models Europe will import in three years.
A teaching object, not an excursion
Identifiable learning outcomes
Each visit combines observation time (workshop, showroom, production line) and a one-hour round table with company executives on a theme announced in advance.
Assessment-ready
Preparatory file, field notebook, oral debrief on site and summary report on return. Suissia provides the framework; the school keeps control of content and grading.
An internationalisation argument
A documented week in industrial China gives the programme a real differentiator with candidates and regional economic partners.
A cost that passes committee
From CHF 2,500 flights included, the trip stays in the same range as a study week in Northern Europe. Free places for accompanying staff and a firm quote at signature.
Three cities, three hubs
Shanghai 上海 — platforms
Gateway of the trip. Data economy, social networks, e-commerce, new forms of consumption: ByteDance, Xiaohongshu, Poizon, urban planning centre and Lujiazui.
Hangzhou 杭州 — AI & robotics
The heart of the trip. Alibaba, the "six little dragons" (Unitree, DEEP Robotics, BrainCo, Rokid…), generative-AI innovation centres, smart factories of the Xiasha zone. Three nights in the reference format.
Ningbo 宁波 — industry 4.0
One day for one thing: the Zeekr plant, one of China's most automated car factories, as a day trip from Hangzhou.
Reference programme — ten days, seven nights
- D1Switzerland
Departure
Meeting at the airport with the Suissia representative, group check-in and flight to Shanghai.
- D2Shanghai
Arrival
Welcome, private coach transfer, hotel check-in. Evening on the Bund, then briefing: group rules, note-taking method, question allocation.
- D3Shanghai
The attention economy
ByteDance: tour of the workspaces and round table on short video, live commerce and large models in the real economy. Afternoon: old town and Yu Garden.
- D4Shanghai
One platform, one city
Xiaohongshu or Poizon, depending on the programme. Afternoon: urban planning centre and Lujiazui.
- D5Shanghai
Academic day
Tailor-made lecture and applied workshop built with the school; sub-group work; free evening.
- D6Hangzhou
High-speed train and Alibaba campus
First-class journey. Xixi global campus: the founders' cabin, the DingTalk AI space, round table on large models and corporate innovation.
- D7Hangzhou
Robots
Unitree Robotics or DEEP Robotics: showroom, live demonstration, discussion on embodied intelligence. Afternoon: West Lake (UNESCO).
- D8Hangzhou / Ningbo
The factory or the ecosystem
Either the Zeekr plant in Ningbo — fully robotised body shop — or the Six Little Dragons Museum and the Longjing tea plantations.
- D9Hangzhou → return
Debrief and return flight
Zhejiang University or partner school, group debrief, transfer to Shanghai Pudong and return flight.
- D10Switzerland
Arrival
Arrival in Switzerland according to flight schedule.
Academic module: three days at Alibaba's school
For business and management programmes, the trip can be built around a three-day training module on Alibaba's Hangzhou campus, taught by former group executives: corporate culture and talent policy, the "three axes" of management, crossing the B2B–Taobao–Alipay–Cloud cycles, the integrated AI strategy, from use case to action plan. Opening and closing ceremonies, certificate of attendance, external visit included. The module suits a master's cohort, a continuing-education programme or a trip for regional business leaders equally well.
Four typical tracks
A · Engineering and technology
Mechanical, electrical, microtechnology, embedded computing, industrial engineering: Unitree, DEEP Robotics, Zeekr, Geely, SEO Elevator, Xiasha zone.
B · Business and management
Business administration, management, logistics, entrepreneurship, executive education: Alibaba, ByteDance, NetEase, Poizon, academic module.
C · Design and communication
Industrial and service design, marketing, digital communication, media: Xiaohongshu, Rokid, China Vision Valley, AIGC Centre, Six Dragons Museum.
D · Hospitality, luxury and retail
High-end hospitality, premium retail, tourism: Xintiandi, Taikoo Hui, Amanyangyun, Hangzhou Tower, Longjing, Zhejiang Tourism College.
Health and medical technology
Suissia's own network: hospitals integrating Chinese and Western medicine, elderly-care institutions and programmes, medical-device and rehabilitation-robotics manufacturers, partner university.
What it costs
Always included
- Accommodation, breakfasts and meals scheduled in the programme
- Private coach, transfers, high-speed train
- French-speaking guide and Suissia coordination on site
- Visits, meetings and lectures of the itinerary, interpreting included
- Full package: return flights booked and issued by Suissia
Never included
- Personal insurance, including cancellation and repatriation
- Visa fees depending on nationality
- Personal expenses and activities outside the programme
- Single-room supplement, on request
There is no list price: each trip is costed from the partners selected and the level of service chosen. The quote is firm for the headcount and services it describes. Booking on signature with a 50% deposit, balance thirty days before departure.
How we work
We scope
You tell us the programme, number of students, date window and budget per head. Suissia proposes an itinerary and a firm quote within ten working days.
We book
Company visits are booked six to eight weeks ahead with a named participant list. Suissia handles all of this.
We escort
A Suissia escort and a French–Chinese interpreter are present from departure to return, in addition to local guides.
Practical matters
- Entry to China: Swiss nationals are visa-exempt for stays under thirty days (unilateral exemption currently extended to 31 December 2026). Passport valid six months beyond return.
- Health: no vaccination required; usual Swiss FOPH recommendations apply. Care coordination being Suissia's core business, a medical incident during the trip is handled by people whose speciality it is.
- Mobile payment set up with students before departure; practical notice and roaming eSIM available.
- Supervision: escort and interpreter at all times, 24/7 emergency number.
- Timeline: allow six months between the first discussion and departure (D-180 scoping and quote · D-120 registrations closed · D-60 named list · D-30 balance · D-15 preparation session).
- Carbon footprint: estimate and offset option provided on request.
A trip project for your programme?
Tell us the programme, number of students, a date window and a budget per head. You receive a detailed itinerary and a firm quote within ten working days. Contact: Ms TANG Lu · lu.tang@suissia.ch · +41 78 843 17 96.
Request a quote →