Humanoid robots performing martial arts, robotic dogs demonstrating their agility and robots dancing to foreign folk music have become some of the more unusual scenes on foreign leaders' trips to China this year.

今年，外国领导人访华途中出现了一些不同寻常的场景：人形机器人打太极、机器狗灵活跳跃、机器人随外国民族音乐翩翩起舞。

Behind the eye-catching moments is a broader trend: China's vast market and technological strength are drawing visiting leaders beyond formal talks in Beijing.
这些引人注目的时刻背后，是一个更大的趋势：中国广阔的市场和技术实力正吸引着来访的领导人走出北京的外交会场。

The latest is Thongloun Sisoulith, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, who is currently making a five-day state visit to China.
最新一位是正在对中国进行为期五天国事访问的老挝人民革命党中央总书记、国家主席通伦·西苏里。

During a trip to DEEP Robotics in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang province, shortly after his arrival in China on Tuesday, Thongloun operated a robotic dog and praised it as "very good" and "very flexible".
通伦6月2日抵华后不久便前往浙江省会杭州，参观了杭州云深处科技有限公司。他亲自操作了一只机器狗，称赞其“很好”、“非常灵活”。

He also visited the headquarters of Chinese tech company Alibaba Group, where he learned how e-commerce platforms help Lao products reach consumers across the Chinese market.
他还参观了中国科技公司阿里巴巴集团总部，了解了电商平台如何帮助老挝产品触达中国市场各地的消费者。

Thongloun is not alone. Earlier this year, Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also included Zhejiang in their China itineraries.
通伦并非个例。今年早些时候，塞尔维亚总统亚历山大·武契奇、巴基斯坦总理夏巴兹·谢里夫和德国总理弗里德里希·默茨也都在访华行程中安排了浙江。

The province, long seen as an important window on China's reform and opening-up, is also one of the first places where the country's digital economy took root and flourished.
浙江长期被视为中国改革开放的重要窗口，也是我国数字经济最早生根发芽并蓬勃发展的地区之一。

Observers said the visits are more than lighthearted moments or technology showcases on packed diplomatic itineraries. Against the backdrop of global industrial transformation, the trips reflect a conscious choice by countries to embrace China's innovation drive and connect with its strengths in the digital economy, they said.
观察人士指出，这些访问不仅仅是紧张外交行程中的轻松时刻或技术展示。在全球产业转型的背景下，这些行程反映出各国主动对接中国创新驱动发展战略、借力中国数字经济优势的明确选择。

Zhejiang has become one of the most visible stops in this process because it allows visiting leaders to see, in one place, how digital platforms, artificial intelligence, robotics and advanced manufacturing are being applied in real industries.
浙江之所以成为这一过程中最受瞩目的站点之一，是因为它能令来访的领导人实地看到，数字平台、人工智能、机器人及先进制造等技术如何在实际产业中落地应用。

Jian Junbo, a researcher with the Institute of International Studies at Fudan University in Shanghai, said the visits reflect foreign leaders' recognition of China's high-tech development, as well as their countries' desire to work with China and benefit from the momentum of its technological progress.
复旦大学国际问题研究院研究员简军波表示，这些访问反映出外国领导人对中国高新技术发展的认可，也体现了他们与中国开展合作、借助中国技术进步势头获益的愿望。

"They hope to carry out deeper and broader cooperation with China in areas such as sci-tech innovation, education and the application of technological achievements," Jian said.
“他们希望与中方在科技创新、教育以及科技成果应用等领域开展更深层次、更广范围的合作，”简军波说。

"The main purpose, and also their expectation, is to help drive the growth and development of their own domestic economies," Jian added.
“其主要目的和预期，是希望能借此推动自身国内经济的增长与发展，”简军波补充道。

Li Xiaopeng, a professor at Hangzhou City University, said: "Effective home-ground diplomacy is not just about meetings, group photos and signing ceremonies. It also requires letting guests see things for themselves — to see a country's development, its capabilities and where its future is heading."
浙大城市学院教授李晓鹏表示：“有效的主场外交不仅是会谈、合影和签约，还需要让客人亲眼看一看——看看这个国家的发展、能力以及未来的走向。”

Taking Hangzhou as an example, Li said the city has become a highly concentrated example of Chinese modernization. In 2025, Hangzhou's GDP exceeded 2.3 trillion yuan ($340 billion), while the added value of its core digital economy industries reached 678 billion yuan, official data shows.
以杭州为例，李晓鹏表示，这座城市已成为中国式现代化的高度浓缩样本。官方数据显示，2025年杭州GDP突破2.3万亿元人民币（合3400亿美元），数字经济核心产业增加值达6780亿元。

Behind the figures is an ecosystem that includes platform companies, robotics enterprises, AI startups and advanced manufacturers, forming a broader industrial chain that allows visiting leaders to see more than individual companies, Li said.
李晓鹏说，这些数字背后是一个涵盖平台企业、机器人企业、人工智能初创公司及先进制造商的生态系统，形成了更长的产业链，使来访领导人看到的远不止单个企业。

Zhejiang is not the only place where such out-of-capital trips have taken place.
浙江并非外国领导人离京参访的唯一目的地。

Foreign leaders visiting China have also traveled to places such as Shanghai, an international financial center; Xiong'an New Area in Hebei province; and Fujian, Shaanxi and Sichuan provinces — places that showcase Chinese modernization, coordinated regional development, poverty reduction and connectivity.
访华的外国领导人还到访了上海这座国际金融中心、河北雄安新区，以及福建、陕西和四川等省份——这些地方展示着中国式现代化、区域协调发展、脱贫攻坚及互联互通建设成就。

Jian, the researcher, said that in-person visits by foreign leaders play an irreplaceable role in helping them better understand the reasons behind China's economic success and its future development trends.
复旦大学国际问题研究院研究员简军波表示，外国领导人亲身实地参访，在帮助他们更好地理解中国经济成功的原因及未来发展走向方面，发挥着不可替代的作用。

"Such visits help them see China more objectively, dispel the interference of certain Western narratives, and put aside prejudice and stereotypes about China," he said.
“这些实地参访有助于他们更客观地看待中国，排除某些西方叙事的干扰，摒弃对中国的偏见和刻板印象，”他说。

While the Lao top leader was visiting Zhejiang, Yvette Cooper, the United Kingdom's foreign secretary, traveled to Shenzhen, the technology hub in South China's Guangdong province, on Wednesday for a trip focused on science and technology, after meetings in the Chinese capital.
就在老挝最高领导人访问浙江期间，英国外交大臣伊薇特·库珀结束了在北京的会谈后，于6月3日前往华南科技重镇广东深圳，进行以科技为重点的参访。

If Beijing is where diplomacy is conducted, Shenzhen is where China's industrial innovation takes shape on the ground, experts said.
专家表示，如果说北京是开展外交活动的地方，那么深圳就是中国产业创新落地生根的地方。