:00:00. > :00:08.Now on BBC News, stick around for Click.
:00:09. > :00:12.This week a look back at our trip to China where we went on the hunt for
:00:13. > :00:13.innovation. With gassy fabrics, liquid metal,
:00:14. > :00:15.and a good, solid meal... It probably won't surprise
:00:16. > :00:58.you if I tell you China makes a lot of stuff, but would you believe it
:00:59. > :01:02.makes quite this much? In 2011, the country produced
:01:03. > :01:13.90% of all computers, 80% of all air conditioners
:01:14. > :01:17.and energy-saving lightbulbs, 70% of all cellphones,
:01:18. > :01:20.that's just over a billion of them, and they also found time to make 63%
:01:21. > :01:23.of the world's shoes. And much of all of that would have
:01:24. > :01:26.come from this place. Welcome to the city of Shenzhen,
:01:27. > :01:31.in the Guangdong Province. So much of the world's
:01:32. > :01:38.electronics come from Shenzhen. So much of your electronics
:01:39. > :01:40.started life here. Cases, components,
:01:41. > :01:43.chips, circuit boards. Nestled away on the southern coast,
:01:44. > :01:50.it's called the Workbench of China, Less than 40 years ago,
:01:51. > :02:00.only 30,000 people lived here. And that explosive growth is built
:02:01. > :02:11.on foundations of silicon. This week, I'm on a mission
:02:12. > :02:14.to find out how our things And as the saying goes,
:02:15. > :02:19.when it comes to electronics, This is the HAX Hardware Accelerator
:02:20. > :02:33.in downtown Shenzhen. Each year, teams of hopeful
:02:34. > :02:35.entrepreneurs make a pilgrimage to this place to plan,
:02:36. > :02:38.prototype and perfect their gadgets But before I show you around,
:02:39. > :02:47.time for a spot of lunch. We call it micro foods,
:02:48. > :02:51.so it's insects as the new protein. It is something that's been eaten
:02:52. > :02:54.for a very long time in all parts The hive is the smallest possible
:02:55. > :03:03.footprint of producing protein So better than plants,
:03:04. > :03:12.better than owning a cow? Better than plants, definitely
:03:13. > :03:15.better than owning a cow. You don't have to add additional
:03:16. > :03:21.water, they take it out What do they taste like?
:03:22. > :03:32.You can just try them. What do they taste like?
:03:33. > :03:38.They taste slightly nutty. Mostly neutral.
:03:39. > :03:42.Thank you. They can actually be mixed
:03:43. > :03:46.into any types of recipes. In this way, we just roasted them,
:03:47. > :03:52.so they are just roasted and crispy. But you can also make them
:03:53. > :03:55.into a meat patty and make It's a shrimp that came on land
:03:56. > :04:12.a really long time ago. Living Farms is only one
:04:13. > :04:24.of the companies currently in residency, and there is no
:04:25. > :04:28.shortage of interesting ideas. There's the roadie auto guitar
:04:29. > :04:35.tuner, the skiing boots that track your skiing style,
:04:36. > :04:37.the orthopaedic foot insert that analyses how you walk,
:04:38. > :04:40.there's the internet of things farm monitor, and the remote
:04:41. > :04:42.control fish tank cleaner. This device takes liquid materials,
:04:43. > :04:52.special formulations, and it converts them into nanofibres
:04:53. > :04:54.using an electric field. What happens is this little spinning
:04:55. > :04:57.needle produces a fabric Primarily, this machine is aimed
:04:58. > :05:02.at researchers right now. We are looking to get
:05:03. > :05:04.into the market and help people bring advanced textiles
:05:05. > :05:06.to a commercially viable point by offering a fast,
:05:07. > :05:08.affordable lab machine. Shenzhen has a wealth
:05:09. > :05:10.of manufacturers and vendors, so for prospective in the bay area,
:05:11. > :05:14.there might be two CNC shops that There's hundreds, maybe thousands
:05:15. > :05:17.in Shenzhen, and they're quick, cheap, they respond to text
:05:18. > :05:20.messages, and it allows us to do work in a short amount
:05:21. > :05:22.of time for cheap. It's high quality work as well,
:05:23. > :05:25.so good for manufacturing HAX has been here since 2011,
:05:26. > :05:37.and over 100 companies It's a little empty today
:05:38. > :05:47.because there is another HAX office over in the US,
:05:48. > :05:51.and at the moment, everyone is over there showing off their creations,
:05:52. > :05:53.including the boss. It's very bizarre that
:05:54. > :06:02.you're in San Francisco Why do you have a space
:06:03. > :06:07.here and a space in San Francisco? Yes, the early stage action
:06:08. > :06:15.is there, definitely, and all of the entrepreneurs
:06:16. > :06:21.in the world who go to Shenzhen and work with suppliers to build
:06:22. > :06:24.the best products to get to market, but after investing and accelerating
:06:25. > :06:27.about 145 companies in the last few years, I realised it was important
:06:28. > :06:30.to sell those products, and it is equally difficult to sell
:06:31. > :06:33.a product as to build it. So we have been building the next
:06:34. > :06:36.phase of the programme The big appeal of HAX
:06:37. > :06:53.is that it is within a short walk of some of the best and biggest
:06:54. > :06:56.electronic markets in the world. That means instant access
:06:57. > :06:58.to the cornucopia of components you will need to source
:06:59. > :07:01.if you want your thing There, I said the word
:07:02. > :07:06."thing" again. The markets of Shenzhen are so vast
:07:07. > :07:13.that it would be foolhardy So we are at Singapore Airport
:07:14. > :07:22.and heading to Hong Kong. Andrew Huang, or Bunny for short,
:07:23. > :07:35.is an MIT alumnus, entrepreneur That's hacker in the breaking
:07:36. > :07:38.and building stuff He's also written a few books,
:07:39. > :07:50.including Hacking The XBox, and most recently, The Essential
:07:51. > :07:53.Guide To Electronics in Shenzhen. Our core product are the peel
:07:54. > :07:57.and stick electronic LEDs. Today, Bunny is making
:07:58. > :08:08.the pilgrimage to Shenzhen, I'm tagging along to find out
:08:09. > :08:20.what it is all about. This is where I come to do
:08:21. > :08:23.a lot of searching to see what is available,
:08:24. > :08:25.what is selling and not selling. There are these cables here,
:08:26. > :08:28.and these cables there. That's the whole idea
:08:29. > :08:36.of this market. Discounts are easily 10-1 over
:08:37. > :08:39.what you can get in online retail They are made here and then resold
:08:40. > :08:44.there. And, I'm afraid to say,
:08:45. > :08:50.it's not long before I succumb So far, we've only walked
:08:51. > :09:09.a couple of levels. So if you can't find it
:09:10. > :09:11.on this floor, don't worry, This guy's selling a variety
:09:12. > :09:18.of switches. These are the battery
:09:19. > :09:31.holders inside toys. Connectors you'd find
:09:32. > :09:33.inside mobile phones. I could come here and ask her today,
:09:34. > :09:41.I want a wire that's a little bit longer,
:09:42. > :09:44.and she'll go ahead and make up 1,000 for me and have them ready
:09:45. > :09:47.for me by the next day. A lot of times when I come
:09:48. > :09:50.to Shenzhen, I don't even I buy everything I need as it's
:09:51. > :09:54.such a hassle to get Then I just leave them
:09:55. > :10:01.in the hotel when I leave. It's cheaper than paying
:10:02. > :10:03.for checked luggage. They sell soldering irons,
:10:04. > :10:06.diagonal cutters, development kits Within ten metres of here,
:10:07. > :10:11.you can probably get everything you need to take some simple project
:10:12. > :10:15.and bring it into existence. I've spent a decade
:10:16. > :10:25.here looking around. By the time you walk from one end
:10:26. > :10:32.of the market to the other, the beginning of the market has
:10:33. > :10:34.already reinvented itself. Do you shake on it or
:10:35. > :10:43.have some kind of...? It's a crazy thing where sometimes
:10:44. > :10:47.you say you need 10,000 of these parts, and it's not
:10:48. > :10:50.a small amount of money. A lot of times a person
:10:51. > :10:53.will come along and say, I could stiff them and not
:10:54. > :10:58.come with the money, And a lot of time they don't
:10:59. > :11:03.ask for a deposit. Just come back and they
:11:04. > :11:05.will have them for you. Rather you than me,
:11:06. > :11:07.if you do this regularly. Hello and welcome
:11:08. > :11:38.to the Week in Tech. It was the week that Tesla boss Elon
:11:39. > :11:45.Musk unveiled a new longer lasting battery for its electric cars. The
:11:46. > :11:49.always understated Musk Colebee 100 kilowatts an hour battery pack a
:11:50. > :11:56.profound milestone and claimed it would allow the new model S to go
:11:57. > :12:00.from zero to 60 in 2.5 seconds, that is once ludicrous mode has been
:12:01. > :12:04.engaged. Yes, we're not making this up, there's actually a setting on
:12:05. > :12:08.the car called ludicrous mode. Other notable launches this week included
:12:09. > :12:12.an update to android's mobile operating system that also promises
:12:13. > :12:17.longer battery life and a new app from Facebook that completely does
:12:18. > :12:21.away with privacy settings. It is, of course, aimed at teenagers. It
:12:22. > :12:29.was also the week that Super Mario made a bit of a comeback. Versed in
:12:30. > :12:32.the form of the Japanese Prime Minister at the closing of the Rio
:12:33. > :12:37.Olympics, and then in even stranger fashion as a hamster. -- first. Oh,
:12:38. > :12:42.into webs, you really do spoil us. And finally high-tech welding
:12:43. > :12:47.goggles aside, VR's biggest problem is allowing users to feel as well as
:12:48. > :12:52.feel the action. A start-up thinks it has the solution in the forms of
:12:53. > :12:57.these XO skillet or gloves, which it claims can imitate the physical
:12:58. > :13:00.sensation felt when touching or holding a host of different objects.
:13:01. > :13:05.No word on when they will be available to the public or how much
:13:06. > :13:16.they might cost. But the mind boggles at some of the things they
:13:17. > :13:20.might be used for! This is another chance to see our trip to Shenzhen
:13:21. > :13:25.in China, which is not all cables and chips you know! It's starting to
:13:26. > :13:29.become known for its fully fledged devices too. Until a couple of years
:13:30. > :13:34.ago, the name while wayward probably have meant nothing to you in the
:13:35. > :13:37.West, but it's now the third biggest maker of smart phones in the world.
:13:38. > :13:45.It certainly sees itself as a global player. This huge company has over
:13:46. > :13:48.170,000 employees, 60,000 of which work here on the Shenzhen campus.
:13:49. > :13:50.There's one thing I'll say about the Huawei campus,
:13:51. > :13:56.It's here that new devices are developed and tested.
:13:57. > :13:59.Welcome to my own private anechoic chamber.
:14:00. > :14:05.This particular box here is where they put their network
:14:06. > :14:19.And after all that stress, it's time for lunch, again.
:14:20. > :14:23.Yeah, it's becoming a bit of a theme really, isn't it?
:14:24. > :14:26.But on a campus this big, the midday meal itself can be a bit
:14:27. > :14:33.Right, so it's 11:38am, and I'm reliably informed
:14:34. > :14:41.in the next few minutes this place is going to fill up like crazy.
:14:42. > :14:46.And now it's 12:00pm, and everybody has eaten.
:14:47. > :14:48.If it looks like everyone's in a rush, well, they are.
:14:49. > :14:50.The quicker they eat, the longer they have
:14:51. > :14:58.I kid you not, having a roll-up bed under your desk
:14:59. > :15:04.Despite the huge numbers, Huawei's path to world domination
:15:05. > :15:12.It's still trying to lift a ban on providing network equipment
:15:13. > :15:15.to the US, after it and fellow Chinese manufacturer ZTE
:15:16. > :15:17.were accused of building back doors into their networking equipment,
:15:18. > :15:21.which could allow the Chinese government to snoop on US data.
:15:22. > :15:26.It's something Huawei's founder denied in a BBC interview last year.
:15:27. > :15:31.There's no way we can possibly penetrate into other people's
:15:32. > :15:33.systems, and we have never received such a request
:15:34. > :15:38.But the company carries on undeterred, and is still focused
:15:39. > :15:46.Its latest tablet, the MateBook, is set to launch in the States next
:15:47. > :15:52.Now, if Shenzhen is the R department, then the neighbouring
:15:53. > :15:55.city of Dongguan, about an hour's drive away, is the factory floor.
:15:56. > :16:13.Time to hook up with Bunny again, as he visits a factory to see
:16:14. > :16:21.if it's suitable to make his new product.
:16:22. > :16:24.All the bits and bobs that you see inside a phone or electronic gadgets
:16:25. > :16:32.They can make different products just by reconfiguring
:16:33. > :16:42.If I go ahead and squeegee that solder right onto the board...
:16:43. > :16:45.And everything gets stuck to that, does it?
:16:46. > :16:48.This machine is called a chip shooter.
:16:49. > :16:52.So it's a robot that's able to shoot chips onto this board.
:16:53. > :16:54.Listen to that, it sounds like a machine gun as well.
:16:55. > :16:56.Once the machines have placed the components,
:16:57. > :16:59.everything goes into a big oven, which melts the solder and sticks
:17:00. > :17:03.It's like one of those hotel toasters, isn't it?
:17:04. > :17:09.Where the bread goes in and very slowly comes round.
:17:10. > :17:12.In fact, if you look at some of the hobbyist DIY crowd,
:17:13. > :17:14.they will actually essentially replicate this at home
:17:15. > :17:19.It's still quite warm, so be careful with it.
:17:20. > :17:21.Machines like these allow even a relatively small factory like this
:17:22. > :17:25.But humans are still needed in this room, mainly for quality control.
:17:26. > :17:28.And across the way, there's even more of them.
:17:29. > :17:31.This is your typical assembly-line, your material comes in the front.
:17:32. > :17:33.She's responsible for putting on glue, she's responsible
:17:34. > :17:35.for putting on connectors, she's responsible for putting
:17:36. > :17:38.on diodes, resistors, so on and so forth, until they pop
:17:39. > :17:47.It turns out that, for example, it's really hard to build robots
:17:48. > :17:50.that can reach into a box full of components like this,
:17:51. > :17:52.figure out there's a little line here, there's a diode,
:17:53. > :17:55.you have to figure out which way to put it,
:17:56. > :18:03.and then drop it in the board right in the hole.
:18:04. > :18:06.So, even here, the human's days are numbered.
:18:07. > :18:08.Wages are rising in Dongguan as businesses compete
:18:09. > :18:19.Because of that, factories are looking to automate even larger
:18:20. > :18:22.Case in point, Foxconn, manufacturer of the iPhone amongst
:18:23. > :18:24.other gadgets, recently revealed that it had more
:18:25. > :18:27.than halved its workforce in one factory, replacing 60,000 workers
:18:28. > :18:36.There is one task up here though that I think everyone is glad
:18:37. > :18:42.You see that pool of liquid metal?
:18:43. > :18:46.That is the T-1000 in there, right now.
:18:47. > :18:51.Well, until the rise of the machines, the humans
:18:52. > :19:10.Never mind all this speech recognition, I want to type stuff.
:19:11. > :19:13.I tell you what, blink and you miss a mass movement of people here.
:19:14. > :19:23.So those keyboards could be in the boxes, into the storage room
:19:24. > :19:25.and then onto the shelf within about a week,
:19:26. > :19:34.But what about a mobile phone in your hands four minutes
:19:35. > :19:44.Let's put four minutes on the clock, because that's what China's biggest
:19:45. > :19:52.They've let us inside their largest robot-run warehouse to show us just
:19:53. > :19:55.how they can deliver, often in hours, sometimes in just
:19:56. > :20:03.JD.com shift 3 million orders a year from the latest
:20:04. > :20:15.Well, you might need those in under four minutes.
:20:16. > :20:19.20,000 packages an hour are sorted here, not by hand,
:20:20. > :20:26.Robots pack, pick, unpack and shelve, computers track,
:20:27. > :20:37.As you can see, things move pretty quickly around here.
:20:38. > :20:39.Each parcel goes along that conveyor belt, and then
:20:40. > :20:53.It's scanned by that bar coder, which tells the machine which one
:20:54. > :20:55.of these shoots to send that parcel to.
:20:56. > :20:58.That will then be taken to one of over 100 different district
:20:59. > :21:01.Which means that actually now in this warehouse where they used
:21:02. > :21:05.to have 500 people doing this job, just with this row of shoots along
:21:06. > :21:11.This is one of the first places in China where machines
:21:12. > :21:13.could replace workers entirely over the next few years.
:21:14. > :21:16.These are their plans for a fully automated warehouse,
:21:17. > :21:22.And self-driving vehicles we know about.
:21:23. > :21:30.So drones will reach the parts that others struggle to get to.
:21:31. > :21:32.This isn't just talk, last month JD revealed their own prototypes
:21:33. > :21:35.for carrying anything up to the size of a home computer
:21:36. > :21:47.There basically would be 200,000 spots on the map where we can
:21:48. > :21:58.They will be responsible for distributing to the villagers.
:21:59. > :22:02.But even if drones were allowed to fly anywhere, and they won't be,
:22:03. > :22:04.it would be still tricky to deliver something in just four minutes.
:22:05. > :22:07.That's JD's record, so how did they manage it?
:22:08. > :22:10.Well, this is one of more than 100 much smaller delivery centres around
:22:11. > :22:18.What they've found is if you can get one of these packages to one
:22:19. > :22:21.of these local delivery places before it's even been ordered,
:22:22. > :22:24.then you don't have to wait for the package to come
:22:25. > :22:38.You've seen the big data, we analyse the purchase pattern,
:22:39. > :22:40.we predict which small community is going to have those
:22:41. > :22:47.And then we deliver before the ordering happens.
:22:48. > :22:48.It's like Minority Report with shopping.
:22:49. > :22:51.We tailed the electric scooter to see if the kettle I'd randomly
:22:52. > :22:55.chosen could be delivered in less time than it would take to boil.
:22:56. > :22:58.Now you see we've caught a red light there, and that's going to cost
:22:59. > :23:08.Underneath that helmet he's going to be absolutely fuming.
:23:09. > :23:11.He's just gone down the bike lane and I think we've lost him.
:23:12. > :23:18.In fairness, this purchase hadn't been predicted,
:23:19. > :23:22.so it had to come all the way from the massive Asia 1 warehouse.
:23:23. > :23:25.Still, a robot and China's very own Stig delivered
:23:26. > :23:35.He's found the place, and he's off the bike.
:23:36. > :23:38.So how much over the four-minute record was he?
:23:39. > :23:42.We finally made it, that one took about two hours and ten minutes.
:23:43. > :23:54.It would be on the sixth floor, wouldn't it?
:23:55. > :23:56.Dan Simmons in the suburbs of Shanghai.
:23:57. > :23:58.And that's it for us in China for this week,
:23:59. > :24:14.Next week we are coming bang up to date in the UK. Thank you for
:24:15. > :24:19.watching and we will see you then.