Where China's
Innovation
& European
Capital Converge
An exclusive forum convening at the intersection of European institutional capital and Chinese deep tech innovation. We move beyond headlines to examine the structural shifts in physical AI, robotics, and the new investment corridors between China and Europe.
Organized by
Varen PartnersThe China Connect Summit
China
Meets
Europe
The structural shift in global technology is not coming from Silicon Valley alone. China's physical AI revolution, from humanoid robotics to autonomous systems, is rewriting the rules of hardware innovation at a pace and scale that demands attention from every serious allocator.
China Connect is the only European forum purpose-built for this conversation. We bring together the institutions shaping capital allocation with the founders and operators building the next generation of physical intelligence. In Zurich, where precision meets ambition.
200+
Attendees
30+
Countries
2
Days
80+
Speakers
Fig. 02 // China Connect 2025

Programme
Two Days,
One Thesis
October 1
Young Talent Coffee & Founders' Drink
The day before the conference, two informal gatherings. A coffee for the next generation of investors and operators, then an evening drink bringing founders and investors together ahead of the main stage.
Session Highlights
- Young Talent Coffee
- Curated introductions & networking
- Founders' Drink, evening
October 2
Main Conference
The full programme. Keynotes from industry architects, panels spanning physical AI to macro strategy, and the LP/GP conversations reshaping allocation to China.
Featuring a live robotics demo showcase in partnership with EIII, where leading Chinese hardware companies demo their products to European investors and operators.
Session Highlights
- Keynote address
- AI & LLM panel
- Robotics panel
- Macro & allocator session
- Live robotics demo showcase
Day 2 // October 2
Main
Conference
A single day, from the state of Chinese venture to the companies building physical intelligence, with the allocators deciding where capital goes next.
Programme subject to changeRegistration & Welcome
Opening Keynote
Danchun Chen, Founder, Varen Partners
China Venture Landscape Keynote
Three decades of venture investing in China, and where the next cycle of growth is headed.
Kathy Xu, Founder, Capital Today
Fireside Chat
Kathy Xu and Danchun Chen
Coffee Break & Networking
European Allocator Panel: Private Markets
Hong Kong IPO Market
An update on Hong Kong's IPO landscape, the return of technology listings, and the market's role in connecting Chinese growth companies with global investors.
Hemant Sabherwal, HKEX
Live Robotics Product Demo
With EIIIAn immersive showcase of leading Chinese robotics and hardware companies.
LLM & AI Spotlight Session
The latest from the frontier of Chinese large language models, featuring leaders from two of the labs setting China's AI pace.
MiniMax, Zhipu
Physical AI: Inside China's Embodied AI Stack
How China's embodied AI is actually being built, across the full chain from movement and manipulation to the data and foundation models underneath.
Genrobot, Sudo AI, Spirit AI, WUJI Hand
China's No.1 RoboVan Company Goes Global
The state of Chinese autonomous driving today, how Neolix scaled to become the world's largest RoboVan operator, and where its European expansion opens room to collaborate.
Neolix
Coffee Break & Networking
China Macro & Public Market Overview
An inside read on where the economic recovery stands, which sectors are leading, and what public market signals mean for capital allocation into China.
Alice Han, Director of China, Greenmantle
European Allocator Panel: Public Markets
Closing Remarks
Key takeaways from the day and a closing perspective on the next chapter of China and Europe investment and innovation.
Speakers
The 2026
Lineup
The first names announced for the Main Conference, from the labs and factories building China's AI and robotics stack to the allocators funding it.
Kathy Xu
Founder · Capital Today
One of China's most respected and successful venture capitalists. Over a career spanning three decades, Kathy has backed some of the country's most iconic companies, among them JD.com, NetEase, Meituan, Horizon Robotics, Moonshot, Zhipu and ByteDance.
Allen Xiao
CFO · Zhipu
Allen oversees finance for Zhipu, one of China's foremost AI labs and developer of the GLM model family, which listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2026 as the world's first publicly traded large-model company.
Rio Shen
General Manager, EMEA · MiniMax
Rio leads MiniMax's expansion across EMEA. Founded in 2021, MiniMax is one of China's leading AI labs, best known for its Hailuo video-generation model, and listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in January 2026.
Martina Hansen
Co-Founder & COO · Sudo AI
Martina co-founded Sudo AI, which develops foundation models for robot manipulation. Its robots train in large-scale simulated environments, learning across millions of scenarios before ever entering a factory, warehouse or home.
Leah Zheng
Co-Founder & COO · Spirit AI
Leah co-founded Spirit AI, a leading embodied AI company focused on full-stack AI and robotics, developing general-purpose Universal Brains and vision-language-action models for robots.
Shijie Min
VP, Head of Global Business Ecosystem · WUJI Hand
WUJI Hand is a category-defining leader in dexterous robotic manipulation, arriving with one of the industry's most rigorously engineered track records: a 20-DoF, human-sized hand rated for more than 300,000 grasp cycles.
William Wang
VP, Global Expansion · Genrobot.AI
Genrobot is an embodied intelligence data solutions provider, dedicated to building the critical data infrastructure that advanced physical AI models depend on.
Herbert Mangesius
General Partner · Vsquared Ventures
Herbert is a general partner at Vsquared Ventures, the Munich deep-tech fund investing in capital-intensive European hard tech across space, semiconductors, quantum, robotics and energy.
Alice Han
Director of China · Greenmantle
A prominent expert in Chinese macroeconomics, political economy and global fintech, Alice leads China coverage at Greenmantle, a macroeconomic and geopolitical advisory firm. Educated at Harvard and Stanford, her work centres on China's economy, its foreign policy and its evolving role in global relations.
Hemant Sabherwal
Head of Corporate Solutions & EMEA Issuer Services · HKEX
Hemant leads the Corporate Solutions team and EMEA Issuer Services at Hong Kong Exchanges and Clearing, bringing more than twenty years as an investment banker in equity capital markets across Hong Kong and London.
Benjamin Nuchowicz
Founder · AR Capital
Benjamin founded AR Capital, a Geneva-based family office, having built his wealth through one of Europe's early fund-of-hedge-funds platforms. The office manages a diversified international portfolio and invests actively across hedge funds, venture capital funds and direct investments in China.
Justinas Milašauskas, CFA
Investment Manager · Willgrow
Justinas brings more than 15 years of cross-asset investment experience to Willgrow, a single-family office founded by the principals behind a multi-billion-dollar logistics business, where he leads venture investing globally.
Faisal Rafi
Head of Research · RisCura
Faisal has 24 years of experience researching investment managers across asset classes and geographies, including alternatives and emerging markets, with a track record that includes manager research specifically in China.
Edouard Lingjaerde
Investment Manager · Reference Capital
Edouard works across venture capital research, global sourcing and manager assessment at Reference Capital, a Geneva-based fund-of-funds and VC advisory firm.
Chuang Zhu
Principal · Pictet Alternative Advisors
Chuang manages the Pictet Thematics Private Equity Technology funds, setting strategy, selecting and managing relationships with VC, growth and buyout funds, and executing direct co-investments across technology and AI with a primary focus on the US and Asia.
AGIBOT
Humanoid Robotics
A global leader in humanoid robotics, building embodied AI for the AGI era. Since its founding in Shanghai in 2023, AGIBOT has amassed one of the industry's deepest commercial deployments: more than 10,000 humanoid robots shipped, running live across 17+ countries and regions in reception, industrial assembly, logistics and commercial cleaning.
A glimpse of the founders, allocators, and operators who have joined previous editions of the China Connect Summit.

Boyu Hu
General Partner
XVC

Xi Cao
Founding Partner
Monolith

Wouter Gort
Partner
Hummingbird Ventures

Harry Man
Partner
Matrix Partners China

Iris Wang
CIO
TruMed Investment

JP Gan
Founding Partner
INCE Capital

Harry Chen
Principal
IKEA Foundation

Herry Han
Founding Partner
Soul Capital

Shaw Wang
Founding Partner
Unity Ventures

Yuan Liu
Partner
ZhenFund

Jian Shi Cortesi
Investment Director
GAM

Murong Yang
Managing Director
Future Capital

Rafael Ratzel
Managing Partner
TH Capital

Yipin Ng
Co-Founder
Yunqi Partners

Armin Vogel
Partner
Crossbow Partners

Nils Heise
Investment Director
Lombard Odier Investment Managers

Ben Marlow
Investor
Galini

Hubert Stadler
Partner
EY

Patrick Kavanagh
Investor Operator
Old Friendship Capital

Gabriele Casati
Portfolio Manager
NS Partners
In Good
Company
The institutions partnering with and supporting the China Connect Summit.



Zurich, Switzerland // 1 - 2 October 2026
Secure Your
Invitation
Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Early expressions of interest are encouraged.