Summit Ref. ZRH-2026China Connect Summit

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.

Fig. 01 // Topographic Fluidity

The 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

China Connect 2025Fig. 02 // China Connect 2025
Panel Discussion
Keynote Presentation

Programme

Two Days,
One Thesis

Physical AIRoboticsVenture CapitalLP / GPDeep TechMacro
Day 1OPENING DAY

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
Day 2FULL PROGRAMME

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 change
Morning
09:00 - 10:00

Registration & Welcome

10:00 - 10:20

Opening Keynote

Danchun Chen, Founder, Varen Partners

10:20 - 11:00

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

11:00 - 11:20

Fireside Chat

Kathy Xu and Danchun Chen

11:20 - 11:40

Coffee Break & Networking

11:40 - 12:10

European Allocator Panel: Private Markets

12:10 - 12:30

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

Lunch Break
12:30 - 13:30

Live Robotics Product Demo

With EIII

An immersive showcase of leading Chinese robotics and hardware companies.

Afternoon
13:30 - 14:00

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

14:00 - 14:40

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

14:40 - 15:00

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

15:00 - 15:30

Coffee Break & Networking

15:30 - 16:15

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

16:15 - 16:45

European Allocator Panel: Public Markets

16:45 - 16:50

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.

More to be announced

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.

Past Editions

A glimpse of the founders, allocators, and operators who have joined previous editions of the China Connect Summit.

Boyu Hu, General Partner at XVC

Boyu Hu

General Partner

XVC

Xi Cao, Founding Partner at Monolith

Xi Cao

Founding Partner

Monolith

Wouter Gort, Partner at Hummingbird Ventures

Wouter Gort

Partner

Hummingbird Ventures

Harry Man, Partner at Matrix Partners China

Harry Man

Partner

Matrix Partners China

Iris Wang, CIO at TruMed Investment

Iris Wang

CIO

TruMed Investment

JP Gan, Founding Partner at INCE Capital

JP Gan

Founding Partner

INCE Capital

Harry Chen, Principal at IKEA Foundation

Harry Chen

Principal

IKEA Foundation

Herry Han, Founding Partner at Soul Capital

Herry Han

Founding Partner

Soul Capital

Shaw Wang, Founding Partner at Unity Ventures

Shaw Wang

Founding Partner

Unity Ventures

Yuan Liu, Partner at ZhenFund

Yuan Liu

Partner

ZhenFund

Jian Shi Cortesi, Investment Director at GAM

Jian Shi Cortesi

Investment Director

GAM

Murong Yang, Managing Director at Future Capital

Murong Yang

Managing Director

Future Capital

Rafael Ratzel, Managing Partner at TH Capital

Rafael Ratzel

Managing Partner

TH Capital

Yipin Ng, Co-Founder at Yunqi Partners

Yipin Ng

Co-Founder

Yunqi Partners

Armin Vogel, Partner at Crossbow Partners

Armin Vogel

Partner

Crossbow Partners

Nils Heise, Investment Director at Lombard Odier Investment Managers

Nils Heise

Investment Director

Lombard Odier Investment Managers

Ben Marlow, Investor at Galini

Ben Marlow

Investor

Galini

Hubert Stadler, Partner at EY

Hubert Stadler

Partner

EY

Patrick Kavanagh, Investor Operator at Old Friendship Capital

Patrick Kavanagh

Investor Operator

Old Friendship Capital

Gabriele Casati, Portfolio Manager at NS Partners

Gabriele Casati

Portfolio Manager

NS Partners

In Good
Company

The institutions partnering with and supporting the China Connect Summit.

Become a Partner
2026 Partners
Edelweiss Innovation & Intelligence Institute logo
Past Editions
LGT logo
EY logo

Zurich, Switzerland // 1 - 2 October 2026

Secure Your
Invitation

Applications are reviewed on a rolling basis. Early expressions of interest are encouraged.

Organized by

Varen Partners

For Qualified Investors Only

© 2026 Varen Partners