85 million, which is the approximate number of disabled people in China. If we add about 44 million disabled and semi disabled elderly people, there are over 100 million people who have difficulty taking care of themselves, accounting for more than one fourteenth of China's total population. Assistive devices represented by wheelchairs, hearing aids, prosthetics, etc. (hereinafter referred to as "assistive devices") are a light that illuminates the majority of disabled and elderly people. It can improve, compensate, and replace human functions, provide auxiliary treatment, prevent disabilities, and enhance users' self-care and social participation abilities. The number and scale of domestic auxiliary equipment enterprises are small, and they still mainly focus on processing mid to low end products In 2019, faced with the insufficient development of China's assistive device industry and the monopoly of imported assistive device products in the market, Zhang Haidi, Chairman of the 7th Presidium of the China Disabled Persons' Federation, called for support for the development of China's assistive device industry and the realization of industrial optimization and upgrading. In recent years, with a series of policy supports, China's assistive device industry has quietly undergone changes. On the eve of the 33rd International Day of Persons with Disabilities, at the 2024 China International Welfare Expo (hereinafter referred to as the "Welfare Exhibition") held in Beijing, domestic assistive devices became the focus of the exhibition: domestically produced prostheses with quality comparable to imported prostheses, priced at less than one-third of imported prostheses; Artificial intelligence and brain computer interface technology are widely used in fields such as blindness assistance, hearing aid, rehabilitation, etc; The number of registered overseas buyers has reached an all-time high... How to find the driving force and enhance core competitiveness is a necessary question for the future development of the domestic auxiliary equipment industry. Breaking through the situation, starting from independent innovation, hearing aids are assistive devices that help hearing-impaired people compensate for hearing loss, and have a huge consumer market in China. According to the World Health Organization, there are 27.8 million hearing-impaired people in China, accounting for over 30% of the total number of people with disabilities in the country; About one-third of elderly people aged 65 and above have moderate to severe hearing loss. The five major imported hearing aid brands occupy about 90% of the market share in China. One of the reasons for this situation is that most domestic manufacturers produce mid to low end hearing aids, while high-end hearing aids rely heavily on foreign brands, "said Shi Zhiqiang, deputy director of the China Disabled Persons' Assistive Devices Center, pointing out the problem. A complete hearing aid includes core components such as chips, microphones, and receivers. Among them, the chip and the algorithm it carries are the "heart" of the hearing aid, determining its performance. If there are no suitable chips and algorithms, hearing aids are like simple sound amplifiers that cannot achieve noise reduction, personalized hearing compensation, control of sound direction, and other functions. Users can hear but cannot hear clearly Liu Zhihong, the head of the Research and Development Department of the China Disabled Persons' Assistive Devices Center, said. Compared to domestic hearing aids, the five major imported hearing aid brands started early, accumulated rich experience, and have a wide layout. The only way for domestic hearing aids to break through is through independent innovation. In recent years, domestic assistive device companies have increasingly attached importance to improving their research and development capabilities, achieving parallel development with international advanced levels in multiple fields, and even successfully leading in certain specific areas, "said Shi Zhiqiang. At this year's welfare exhibition, the reporter saw a carbon fiber shell hearing aid that is only the size of a fingernail. It comes from the domestic hearing aid brand, Boyin Hearing, founded in 2019. We have independent research and development capabilities in all three core components Liu Huan, General Manager of Listening Earth Company under Boyin Listening, introduced to reporters that under favorable conditions such as technology, market, and policies, domestic high-end hearing aids are gradually expanding their market by relying on their advantages in price, quality, and service. Technically speaking, domestic hearing aids not only break through the technical barriers of chips and algorithms, but also have been specially developed for the characteristics of Chinese pronunciation, making the recognition effect clearer; In terms of material, domestic hearing aids are the first to use new materials such as carbon fiber to improve wearing comfort, toughness, and corrosion resistance; In terms of price, under the same performance conditions, the price of domestically produced hearing aids is only about half of that of imported ones. We have over 300 stores nationwide, with products spread across more than 100 cities Liu Huan said. Not only domestic hearing aids, but in recent years, more and more domestic assistive devices are seeking development opportunities through technological innovation. In the field of prosthetics, the intelligent bionic hand developed by QiangBrain Technology applies brain computer interface technology. By collecting weak neural electrical signals on the arm, it can accurately, quickly, and freely control the movement of each finger. Its price is only one seventh of similar foreign products; In the field of exoskeleton rehabilitation robots, Beijing Daai Robot Technology Co., Ltd. applies artificial intelligence technology to allow users to adjust their scientific gait for training according to their own situation... Innovation brings confidence to enterprises. Shi Zhiqiang excitedly shared his discovery with reporters: in September, at the world's largest rehabilitation and nursing trade exhibition held in Germany, out of over 800 participating companies, 174 were Chinese enterprises. This shows that our company is becoming more and more confident, otherwise we wouldn't dare to go out, "he said. Research and development, starting from supply and demand docking. At the Welfare Exhibition, an audience member from Hebei eagerly searched for an electric wheelchair in front of the booth. The reporter learned that Aunt He is over 60 years old this year. She contracted polio when she was 3 years old. More than a decade ago, a car accident completely took away her walking ability, and since then she can only rely on a wheelchair for transportation. I want to find an electric wheelchair that can handle urination, defecation, and transportation on its own without the need for anyone else's help. The toilet bag can be taken out from above the seat, and the seat width should be more spacious... "Aunt He described her needs in detail to the reporter. In the eyes of many people, Aunt He's needs should be achievable with relatively basic skills. Why did she come to the Welfare Exhibition to search for products? During the process of following Aunt He to the exhibition, the reporter found the answer. In the eyes of most businesses, people with disabilities are assumed to have someone to take care of them and not travel far away, so there are few products on the market that accurately match Aunt He's needs. People think that people with disabilities should not go out, but I really can't help it Aunt He choked up a bit and said, "I look forward to going out and exploring every day." Aunt He's situation is not an exception. For a long time, there has been a mismatch between the research and production of assistive devices and consumer demand. On the one hand, consumers often cannot find the products they want, and on the other hand, the products produced by enterprises cannot be sold, "said Shi Zhiqiang. Chinese assistive device companies have not delved into demand research and often take problems for granted During her research, Liu Zhihong found that some blind assistance products use vibration or sound to indicate the distance of obstacles, but cannot provide the specific location and category of the obstacles. In addition, the delay in the prompts actually causes trouble for blind people. Such products are difficult to withstand the test of the market, and many companies are gradually unable to continue, "she said. Fortunately, more and more people are paying attention to frontline research and collecting feedback through various channels. At the welfare exhibition, members of the six legged guide robot team from Shanghai Jiao Tong University grabbed several blind "experience officers". Did you have any staff accompanying you on the subway? Should I take a straight ladder or an escalator? How to choose the route usually... "From travel modes to travel difficulties, team members asked in detail about their daily life experiences. The feedback from blind friends has given us a lot of inspiration in terms of cane design, voice interaction experience, and other aspects, allowing us to better improve our products The team members said. Improving quality and promoting standardization are important indicators for evaluating the quality of auxiliary equipment products. Yan Mei, director of the National Rehabilitation Equipment Quality Inspection and Testing Center, believes that "promoting standardization work is the key to achieving a leap from 'whether there is' to' whether it is good or not 'for domestic assistive devices. Standards are a ruler for evaluating product quality, and many people believe that high standards are equal to good standards, but this is not the case. Yan Mei believes that a good ruler should not only be suitable for measuring objects, but also updated with the times. Standardization work is aimed at regulating and promoting the development of the industry, and setting high standards to "freeze" enterprises is not the original intention of formulating standards. Taking a four legged cane as an example, in foreign countries, it is usually used by patients during rehabilitation training in hospitals and institutions, and the size of the bottom claw is relatively large; In China, its usage scenarios are more family oriented and daily oriented, and some elderly people with hemiplegia use it to assist with daily walking. Therefore, if foreign standards are used to evaluate domestic four legged canes, most products are difficult to meet the standards. Meanwhile, with the progress of the assistive device industry, standards should also be adjusted in a timely manner. For example, the number of loading cycles for dynamic structural strength testing is one of the key technical indicators for lower limb prostheses. Based on China's production and processing technology as well as market development, this indicator was initially set at 1 million times. After several revisions, the current indicator has been raised to 3 million times, which is consistent with the international level. Standards focus on formulation, but are difficult to implement. According to a survey conducted by reporters, there are currently 208 effective national standards in the field of disability services and rehabilitation aids. However, in recent years, the situation of auxiliary equipment products meeting the standards through random inspections has not been optimistic. In 2023, the Beijing Tianjin Hebei Consumer Association conducted a comparative experiment on 20 different brands of manual wheelchair products. The results showed that the sliding deviation of 8 samples exceeded the limit required by the national standard, the slope performance of 3 samples was lower than the national standard requirements, the static strength of 11 samples was lower than the national standard requirements, and the impact strength of 6 samples was lower than the national standard requirements. These issues indicate that there is still a long way to go in improving the quality of China's assistive device industry. The China Disabled Persons' Assistive Devices Center is actively promoting the application of standards and making good use of existing standards. For example, we carry out quality improvement actions in some major production areas of assistive devices, organize training, promote enterprises to better implement standards, and improve product quality Yan Mei said. While promoting the continuous implementation of existing standards, the industry is also calling for the development of new standards. There is currently no specific industry standard for VR technology intervention in the field of special needs children. We are working with our partner institutions to explore teaching methods suitable for special needs children starting from daily teaching, and to develop standardized lesson plans. I hope industry experts can work together to promote standardization in new technologies and fields Feng Shengfeng, founder of Shenzhen Xinghuo Media Technology Co., Ltd., said. Support and promote the development of domestic assistive devices from the perspective of industrial policies, using both the "invisible hand" and the "visible hand" effectively. The reporter learned that in the past, due to people's insufficient understanding of assistive devices and weak purchasing power, the overall output value of China's assistive device industry was relatively low, and its development was lagging behind compared to other industrial categories. Nowadays, on the one hand, as the living standards of Chinese residents improve, more and more people are willing to purchase assistive devices to enhance their quality of life; On the other hand, with the acceleration of population aging, the assistive device market is also constantly expanding. China is the country with the highest demand for assistive devices and the greatest market potential in the world. The assistive device industry has become a sunrise industry that combines economic and social benefits, and is a new growth point for China's industrial transformation and upgrading, "said Shi Zhiqiang. China attaches great importance to the development of the assistive device industry and the improvement of people's well-being. Policies such as "Several Opinions on Accelerating the Development of Rehabilitation Assistive Device Industry" and "Opinions on Developing the Silver Hair Economy to Enhance the Welfare of the Elderly" have been successively introduced to promote the accelerated development and upgrading of the assistive device industry and services. Various regions are also actively incubating the assistive device industry. For example, the Shenzhen Disabled Persons' Federation established the Shenzhen Barrier Free Incubation Space in 2020. Three years ago, after multiple rounds of expert evaluation and scoring, we successfully entered the incubation space, and since then, we have had free access to it