Combining technology and psychology, companies at this year’s China International Import Expo (CIIE), running Nov. 5 to 10 in Shanghai, are exploring how innovation can help young people cope with stress, anxiety, and loneliness.

According to the 2024 China Mental Health Survey by the Chinese Center for Disease Control, 95 million people currently live with depression in China. Approximately 40% of the 280,000 people who die by suicide every year in China are reported to have suffered from the illness.

Psychology-oriented products at this year’s CIIE included a smartwatch designed to help identify emotional distress among students, a depression-screening robot, a VR platform to help children hone their executive function skills, and an AI screen companion.

One such product, a mental health bracelet developed by China Resources Pharmaceutical Commercial Group Medical Devices, analyzes the wearer’s heart rate variability to evaluate energy, mood, anxiety, and stress.

“Right now, our main focus is schools,” said Miao Chuncheng, the company’s chief technology officer. “There have been frequent incidents of students showing suicidal tendencies or even jumping off buildings, which has become a major concern for parents, educators, and authorities.” The watch has already been tested in a school in the southern tech hub of Shenzhen.

The company also unveiled an “AI Depression Screening and Consultation Robot,” developed in collaboration with Shenzhen Kangning Hospital, which analyzes tone of voice, facial expressions, and spoken words to assess users’ emotional state and adjust its responses in real time.

“Patients in real counseling sessions may not always tell the truth,” Miao told Sixth Tone. “Our system can detect this through subtle micro-expressions — small muscle twitches around the eyes — based on lie detection technologies our team once developed in the U.S.”

Miao said the goal is to reduce the stigma of seeking help. “Many people are hesitant to open up to doctors, but they’re more comfortable talking to a robot. That’s why we built this system.”

Beyond combating mental illness, helping neurodivergent individuals has also emerged as a key theme at CIIE. “Neurodivergent” is defined by the Cleveland Clinic, an academic medical center in the U.S., as a “nonmedical term that describes people whose brains develop or work differently for some reason,” and encompasses people on the autism spectrum.

“Growing up in a traditional Asian family and attending a local school, I was often seen as the naughty, daydreaming, talkative kid,” said Caley Lin, founder of Hong Kong-based startup Unlimitics and a certified behavioral analyst who has worked with more than 3,000 neurodivergent students. “That’s why I resonate so deeply with the children I work with — we’ve both experienced the struggle of lacking self-agency and feeling pressured to fit in.”

Incubated at the Harvard Innovation Lab, Unlimitics provides children with an immersive “school-day simulation” platform, where they can revisit past real-life situations, make different choices than they had made in reality, and practice emotional awareness.

Lin told Sixth Tone that the company is currently in talks with an international school in Shenzhen to bring the project into real-world classroom use.

Another prominent product at CIIE hopes to address loneliness in adults. DouDou AI, known as HakkoAI abroad and developed by Beijing-based tech startup Lynksoul, identifies what’s happening on a user’s screen in real time and responds accordingly, giving it the ability to recommend video game strategies, discuss the plot of a TV show, and act as a foreign language learning partner.

“When we were in school, we played games with friends … but after starting work, it’s harder to find someone to play with. We hope DouDou AI can act like a friend, keeping you company when you need to talk or be comforted,” Lynksoul marketing manager Wang Yue told Sixth Tone.

The AI adjusts tone and emotion based on the on-screen content and situation, mimicking natural human conversation. Each AI companion has a distinct personality: “Nico” is gentle and encouraging, while “Nika” is witty and teasing.

DouDou AI has launched in both the Chinese and North American markets.

Editor: Marianne Gunnarsson.

(Header image: The AI screen companion, Doudou AI, addresses loneliness in adults, at the Eighth China International Import Expo (CIIE) in Shanghai, Nov. 7, 2025. Chen Yiru/Sixth Tone)