China’s ‘makers’ battle mistrust in high-tech community

Young ‘makers’: A teacher instructing children at ‘MG Space’, a workshop offering digital fabrication, in Shenzhen. — AFP

SHENZHEN: Engineers, computer programmers and children tinker with self-made radio-controlled toy cars and robotic arms in China’s southern city of Shenzhen, home to “makers” who belie the country’s reputation as a hub for technology copycats.

The group works in a special space inside a high-rise in a city considered a nerve centre for the “maker movement” of tech whizzes who invent, design and make their own gadgets and devices from scratch.