About
Latest Byte runs China Innovation Tour — GBA: 8-day immersions inside the Greater Bay Area for parents, companies, and principals.
The tours are founded by Steven Ducat — not a tour guide. An operator who has owned factories in China since 2000.
Xiaoshan, 2000
Steven opened his first factory in Xiaoshan, Hangzhou, in 2000: a ladies’ garment factory built as a Wholly Owned Foreign Enterprise (WOFE), shipping to the UK and Europe. He came to own the floor, stand there when machines broke, and learn why — in a language he did not yet speak.
He stayed.
Panyu → Foshan
By 2007 he had moved into jewelry manufacturing in Panyu for US and European markets. In 2014 a copper-wire problem at a transformer factory became the bridge to clean energy. He founded SPD Energy in Foshan: a 70,000 m² facility, ~600 people, solar/wind equipment, BESS, inverters, EV charging, and more — still building while advising at national level.
Operator, not observer
- Founder & CEO, SPD Energy (Foshan)
- CEO & Founder, SPD Asia (Singapore)
- Chief Global Advisor, China Energy Research Society (CERS)
- Chief Global Advisor, China New Energy Chamber of Commerce (CNECC)
Chinese name: 杜浚平. On factory floors he is often called 杜总 — peer, not visitor. Twenty-six years of language, culture, unwritten rules, and relationships that do not open on a cold email.
“It’s time for countries, instead of looking at China as competition, to actually look at China as a partner.”
What that means for the tours
The week is designed from access — not from a tourist checklist. On most products a bilingual lead guide runs the circuit and Steven appears at high-signal moments. On China Unlocked, Steven aims to be present for the full duration — the product is the keyholder.