Hainan Jinghai Inspection and Testing Co., Ltd. recently showcased a range of robots at the inspection and testing cluster in Taling Industrial Park, Ding'an, Hainan. The robots are designed to inspect boiler waterwalls, industrial piping and other special equipment. They have already been deployed locally, and the company is beginning to take overseas orders.
Traditional boiler waterwall inspections are labor-intensive and extremely hazardous. Inspectors must erect scaffolding and work at height in hot, dusty, poorly lit conditions, and some areas remain inaccessible.
To address these challenges, Jinghai introduced magnetic crawlers and robotic-arm crawlers. Magnetic crawlers travel across waterwalls, while robotic-arm crawlers perform targeted inspections around a fixed position. According to the company's general manager, Fei Weihong, an in-house large-scale AI model analyzes images collected by the robots to detect tiny internal cracks.
The company also showcased several other domestically developed robots. One compact, six-wheeled crawler can navigate narrow pipes about 10 to 20 centimeters in diameter and 30 to 40 meters deep, reaching areas inspectors cannot access. Another robot, fitted with a large rotating brush, can independently remove ash from inside large industrial units without human assistance. Equipped with high-definition cameras and other inspection attachments, these robots can carry out several tasks in a single inspection.
Among Jinghai's own inventions is a palm-sized sheet of green magnetic film. Conventional magnetic particle testing lets inspectors photograph defects on site, but the indications themselves cannot be preserved long term. Jinghai's film captures cracks and other internal flaws in a component as magnetic images, which can be reviewed later and traced as long as the film is not demagnetized. Fei described the technology as world-leading.
In July, Jinghai received Category A, Grade B1 approval as a special equipment inspection and testing body, covering periodic inspections of boilers (GD2) and pressure vessels (RD2). With this qualification, it became the only third-party special equipment inspection body in Hainan approved in both fields, filling a gap in the province's inspection capabilities.
After approval, local businesses began booking services. Hainan Panda Dairy, based in Ding'an, was the first to book an on-site inspection. Its production director, Su Fengquan, said the company previously had to send equipment elsewhere for inspection, a time-consuming, costly process that could also disrupt production schedules. Having a professional inspection provider nearby has made the process more convenient.
Alongside its local operations, Jinghai is pursuing market opportunities in Southeast Asia, leveraging policies in the Hainan Free Trade Port (FTP) and the island's geographic advantages. The company has received inspection and testing orders from Indonesia and is in discussions with Malaysian companies about waterwall inspection robot projects.
Jinghai's overseas expansion is backed by continued investment in research and development. It has established an R&D center in Ding'an and hired specialists to enhance its smart inspection equipment. The company expects to launch a dual-arm humanoid inspection robot in October. Unlike its existing crawlers, the new robot will have two dexterous arms, allowing it to work in more complex, confined industrial environments and expanding inspection applications.
This work supports Hainan's 15th Five-Year Plan for High-Tech Industry Development, which calls for accelerating the development of a "345X" high-tech industrial system and laying the groundwork for future industry clusters, including embodied intelligence. Fei said he hopes to build on the company's smart inspection equipment and turn its Hainan base into a major hub for bringing Chinese-developed inspection technologies to overseas markets.