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Li Chu, general manager of Nurotron Biotechnology in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province [Photo/zaoce.com]
From a 10-square-meter small workshop to one of the world's leading makers of cochlear implants, the Hangzhou-based Nurotron Biotechnology has successfully broken the monopoly of foreign countries in the hearing industry and made China the fourth country to produce cochlear implants, following the United States, Australia and Austria. Located in Yuhang district of Hangzhou, Nurotron Biotechnology was founded in 2006 by Li Chu and his entrepreneur father Li Fangping who had gained fame as a real estate developer. A graduate of the University of Concordia, Canada, Li Chu dabbled in cochlear implants after learning that nearly 2.2 million Chinese people suffer from hearing losses to different degrees, yet imported hearing products from overseas countries including the US and Australia could be extremely expensive. He decided that he could do something by starting a company offering affordable cochlear implant devices to poor people in need. The early days were quite difficult, as before 2011 China's cochlear implant market was monopolized by three foreign companies, with Australian companies taking over 70 percent of the Chinese hearing implant market. "Everyone worked hard from 9am to 12am in the small lab," Li recalled. | 
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