After a few tough years, a California-based company called Ekso Bionics signed a promising deal with two Chinese firms in early 2019. The company designs robotic mechanical suits called exoskeletons, and it agreed to form a joint venture that would shift some of its production to China and help sell its equipment in Asia.  At the time, shares of the small, Nasdaq-listed company were depressed. And after years of working with the United States military, including participating in a failed