Robots Are the Future of Chinese Manufacturing

The Future of China’s Robotics Industry

China is known to have a great deal of available manual labor that most manufacturing companies in the world contract. Now, China is planning to a big push in automation and robotics. In 2018, China hopes to catch up with the rest of the world and account for more than one-third of the industrial robots installed worldwide. Just last year, China’s sales of industrial robots rose 56% with around 57,000 units sold, far ahead of US sales which accounted for 26,200 units. This number is expected to rise again to 150,000 units by 2018, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).

China’s Robotics Market

Despite the optimistic future, there is still low penetration of robotics in Chinese manufacturing. Statistics from last year show that for every 10,000 employees in the production industries, there are only 36 units. This is in contrast to the global leaders, which include South Korea (478 units per 10,000), Japan (315 units), Germany (292 units) and the USA (164 units). Currently China’s robotics market is still dominated by the automotive industry, but major growth is expected in other industries, including home appliances, metal products, and pharmaceuticals.