Recently, the 2023 World Robot Expo was held in Beijing, which attracted the attention of many foreign media. According to the Russian satellite news agency, a total of more than 100 Chinese and foreign robot companies participated in the exhibition, displaying nearly 600 robot products applied to various areas of life.

Industrial robot arms used in factory production lines attracted attention at the World Robot Expo, AP reported. The Chinese government is committed to transforming “Made in China” into “made in China,” and industrial robots are an important part of that plan.

In recent years, the development level of China’s robot industry has steadily improved.

First, the number of application scenarios is increasing, and the scale of the industry is rapidly expanding. In 2022, the operating income of China’s robot industry will exceed 170 billion yuan. The installed capacity of industrial robots accounts for more than 50% of the world’s total, ranking the world’s largest industrial robot market, and the density of manufacturing robots reaches 392 units per 10,000 workers. The output of service and special robots has also grown rapidly, achieving large-scale application in logistics, medical care, construction and other fields. According to the China Robot Industry Development Report (2022), the size of China’s service robot market is expected to exceed $10 billion by 2024.

Second, the technical content of products has gradually increased, and the added value of products has increased significantly. The localization process of robot core components has been accelerating, the autonomous controllable rate of key components has been improved, the conversion rate of cutting-edge technologies is high, and the technological iteration has been significantly accelerated. Robot technology innovation continues to be active, and the number of patent applications ranks first in the world and keeps rising. A large number of innovative robot enterprises have emerged, with 273 specialized new “little giant” enterprises, and 10 robot enterprises have grown into single champions in the manufacturing industry.

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Third, the business model has been innovated, and the brand strength has been continuously enhanced. Chinese robot enterprises continue to innovate business models, closely combine the personality and needs of consumers to develop and manufacture robots, provide customized services, further enhance consumers’ enthusiasm for consumption, and actively build national brands.

The rapid development of China’s robot industry has benefited from the following factors:

First, China has a complete range of industrial categories and a huge market size, which provides rich scenarios and huge market demand for robot applications. All kinds of enterprises in the robot industry chain can find suitable soil for their own development in China. At the same time, various types of capital are active in the robot industry. In 2022, the financing amount of China’s robot field exceeded 30 billion yuan.

Second, China’s industrial strength is steadily increasing, cutting-edge technologies are developing rapidly, and infrastructure systems are constantly improving. In recent decades, China has greatly improved its scientific and technological strength, research and development capability, and talent team, laying a solid foundation for the development of the robot industry. In addition, hardware and software products supported by cutting-edge technologies such as vision algorithms, high-performance servo drives, high-precision reducers, and special chips have developed rapidly in China, which has greatly promoted the development of the robot industry. Modern infrastructure such as cloud computing, edge computing, 5G and big data has been continuously improved, providing a favorable environment for the promotion and application of various robot products. The rapid development of AI technology has played a huge role in promoting the hardware research and development, system integration and software control support of robots.

Third, the social labor gap produces demand traction. As China’s birth rate declines and aging population increases, the market value of robot applications increases. In the long run, the popularity of robots in labor-intensive industries is the general trend. The application and popularization of robots can improve labor efficiency and further liberate the labor force. In addition, with the change of Chinese people’s consumption concept, the pursuit of high-quality life has broadened the consumer market of low-end, household, professional robots.

Fourth, the Chinese government has actively provided policy support. The Chinese government has successively issued policies such as the “New Generation of Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” and the “14th Five-Year Plan” for the Development of the robot Industry, and has attached increasing importance to the robot industry. The Chinese government also attaches importance to establishing a sound innovation system, giving play to the role of research and development institutions such as key robotics laboratories, engineering (technology) research centers, and innovation centers, so as to promote the robot industry to improve innovation capabilities, overcome technical bottlenecks, and accelerate the transformation of achievements.