The rise of the robot industry in China

Abstract

China has had the largest market for industrial robots in the world since 2013. With market needs and governmental support, the Chinese robot industry is expanding at an unprecedented rate in order to meet the challenges and opportunities of the rapidly developing Chinese economy. In this paper, the current state of the Chinese robot market and industry is summarised. Strategies for developing the Chinese robot industry are further discussed. It has been widely realised that the major obstacle in developing Chinese industrial robots has been the lack of capability to produce high-quality robot components such as motor drives, gearboxes, and controllers. Over the past 30 years, significant investments from the government and private sectors have been made in order to tackle this problem. However, the Chinese robot industry still faces major difficulties today. In the design and manufacturing of these components, “know-how” plays an important role. It is essential to obtain such know-how in order to overcome this obstacle and bring the Chinese robot industry to the next level.