Industrial robot makers gear up for global expansion

With remarkable advances at home, manufacturers look to build on strengths, ambition

At a factory of Sino-Japanese joint venture Dongfeng Honda in Wuhan, Hubei province, over 300 Chinese-made industrial robots weld, shape, fasten and transform raw materials into the contours of a vehicle's body. The process takes a mere 43 seconds, and reduces the exposure of human operators to high temperatures and risks from arc welding.

In China, fostering new quality productive forces has become a key objective under the umbrella of the Industry 4.0 plan, and industrial robots that balance stability and flexibility are crucial to the strategy.

In 2022, China's industrial robot installations accounted for over 50 percent of the global total, with the nation emerging as a powerhouse in the realm of automation. China's manufacturing sector boasts a robot density of 392 units per 10,000 workers, the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology showed.