Finance sector keen to boost robotics industry

State lenders' capital support for technology firms continues to strengthen and broaden

As humanoid robots move rapidly from research labs into real-world applications, China's banking and insurance sectors are racing to provide the financial fuel behind the industry's growth, rolling out innovative products, tailored financing solutions and ecosystem support to help robotics companies scale up and accelerate technological breakthroughs.

Statistics released by the People's Bank of China — the country's central bank — show that financial support for technology enterprises continues to strengthen and broaden. As of the end of the first quarter, 294,600 high-tech enterprises had obtained loan support, with a loan approval rate of 58.6 percent, up 1.3 percentage points from the end of the previous year. Outstanding loans to high-tech enterprises in Chinese yuan and foreign currencies reached 20.96 trillion yuan ($3.09 trillion), up 13.6 percent year-on-year and 6.1 percentage points higher than the end of last year.