At the end of December, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) unveiled a plan to make the country a figurehead for innovation with plans to become a "global leader" of the robotics industry.
The 2021 five-year plan is the second of such plans for the robotics industry. Credit: Zapp2Photo / Shutterstock
The nation remains the largest market in the world with a population of a little over 1.4 billion and represents a huge opportunity for development in the industry, according to the latest report by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
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“China is by far the biggest robot market in the world regarding annual sales and the operational stock,” says Milton Guerry, President of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
“IFR´s robot density statistics is a useful indicator of China´s dynamic developments, counting the number of industrial robots per 10,000 employees: China´s robot density in the manufacturing industry currently ranks 9th globally (246 units) - compared to 25th (49 units) just five years ago."
Foreign robotics manufacturers currently make up 73% of the Chinese automation market, and, despite market volatility in recent years, that figure has remained constant. In 2020 alone, imports from Japan, Korea and Europe increased by 24%, the report claims. This number includes domestic units produced by non-Chinese companies.
Conversely, Chinese robot manufacturers primarily cater to the Chinese market, where they held a 27% share for 2020.
The report found that 168,377 units were installed in 2020 - 45,347 from Chinese suppliers - seeing a sharp 20% increase from 2019 numbers.
The data suggests that 42% of the robots installed in the year were for handling operations, while 21% were for welding, 37% were for the electronics industry and 16% were for the automotive industry.
The CPC's Central Committee and the State Council attaches "great importance to the development of the robot industry", the five-year plan states, referring to robotics as "the pearl at the top of the manufacturing crown", likely symboling a commitment to heavily automating its manufacturing sector.
The government's five-year plan is the second plan for the robotics industry, following the 2016-2020 plan, which sought to utilise robots to increase productivity.
“The [2021] plan has great guiding significance for promoting the high-quality development of China's robotics industry during the 14th period," said Song Xiaogang, Executive Director and Secretary-General of the China Robot Industry Alliance (CRIA).
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"Robots are the key equipment of modern industry. The new five-year plan leads the digital development and intelligent upgrading in China and also helps to promote the global robot technology progress."
The IFR report concludes that China remains the top consumer market for robotics and saw a 20% growth between 2015-2020.
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