China has 12.5 times more robots in its workforce than expected, according to an independent think tank in Washington, an indication that Chinese workers are being replaced by robots at the fastest rate in the world. “China does not yet appear to be leading in robotic innovation, but it is likely only a matter of time before Chinese robotics companies catch up to the leading edge,” the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation (ITIF) said in a report. The decision to replace a human worker with a robot is often about saving money. It follows that developed countries with high wages would have greater penetration rates of robots than lower-wage countries. But the ITIF found that China is using automation far more than expected based on what workers get paid in manufacturing, with 12.5 times more robots in use than predicted – a big jump from 1.6 times more in 2017. In contrast, the United States uses only 70% of the robots it should be using, given the wages paid to its manufacturing workers.
The analysis of China’s robotics industry by the U.S.-based public policy think tank included research into major companies and insights from global experts. The study found that production and deployment rates of robotics in China were increasing rapidly. The Chinese government has made the robotics industry a priority, suggesting that the country’s robotics firms will soon be leading-edge innovators. “China is already the largest industrial robot market in the world. In 2022, 52% of all industrial robots in the world were installed in China, up from 14% a decade earlier,” said Robert D. Atkinson, ITIF President and author of the report. China’s booming robotics market is the result of robust domestic demand and strong policy support, according to the government.
“China has a good manufacturing foundation and a complete industrial chain. It is capable of providing technical support for the development of robots and a broad range of industrial applications for robots,” according to a report released on humanoid robots by Science and Technology Daily, the official newspaper of China’s Ministry of Science and Technology. Robots are now used across many sectors of China’s economy, including manufacturing, logistics, hospitality, healthcare and construction. “China’s automobile industry is now the largest in the world, which is also a boon to Chinese robotic adoption, as the auto industry is a major purchaser of industrial robots,” Atkinson said.
Despite once inventing robotics, the U.S. has fallen behind in global exports due to lack of long-term investment, with the leading-edge firms now in Germany, Japan and Switzerland. China dominates in terms of production and volume of usage. “China has been the world’s largest market for industrial robots for eight consecutive years, according to the International Federation of Robotics,” Atkinson said. The thriving Chinese robotics market has been aided by massive subsidies from various levels of government, according to the ITIF, which has encouraged the adoption of robots and other automation technology, the South China Morning Post reports.
