As the erstwhile “Factory of the World”， China is relying on the robot industry to get the lost glory back. The local governmentsare stepping up efforts to establish robot industrial parks， while domestic robotic companies also accelerated speed of overseas mergers and acquisitions （M&As）， setting their sight on the global market.
Industry 4.0
China’s manufacturing industry has been plagued by the soaring labor costs for a long time. Now， the application of intelligent robots in the manufacturing sector can perfectly resolve the prob- lem， leading to a growing demand for robots.
According to data， during the period between 2008 and 2013，China saw an average annual rise of 36% inthe supply of industrial robots.
The country’s changing demographicsis one of main factors that boost the robot demand. It is undoubtedly that China has stepped into an aging society. According to a survey， the population aged over 60 is expected to reach 500 million by 2050， a significant risecompared with today’s 200 million.
In an aging society， workforce shrinks sharply， which also means a higher wage growth. According to GeWenjie， a machinery analyst at Nomura Holdings Inc， a typical industrial robot costs around 300，000 yuan and needs an extra 20，000 yuan for maintenance per year.
Compared with hiring a 6，000-yuan-a-month technician for a decade， the robot is much less expensive with a total cost of 500，000 yuan during the period. More importantly， the robot works three times more efficiently than a technician.
Therefore， in a bid to regain its lost glory and compete in the global market，Chinese manufacturers have to achieve Industry 4.0， stepping into an automated society. That’s why the International Federation of Robotics （IFR） says China will have more robots applied to industrial plants than any other country by 2017.
With such huge potential， China’s robot market gained strong momentums. In fact， as early as 2013， the countryhad overtaken Japan to become the world’s biggest robot market with 36，560 industrial robots sold. Last year， the robot-hungry country renewed the record， selling more than 40，000 units of industrial robots.
According to the forecast from the IFR last year， the country’s robot demand will reach 35，000 units in 2015， or 17.5% of the world’s total sales. Some insiders are more upbeat on the robot industry， saying the figure will rise to more than 50，000 units. Gordon Orr， director and chairman of McKinsey Asia believes that China could easily be 40% of the global market currently.
Besides， intelligent robots are not only wildly used in manufacturing industries，but also are of great use for families.All robot makers are seeking to ride the crest of the boom. At the recently-closed China （Shanghai） International Technology Fair in Beijing， a 38-centimeter-tall intelligent robot named Wisdomlife， the brainchild of Flyingwings Intelligent Robot Technology （Shanghai） Co Ltd， stole the show.
According to Liu Yiqing， marketing manager of Flyingwings， Wisdomlife helps owners monitor their home safety and children’s movements. Besides， it also provides information about the nearby shops and restaurants， as well as stock market.
Liu says Flyingwings has started mass production and the maximum output of Flyingwings’ Kunshan plant is designed to reach 200，000 units per year. Flyingwings is just one example of Chinese robot companies eying on the upcoming boom.
Robot Industrial Parks Catch on
In a bid to take a bite out of the big pie and ride the crest of Industry 4.0 boom， local governments has stepped on the gas， giving strong support for the establishment of robot industrial parks. Consequently， a raft of robot industrial parks have been or to be established countrywide including the northernmost province Heilongjiang and the southernmost Guangdong.
According to incomplete statistics， at present， there are approximately 40 robot industrial parks established or under establishment. It is no exaggeration to say that every province in China has a robot industrial park.
zhen GaogongIndustry Research Co Ltd， also says that the total number of robot industrial parks across the country has surpassed 35.
According to robot manufacturers， the reason that local governments enthusiastically establish the parks lies in the need of industrial transformation， rather than the benefits from the sector.“Robot manufacturers are very welcomed by local governments which provide a raft of fiscal and taxation incentive， as they are viewed as the saviors to local faltering economies，” says an insider. In fact， however， many domestic robot manufacturers make a meager profit and some even survive only on government subsidy.In some cities， the local government even promised to give 80，000 yuan subsidy for every robot. “It is no wonder to see the proliferation of robot industrial parks with strong support from local governments，” says the abovementioned insider.
The local governments pin their hope on the development of robot industrial parks， believing the new growth engine will reverse the downtrend in the local economy. In some cases， the local governments boasted the robot sector will net 50 to 150 billion yuan sales per year.
In China， there are ten robot industrial park scurrently， respectively， in Heilongjiang， Shen Fu， Tianjin， Tangshan， Qingdao， Xuzhou， Shanghai， Kunshan， Chongqing， and Changzhou. Shanghai is home to the country’s largest robot industry cluster with the combined output value of industrial robots and intelligent robot reaching 20 billion yuan in 2015.
In the coming decade， the annual output value of robot sector in China is expected to reach approximately 300 billion yuan per year.
More M&As
Qu Daokui， vice president and CEO of Siasun Robot & Automa- tion Co Ltd， says that home-grown cleanroom robots and automated guided vehicleshave achieved the same level of technology as foreign rivals.
Recently， robot mobility equipment maker Ninebot， announced that it just acquired once-fabled Segway.Segwayis a US-based company that launched the world’s first selfbalancing vehicle while Ninebot， a Xiaomi-backed startup， just established three years ago and itsself-balancing vehicles are sold in 38 countries around the world.
According to Ninebot’s CEO Gao Lufeng， after the acquisition， the company will have more than 400 core patents of the US company， meaningitbecome the industry leader in the field of intelligent vehicles.
Ninebot is also planning to list in the US stock market in 2017， with a projected market capitalization of up to 500 billion yuan， according to Gao.
Ninebot is not the only company eying on the global market. Zhuzhou CSR Times Electric Co， a subsidiary of CSR， bought out Specialist Machine Developments Ltd （SMD）， a UK-based deep-sea robot and sub-sea engineering machinery robot manufacturer， for a consideration of about 130 million pounds earlier this year.
In a word， China’s robot industry is stepping into a new era with more and more companies going global.