SINGAPORE: The population of China may be on the decline, and its society is ageing at a rapid pace, but the world’s second-largest economy has found a solution to this, building an army of robots to fill labour gaps, particularly in factories.
According to a report published on Oct 2, China had over two million robots working in its factories in 2024. Last year, China added almost 300,000 new robots to its factories, which is more than the combined total number of robots in the rest of the world, the report from a nonprofit trade group for makers of industrial robots, the International Federation of Robotics, said.
Japan, which had slightly fewer industrial robots in 2024 than in 2023, is in second place. Meanwhile, the United States, which also saw a decrease last year, comes at a distant third behind China’s dominance in the industry.
“China is by far the world’s largest market in 2024, representing 54% of global deployments. The latest figures show that 295,000 industrial robots have been installed — the highest annual total on record. For the first time, Chinese manufacturers have sold more than foreign suppliers in their home country. Their domestic market share climbed to 57% last year, up from about 28% over the past decade.
“China’s operational robot stock exceeded the 2 million mark in 2024, the largest of any country. As robotics in China is opening up new markets, there is no indication that robot demand in China will decrease. There is still a lot of potential in Chinese manufacturing for 10% growth on average each year until 2028,” the report noted.
Not only more robots, but better ones
Due to advancements in technology, particularly in Artificial Intelligence, China not only has more industrial robots, but also ones that are better than ever.
The push toward further automation, which has been over a decade in the making, is especially important given the changes in China’s demographics.
“Despite the shrinking overall population, with improvements in workforce education and the widespread use of robots, China’s manufacturing industry has no problem in maintaining and enhancing its competitive edge,” the South China Morning Post quoted Professor Gao Xudong from Tsinghua University’s School of Economics and Management as saying in an Oct 6 report.
Nevertheless, SCMP noted that, in five years, China expects there to be a manpower shortage to the tune of 50 million high-skilled blue-collar workers, according to a report last April from China’s Human Resources and Social Security Information Centre. /TISG
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