China to increase efforts in robotics applications

China will ratchet up efforts to accelerate the application of robotics in more fields, bolster technological breakthroughs and innovations in key components and software, and cultivate world-class robot industrial clusters, according to the country's top industry regulator.

Xin Guobin, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said the revenue of China's robotics industry surpassed 170 billion yuan ($23.3 billion) in 2022, maintaining double-digit growth, while the output of the country's industrial robots hit a record 443,000 units in 2021, an increase of more than 20 percent year-on-year.

Xin made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 2023 World Robot Conference, which kicked off in Beijing on Wednesday.

The industrial robot installations in China ranked first around the world in 2022, accounting for more than 50 percent of the global market share, he said, adding that the robot density in the manufacturing industry came in at 392 robots per 10,000 employees.

In addition, the number of "little giant" companies engaged in the robotics industry has reached 273, he noted. "Little giants" refer to small and medium-sized enterprises that typically specialize in niche sectors, command high market shares and boast strong innovative capacity.