China surpasses Germany and Japan and takes 3rd place globally in robots

USA plummets in automation ranking while China advances; Washington’s decoupling strategy reveals its own failures

China has become the global leader in robot density, surpassing Germany and Japan to rank third in the world for robot use in industry last year, according to an annual report released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR). The report highlighted the growing competitiveness of China’s industrial robot sector, driven by technological innovation, the vast manufacturing market and government policy support.

Robot density generally serves as an indicator to measure the degree of automation adoption in the manufacturing industry. While China’s global position in the index has risen rapidly, the US ranking has consistently fallen in recent years, ranking just 11th last year.

The sharp contrast is a result of the U.S.’s increasing technological blockade against China, observers point out, demonstrating that Washington’s decoupling approach is having the reverse effect – not only has it failed to suppress China’s advancement in one of the technology fields of tip, but also policy miscalculation is undermining the ambition to revitalize American manufacturing.

According to the IFR report, China recorded a high robot density of 470 units per 10,000 employees last year, compared to 402 units in 2022. China entered the top 10 only in 2019 and managed to double its robot density in four years, the report highlighted.

Takayuki Ito, president of IFR, was quoted in a press release as saying that China’s high robot density is the result of significant investments in automation technology.

The 2023 list was topped by South Korea, with Singapore in second place. Germany and Japan – which were ahead of China on the 2022 list – came in fourth and fifth place in 2023, respectively, just after China’s third place. The global average robot density reached a record 162 units per 10,000 employees in 2023.

In the US, the density of robots last year was 295 units, which means that China’s index was more than 50% higher than that of the US, according to calculations by the Global Times. The US ranked 11th in 2023, one position lower than in 2022. The country was 9th in 2021 and 7th in 2020.

China’s growing competitiveness

Zhong Xinlong, an experienced consultant from the China Information Industry Development Consultancy Center, told Global Times on Thursday that China’s growing influence on industrial robots stems from a variety of factors, with notable contribution from the country’s huge manufacturing sector, which naturally fuels substantial and growing demand for the application of robotics. A set of supportive policies from the government is also a boost.

China is home to the “largest, most comprehensive and best supported industrial chain system in the world,” which also offers an advantage, UBTech Robotics said in a statement sent to Global Times on Thursday. The Chinese company highlighted that this advantage is irreplaceable and will continue to strengthen with the industrial transformation and modernization underway in China.

Zhong particularly highlighted China’s distinctive strengths in specific categories of robotics, including collaborative, logistics, service and specialized robots. In these areas, there has been a notable increase in industrial interest and application, he said.

The country’s vibrant robotics industry is also in the spotlight at the 2024 World Internet Conference (WIC), which kicked off on Tuesday in Wuzhen, east China’s Zhejiang province. In the humanoid robot exhibition area, several Chinese robotics companies are showcasing their latest interactive humanoids applicable to different scenarios, from home care and agricultural harvesting to acting as tour guides and dancers.

Humanoid robots are at the forefront of intense global competition in futuristic technologies. China’s development in this sector is generally at a level equivalent to that of foreign competitors. While foreign companies, including those from the U.S., may have an advantage in data and software tools, China excels in hardware capabilities, cost control and broad applications, Jiang Lei, a Shanghai-based robotics expert, told Reuters. Global Times on Thursday during the Wuzhen Summit.

Observers have pointed out that China’s steady development in industrial robots serves as a stark contrast to the US, which ironically calls itself a technological powerhouse and has abused hegemonic means to maintain this technological monopoly.

“The low density of robots in the US is partly due to the trend of deindustrialization of its manufacturing sector, although the government has set a goal of encouraging the return of manufacturing,” said Fang Xingdong, founder of the technology think tank ChinaLabsbased in Beijing, Global Times on Thursday.

Analysts said the low use of robots could signal low investment in R&D, further harming the US’s development potential in this high-tech sector.

Testimony of the failure of US dissociation

While the future of robot development in the U.S. remains bleak, the country has shown no signs of backing down on its crackdown on China’s other booming tech industries.

According to a report from Reuters, a US congressional committee on Tuesday proposed a Manhattan Project-style initiative to “fund the development of AI systems that are as smart or smarter than humans, amid intensifying of competition with China for advanced technologies.”

Industry experts have warned that the latest global rankings in industrial robots should serve as testimony to the failure of the US decoupling attempt against China and a stark warning about the serious consequences of this strategy.

Han Feizi, founder of Hi-Dolphin Robot Technology Co, said ao Global Times on Thursday during the Wuzhen Summit that despite US crackdowns, the Chinese robotics industry has established a healthy and solid global ecosystem of supply and cooperation.

Han gave the example of his company, where a quarter of the components are purchased abroad and the rest are produced in China. Furthermore, overseas demand for Chinese-made robotics is high, he said, which demonstrates that “high-tech decoupling is impossible and does not offer a viable path forward.”

Fang pointed out that the main reason for the US’s unsuccessful attempt is that its geopolitical approach violated the basic principle of technological advancement: “high-tech development requires global cooperation, and the market and technology companies must play a decisive role.”

Analysts also urged Washington to adjust its strategy rather than waste more time and energy targeting China’s technology industry, which has already proven to be a misguided priority. “The development of the US industrial robot industry could be quite different if the government focused more efforts on strengthening its manufacturing competitiveness,” concluded Fang.

With information from Global Times*