As a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation accelerates, robots are extending from production activities into daily life, with the robot industry entering a window period for upgrading and leapfrog development. At the 2021 World Robot Conference, Qu Daokui, founder and president of Shenyang Siasun Robot & Automation Co., Ltd., pointed out that China’s robot industry is facing new opportunities. The following report synthesizes key insights on the evolution, challenges, and future prospects of the China robot sector.
Global Robot Market: Transitioning from Industrial Domains to Service and Collaboration
Statistical data reveals that the output of China industrial robots surged from 72,000 units in 2016 to 212,000 units in 2020, representing an average annual growth of 31%. In 2020, the scale of China’s robot industry exceeded one trillion yuan. According to preliminary data released by Frankfurt on July 1, global industrial robot sales in 2020 reached 376,000 units, with China accounting for 167,000 units. The China robot market’s share of the global scale increased from 25% in 2018 and 33% in 2019 to 44% in 2020.
The China industrial robot market has maintained its position as the world’s largest for eight consecutive years, also being the fastest-growing market. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology indicates that in 2020, China completed production of 237,000 industrial robots, with supply growing by about 19%. The International Federation of Robotics reported that sales in China reached 167,000 units in 2019, growing by 19.3%. National Bureau of Statistics data shows that from January to July this year, China produced approximately 200,000 industrial robots, a growth of 64%. These figures demonstrate that the China robot market has been experiencing rapid growth in recent years, fostering and driving the development of the global robot industry. Simultaneously, China’s robot density has significantly improved, rising from 71 units per 10,000 people in 2016 to 187 units per 10,000 people in 2019, surpassing the global average of 113 units, though it still lags behind Singapore, South Korea, and Japan.
Currently, domestic industrial robots in China are widely applied across 47 major industry categories and 129 medium industry categories. Intelligent operation technologies and systems for industrial robots have been successfully utilized in numerous high-end manufacturing sectors, including aviation, aerospace, shipbuilding, automotive, and engine production. With the continuous release of intelligent demands in healthcare, elderly care, education, and other industries, robots are transitioning from manufacturing to non-manufacturing and daily life domains. Service robots and special-purpose robots have achieved breakthrough applications in high-value scenarios such as medical surgery, educational services, security patrols, and post-disaster rescue. For traditional robots, collaborative robots serve as an excellent complement. Logistics robots, maintenance robots, and cleaning service robots are expected to replace labor-intensive group services, potentially capturing a substantial market share within the next two years, representing a significant expansion area for collaborative and service robots.
In contrast, China’s service robots exhibit a considerable gap compared to foreign counterparts, especially in professional service robots, which remain in the nascent stage. However, in application scenarios like home services, entertainment, and餐饮 services, China’s service robots hold a relatively advantageous market position. Overall, robots are gradually moving beyond industrial fields, growing in service, medical health, education, and security domains. In the future, service robots are likely to surpass the industrial robot market.
Robot Technology Evolution: From Automation to Autonomy
Robots are distinguished from mere machines by their superior intelligence and operational capabilities. To date, robot development has primarily undergone three stages: The first stage is automation, where robots were essentially indistinguishable from high-end machinery. The second stage is intelligence, enabling human-robot collaboration, environmental perception, data collection, and human-machine interaction, gradually entering practical application. The third stage is autonomy, encompassing cognition, learning, collaboration, scenario adaptation, and big data analysis—technologies currently under research and future realization, now maturing and entering small-batch applications.
Collaborative robots have evolved from initial robotic assistants to Coworker, Corobot, and Cobot, achieving deep integration technologically. Historically, industrial robots emphasized machine attributes, focusing on performance, reliability, precision, speed, and load capacity—key indicators for industrial robots and equipment. Modern robots increasingly emphasize flexibility, intelligence, and autonomous adaptability to environments. Robots are fully integrated with big data, AI, IoT, and cloud computing, forming a new ecosystem for next-generation robots.
The four core capabilities of robots—motion, execution, interaction, and learning with decision-making—require support from key technologies, particularly advances in perception technologies including vision, force sensing, ultrasound, and laser. Meanwhile, robots have moved beyond single-unit operation modes, entering the era of interconnection and networking. Robots have become IoT products, with IoT’s major challenge being cybersecurity assurance. Therefore, accelerating robot autonomy depends on both advancements in robot-related technologies and牵引 from related industrial upgrades and消费 upgrades.
It is reported that the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology is spearheading the formulation of the “14th Five-Year Plan” for robot industry development, encouraging universities, research institutions, and enterprises to jointly tackle key core technologies, further improve the industrial technology innovation chain, break through common technologies like robot system development, research frontier technologies such as bionic perception and cognition, promote the integrated application of新一代信息技术 like 5G, big data, cloud computing, and artificial intelligence, enhance the performance of key core components like reducers, control systems, and servo motors, and improve the intelligence and networking levels of robots. Additionally, efforts will continue to benchmark international advanced standards,持续推进机器人标准化水平提升,健全机器人检测认证体系, and conduct evaluations on robot functionality, performance, and safety standards and industry certification levels.
- Collaborative Robots: The emergence of collaborative robots is driven by the shift from independent work units to human-robot integration and intelligent systems, representing an important new branch and trend in industrial robots. Collaborative robots feature human-robot fusion, safety and ease of use, sensitivity and precision, and flexibility and versatility, effectively compensating for the shortcomings of industrial robots. However, for collaborative robots, ensuring safety becomes challenging when负载大 and运行速度快. Thus, collaborative and industrial robots form a complementary relationship. Currently, collaborative robots have moved beyond applications in general消费领域, beginning large-scale use in industrial sectors. For instance, various collaborative robots developed by Siasun are widely applied in the 3C industry and information electronics行业. Additionally, IC robots for chip manufacturing can operate in真空环境和超静环境, offering significant improvements in structure, control methods, materials, lubrication, and reliability compared to traditional robots, promising greater roles in chip manufacturing and semiconductor fields.
- Mobile Robots: Mobile robots play a massive role in traditional manufacturing while increasingly impacting non-manufacturing areas such as smart logistics,智慧生活, hotel services, and public spaces. Related navigation technologies, networking, and大数据技术的迅猛发展 support and drive the intelligent development of mobile robots. Furthermore, service robots, special-purpose robots, and复合机器人 hold immense发展潜力. In 2020, revenue from large-scale service robot and special-purpose robot manufacturing enterprises nationwide reached 52.9 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 41%. Robots have become a significant风口 for innovation and industry. In the future, robots capable of walking and working like humans,物流机器人 for palletizing, sorting, and搬运 in logistics scenarios, and robots transitioning from indoor特殊场景 to outdoor自然场景 with 5G technology development will gradually mature and form broad emerging markets.
China Robot: Emerging Market Opportunities and Challenges Coexist
In recent years, globalization has faced setbacks, Sino-U.S. trade摩擦升级, and the global spread of COVID-19 has exacerbated increasingly complex international economic environments. Developed countries’ suppression of China’s high-tech sectors has exposed shortcomings in technological independent innovation. On September 23, 2020, the National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, Ministry of Science and Technology, and Ministry of Finance jointly issued the “Guiding Opinions on Expanding Strategic Emerging Industry Investment to Foster New Growth Points and Poles,” requiring acceleration in补短板 for high-end equipment manufacturing industries and specifying重点支持 for industrial robots, construction, medical, and other special-purpose robots, implementing智能制造 and智能建造试点示范, encouraging leading enterprises to build “internet +”协同制造示范工厂, and establishing high-standard industrial互联网平台.
The robot industry is characterized by high technology intensity, high talent density, and high capital intensity—the “three highs”—with long回报周期. China’s strengths in “short平快” and labor-intensive industries are难以体现 in the robot field, even becoming constraints on机器人工业创新发展. After over a decade of development, China has基本上建立机器人产业体系, but nearly 80% of enterprises still exhibit “四低” phenomena: low technology, low quality, low price, and low-end applications. The three major shortcomings of China’s robot industry—core technology hollowness,高端产业低端化, and主流应用边缘化—remain unresolved. First, although operating systems, software and control platforms, and high-precision control systems have made significant progress, they still cannot compare with advanced nations. Second, in高端市场和主导市场 like automotive and electronics, China products rarely appear, highlighting the主流应用边缘化 issue. Third, low prices cannot build brands; without changing the industrial environment and properly protecting innovation成果, the China robot industry cannot achieve significant leaps or genuine development.
Amidst difficulties, the China robot industry also faces critical periods for technological breakthroughs. Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence, IoT, cloud computing, and big data provide strong market支撑 in China, the world’s largest robot market. In the future, China robot must transition from strategic following to strategic offense, aiming for “并跑” or even “领跑” in many product technologies, focusing intensely on the economic性,先进性,可靠性,宜用性, and可维性 of technologies and products. Future leading enterprises will concentrate更多 on平台性技术, with the robot field being a competition of隐性冠军, requiring深耕新增市场,精准市场, and细分市场. Core components must跟上全球发展趋势, forming全面支撑 for the industry. First, it is essential to accelerate the construction of跨企业,跨学科,跨领域的协同创新格局,推动产业从点到面系统性创新能力的提升. Second, strengthening the工匠精神 to create more internationally competitive China robot brand enterprises. Third, reinforcing合作精神 to continuously enhance the stability and competitiveness of the industrial and配套链, advancing toward breakthroughs in the mid-to-high end of the value chain.
Xin Guobin, Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology, revealed that the ministry is spearheading the formulation of the “14th Five-Year Plan” for robot industry development, aiming to establish China as a global策源地 for robot technological innovation, a集聚地 for high-end manufacturing, and a新高地 for integrated applications. COVID-19, the dual-circulation格局, and dual-carbon goals are accelerating robots in creating new智能制造 and lifestyles. In financial and capital markets,科创板和北交所 support the incubation and transformation of innovative technological成果. From technology and markets to financial markets and external environments, development opportunities are unprecedented. China robot enterprises should enhance the integrated development of robots with new technologies, increase the added value robots bring to users, seize emerging market development opportunities, strengthen resource integration capabilities, build融合发展 platforms,推动中国机器人产业在全球颠覆式变革时代关口再创奇迹, and contribute more significantly to China’s economic digital and intelligent transformation.
| Year | Output (Units) | Annual Growth Rate | Global Market Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | 72,000 | — | 25% (2018) |
| 2020 | 212,000 | 31% (average) | 44% |
The China robot industry stands at a pivotal moment, with robust growth in industrial robots and expanding horizons in service and collaborative domains. As technology evolves from automation to autonomy, the integration of AI, IoT, and big data is reshaping the robot ecosystem. However, challenges such as core technology gaps and market positioning persist. Through collaborative innovation, quality focus, and strategic advancements, the China robot sector can leverage its vast market and technological convergence to achieve global leadership, driving economic transformation and setting new standards in the era of intelligent machines. The future of China robot is not just about manufacturing prowess but about pioneering intelligent solutions that redefine human-robot interaction across diverse sectors.