A report in Nikkei Asian Review said about 90 percent of the personal robots on display at the IFA consumer electronics trade show, which was held in Berlin earlier this month, were developed and manufactured by Chinese companies.
Sensing the surging demand for such products and systems in industries like healthcare, education and entertainment, China is targeting intelligent service robots worth more than 30 billion yuan by 2020.
Qu Daokui, president of Shenyang-based Siasun Robot & Automation Co, said, "Chinese robot makers must go global. The industry is so globalized and changing so fast that no one knows what a robot will look like in five to seven years. If we only stick our eyes to the home turf, we will die out," Qu said.
According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, China is now on a par with foreign countries in voice- and image-recognition technologies, which are key to making advanced AI robots.
Also, about 50 percent of domestic robots are equipped with homegrown servomotors, a key element of sophisticated automated machines. This ability overcomes certain technological bottlenecks that have been impeding the industry's development for a while.
Wang Tianmiao, president of the Smart Manufacturing Research Institute at Beihang University, said technological progress is helping accelerate the global expansion of Chinese robot makers. "But greater international cooperation on R&D is needed to crack the high-end overseas market," Wang said.
Mounting enthusiasm for broader international cooperation was in evidence at the 2017 World Robot Conference in Beijing in August.
Vice-Premier Liu Yandong said at the event's opening ceremony, "We will step up efforts to foster closer cooperation with other countries, focusing on robotics R&D, training, and how to better integrate artificial intelligence technologies into innovative AI robotics."
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