Beijing now has five times more robots at its factories than the US
China now leads the world in factory robots, with over 2 million operating nationwide and 300,000 new robots installed last year, more than the rest of the world combined.
Meanwhile, Japan and American factories installed 44,000 and 34,000 robots, respectively.
Beijing now has five times as many robots in its factories as the US.
As part of its Made in China 2025 plan, the country poured public funds and loans into robotics, boosting its share of global robot manufacturing and overtaking Japan. Last year, nearly three-fifths of robots installed were domestically made.
However, industry experts say that the top versions of many components are still made in countries with long-standing leads in robot manufacturing, such as Germany and Japan.
China also has a growing humanoid robot sector led by Unitree Robotics, whose models cost about $6,000—a fraction of the price of robots from US-based Boston Dynamics, which start at $74,500.
Robot installers in China earn nearly $60,000 a year, showing how the robotics boom has transformed both industry and skilled labor demand.