【By Observer Net, Wang Yi】Amid the U.S. waving the "tariff stick" and the rise of global trade protectionism, China has a secret weapon to maintain its export competitiveness — domestic robots.

The UK's Financial Times reported on September 2 that Chinese-made robots are driving an automation wave in Chinese factories, enabling them to produce higher quality products at lower production costs, thus helping Chinese exports maintain price advantages in the global market.

Data compiled by the Harvard Growth Lab shows that from 2019 to 2023, China's share of global exports in a series of labor-intensive industries increased significantly: the export share of small items such as brooms, mops, and pens increased by 9 percentage points to 52.3%, the export share of furniture increased by about 1.5 percentage points, and the export share of toys rose from 54.3% to 56.9%.

The report pointed out that this occurred despite the fact that China's wages are much higher than those of competitors like India. In Dongguan, China, workers earn about 5,200 RMB per month, while Indian counterparts earn only 17,100 rupees (approximately 1,386 RMB).

"This is very surprising," said Leah Fahy, an economist at Capital Economics, analyzing that according to the traditional development path, as countries develop, rising labor costs usually lead to the offshoring of some manufacturing, but this has not happened in China.

The Financial Times cited economists' analysis, stating that the reason China could avoid this phenomenon might be its use of robots.

The newspaper found that in the factory of Shuangsheng New Energy Vehicle Co., Ltd. in Meishan Tianfu New District, Sichuan, the welding robots from Chengdu Kanoopu Robot Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Kanoopu") are melting steel parts together to form the chassis of electric tricycles.

"Every time we use a robot, our labor cost is halved, and efficiency also increases," said Song Ling, vice president of Shuangsheng.

Chengdu Kanoopu Robot Technology Co., Ltd.

According to the Financial Times, over three years, Shuangsheng has automated about half of its production line. After comparing robots made by several Japanese companies, they finally chose to purchase dozens of robots made by Chinese companies. Now, relying on cheap and efficient domestic robots, Shuangsheng sells their cargo tricycles to Southeast Asia, Africa, and the United States.

The New York Times also noticed this trend this April. Mr. Li, who manufactures ovens and barbecue equipment in Guangzhou, is preparing to spend $40,000 to buy a domestically produced welding robot. Four years ago, such a product could only be purchased from foreign companies, and the price was close to $140,000. He said, "I never thought of investing in automation before," but now the price of robots has dropped, so he starts to consider using robots, after all, "humans can work for only 8 hours a day, but machines can work 24 hours."

Large Chinese enterprises are also increasing the use of robots. Since the production of Geely's Zeekr car started four years ago, the number of robots in the factory has increased from 500 to 820, and they plan to continue increasing. In the production workshop, 16 robots collaborate to weld body parts, almost without any human intervention.

With the help of artificial intelligence, some quality inspection processes are also being automated. An employee said, "Most of my colleagues' jobs are now sitting in front of computer monitors."

Li Kaili (Carrie Li), who is responsible for the design of Zeekr cars, is very welcoming of this change, "Now I have more free time to open up and explore what types of fashion trends should be included in the car interior."

According to data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), Chinese factories install approximately 280,000 industrial robots each year, accounting for half of the global total. The robot density has already exceeded the United States, Germany, and Japan, and is gradually approaching South Korea.

Data from MIR Databank, a Chinese research group, shows that half of these robots are manufactured by Chinese robot manufacturers such as Kanoopu.

"Not everyone needs an Audi A8," said Li Liangjun, chairman of Kanoopu, "in many application scenarios, our functions and stability are sufficient." Moreover, Kanoopu robots have a price advantage, with their welding robots costing only 60% of the price of Japanese industrial robot giants Fanuc and Yaskawa Electric Corporation.

The rise of China's domestic robot industry is no coincidence, but rather due to the strategic promotion and substantial investment support from the Chinese government. As early as ten years ago, China had included the robot industry in the key industries of "Made in China 2025". The New York Times estimates that over the past four years, Chinese banks have provided 1.9 trillion USD in loans to industrial borrowers for new factories and equipment upgrades.

This year's Chinese Government Work Report clearly stated that it will continue to promote the "Artificial Intelligence +" action, better combine digital technology with manufacturing advantages and market advantages, support the widespread application of large models, vigorously develop intelligent robots and other new generation smart terminals and intelligent manufacturing equipment. In the beginning of this year, the National Development and Reform Commission of China also announced that it would establish a risk investment fund supported by the state, focusing on frontier industries such as robotics and artificial intelligence. IFR expects that the fund will invest approximately 1 trillion RMB through various channels over 20 years.

The Chinese robot industry is also expanding new boundaries. He Liang, founder of Yunmu Intelligent Manufacturing Technology Co., Ltd., said that China is viewing humanoid robots as the next "new energy vehicle industry", striving to build a new strategic industry.

In addition, this massive automation transformation also relies on talent support. The New York Times pointed out that Chinese universities train about 350,000 mechanical engineers, welders, and electricians each year, while the United States has only about 45,000.

According to the Chinese English media outlet Sixth Tone, Chinese local governments are also increasing investments, promoting retraining programs within enterprises, providing subsidies, certification incentives, and customized enterprise training programs to help workers adapt to the automation wave, and build a workforce skilled in automation.

Today, China is using robots to transform the "population dividend" into a "talent dividend." As Li Liangjun told the Financial Times, "In the past, China relied on 1.3 billion people and a large amount of low-cost labor to gain the status of a manufacturing power, and now China is maintaining its advantage through robot labor instead of human labor."

This article is an exclusive piece by Observer Net. Unauthorized reproduction is prohibited.

Original: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7545453157510349363/

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