China’s secret weapon in the current trade war is an army of industrial robots moved by artificial intelligence, which has transformed manufacturing in the country.
Factories throughout the Chinese territory are being automated at a rapid pace. With engineers and electricians operating robot fleets, these units are reducing production costs and raising product quality.
As a result, the prices of Chinese exports – the engine of the national economy – follow competitive, even with the tariffs imposed by US President Donald Trump. China also faces new barriers from the European Union and developing countries such as Brazil, India, Türkiye and Thailand.
Today, the country is more automated than the United States, Germany or Japan, and has more industrial robots by 10,000 workers in the sector than any nation, except South Korea and Singapore, according to the International Robotics Federation.
The automation strategy was encouraged by state guidelines and large -scale investments. With robots replacing workers, China positions itself to maintain its leading mass production, even with the aging of the population and growing disinterest in industrial jobs.
He Liang, founder of Yunmu Intelligent Manufacturing, one of the Chinese leaders in the production of humanoid robots, said the expectation is to turn robotics into a new strategic sector. “The expectation for humanoid robots is to create another industry like electric cars. It’s a national strategy.”
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From large industry to small workshops
The robots are not just in automakers. Small workshops are also automating. In Guangzhou, Elon Li operates a studio with 11 employees who make barbecue and ovens. He is about to buy a $ 40,000 robotic arm that, with a camera and going, imitates human welds with little intervention. Just four years ago, this system cost almost $ 140,000 and was only sold by foreign companies.
Large companies invest even more. The ZEEKR factory, an electric vehicle automaker in Ningbo, started with 500 robots four years ago and now has 820. Automatized carts carry aluminum blocks to ovens, and robotic arms in “dark factories” – without workers and sloping lights – make complex body welds.
Although robots dominate the production line, workers are still necessary for tasks such as quality control and installation of delicate components. Some of these steps, however, are also being automated with AI. A camera system at the end of the line takes pictures of the cars and compares with a database to identify failures in seconds.
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In addition to assembly, AI is also being used to design vehicles. Carrie Li, Zeekr’s designer in Shanghai, uses artificial intelligence to analyze the internal design of cars. “I have more free time to think about which fashion trends include inside,” he says.
While American factories also use automation, much of the equipment is Chinese. Most automakers created in the last 20 years are in China, which has boosted the local automation industry. Chinese companies bought robotics suppliers abroad, such as German Kuka, and transferred operations to the country. When Volkswagen opened a factory in Hefei last year, there was only one German robot and 1,074 Chinese.
“Made in China 2025”
Accelerated automation is part of the plan “Made in China 2025”, Started a decade ago, which established ten sectors in which the country seeks global leadership – among them, Robotics. In 2023, the Beijing government demanded that automakers rent humanoid robots and send videos of them into action, even if they only performed simple tasks such as sorting of pieces.
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Over the weekend, Beijing City Hall held a half marathon with 12,000 corridors and 20 humanoid robots. Only six completed the race, and the fastest took almost three times longer than humans, but the event helped draw attention to the advances.
In March, the Li Qiang Prime Minister announced an effort to “vigorously develop” smart robots. The country’s main economic agency revealed a national risk capital fund of US $ 137 billion for robotics, IA and other advanced technologies.
Over the past four years, Chinese state banks have increased loans to industrial companies by $ 1.9 trillion, funding both new factories and equipment modernizations.
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Chinese universities form about 350,000 mechanical engineers per year, as well as electricians and specialized technicians – much higher than around 45,000 graduates in the US.
Jonathan Hurst, director of robotics at Agility Robotics, a manufacturer, said the shortage of qualified professionals is one of the main challenges. When he was a postgraduate student at the Institute of Robotics at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Hurst said he was one of the only two mechanical engineers on the program.
Concerned workers
In China, the advance of automation already worries some workers. Geng Yuanjie, 27, operates a forklift at the ZEEKR factory. He said there were much less robots when working at Volkswagen and misses talking to colleagues during the 12 -hour shifts. “I feel that automation is advancing. My education may not be enough to learn to program robots. I’m afraid of losing my job.”
“It’s not just me,” everyone cares about it, “he said.
Automation has already threatened or eliminated jobs worldwide, which usually brakes its advance. In China, however, there are few obstacles. The country has no independent unions, and the control of the Communist Party leaves little room for dissent.
Another factor behind automation is the demographic crisis. The number of births has fallen nearly two thirds since 1987, and two thirds of 18 -year -olds enter universities – which removes them from manufacturing work.
“China’s demographic dividend is over,” said Stephen Dyer of the AlixPartners consultancy. “Now the country is experiencing a demographic deficit, and the only way out is to increase productivity.”
c.2025 The New York Times Company
