Recently, the 2023 "Robot+" conference opened in Dongguan. Wang Hong, Deputy Director of the Equipment Industry Department of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, stated that in 2022, the total revenue of Chinese robot industry exceeded 170 billion yuan, the production of industrial robots reached 443,000 sets, the production of service robots exceeded 6.458 million sets, and the installed capacity of industrial robots exceeded 50% of the global total, ranking first in the world for nine consecutive years.
Chen Dan, Deputy Secretary General of Robot Branch of China Machinery Industry Federation, also said that the global industrial robot market is now in the second round of rapid growth period. In the past decade, the average annual growth rate of industrial robot market sales is 12%, while that of China is 28%, more than twice the global growth rate.
It is understood that the current density of robots in Chinese manufacturing industry has reached 322 units per 10,000 people, rising from 25th place in 2015 to 5th place in 2021, surpassing the United States. However, there is still a significant gap from South Korea, Singapore, and other countries, and there is still much room for improvement in the future.
From the perspective of application fields, the manufacturing industry is an important field for the application of industrial robots, among which automobiles and electronics are the most important application industries for robots. In addition, the demand for robots in metal processing, plastics and chemical products, food manufacturing, mining, and textiles is also growing rapidly.
At present, Chinese industrial robots have covered 60 industry categories and 168 industry categories in the national economy. Service robots have also been innovatively applied in fields such as logistics, education and entertainment, medical and health, constantly breeding new industries, new models, and new formats. In addition to industrial robots, Chinese service robots are increasingly widely used, and special robots are deeply expanding. Robots are beginning to enter all aspects of human life and society.
In 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and four other departments announced 77 excellent robot application scenarios, covering fields such as agriculture, construction, healthcare, and mining. In January of this year, 17 departments released the "Robot+" Application Action Implementation Plan, proposing to focus on the ten major fields of manufacturing, energy, commercial logistics, and medical health, promoting more than 200 innovative application models with high levels and typical application scenarios of robots with widespread application effects.
At the end of 2021, 15 departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the National Development and Reform Commission, and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the "14th Five Year Plan for the Development of the Robot Industry", promoting Chinese robot industry to move towards a mid to high-end level during the "14th Five Year Plan" period.
The Plan clearly states that by 2025, China aims to become a global source of robotics technology innovation, a hub for high-end manufacturing, and a new highland for integrated applications. The operating revenue of the robotics industry will grow by over 20% annually, and the density of manufacturing robots will double.
Currently, a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation is accelerating and evolving, with the deep integration of new generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, new materials, and robotics technology. Wang Hong stated that Chinese robotics industry is entering a strategic opportunity period of self-reliance, self-reliance, and leapfrog transformation. It is urgent to accelerate the high-quality development path of technology "from having to being excellent" and industry "from being large to strong".