In its latest Five-Year Plan of strategic economic moves, China will aim to pivot its artificial intelligence (AI) research towards physical applications with robots as main drivers for economic growth, according to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).
Placing robotics at the heart of its modern industrial system is a next step in the country´s already strong automation development: China´s manufacturing industry has an operational stock of around 2 million units — approximately 4.5 times more than the global no. 2, Japan. And 54% of annual industrial robots installed worldwide were deployed in China, IFR said.
But despite recent headlines about humanoid robots, China plans to focus instead on traditional industrial robots. That’s because when the job calls for extreme specialization, industrial robots generally outperform their humanoid counterparts. With their ability to perform highly specialized movements quickly and consistently, industrial robots are likely to remain the backbone of high-speed, precision-driven manufacturing environments.
In contrast, humanoid robots offer a more general approach. They combine mobility with human-like interaction, making them suitable for applications such as service tasks, factory helpers, or private households. Accordingly, China’s plan calls for wide adoption of AI with traditional industrial robotics over the next five to ten years, while commercialization of humanoid robots wouldn’t occur until the end of the plan´s period.
“The outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan of the People’s Republic of China acts as the primary framework document that sets the overarching direction for all other government actions,” says Takayuki Ito, President of the International Federation of Robotics. “Thousands of subordinate sectoral and regional plans are now mandated to align with the objectives. Under the new framework, China is shifting its focus from traditional industrial automation to high-end, intelligent robotics integrated with artificial intelligence.”