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After years of development, China has become an important participant in the global robotics industry. On December 28, 2021, twelve departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, National Development and Reform Commission, and Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the "Robot Industry 14th Five-Year Development Plan" (hereinafter referred to as "this plan"). This is China's second five-year development plan for the robotics industry (the first robot industry five-year plan (2016-2020) was released in June 2016) and plays an important guiding and promoting role in China's robotics industry development — high-quality development of China's robotics industry during the 14th Five-Year period.
Chinese robot research began in the early 1970s; however, due to China's initial industrialization phase and immature markets, robot adoption was slow. With China's rapid economic development, entering the 21st century, especially since 2010, China's robotics industry has entered a high-speed development period driven by market demand and government policy. China became the world's largest industrial robot market in 2013. In recent years, technological revolution and industrial transformation have entered a new era, with robotics deeply integrating with next-generation information technology, biotechnology, new energy, and new materials. The robotics industry has welcomed unprecedented development opportunities. The plan stipulates that during the 14th Five-Year period:
Enhance innovation capabilities: strengthen core technology breakthroughs, overcome common technologies such as robot system development and operating systems, develop frontier technologies such as bionic perception and cognition, biomechanical integration, and promote integrated application of new technologies such as artificial intelligence, 5G, big data, and robot cloud computing
Strengthen industrial development foundation: address shortcomings in special materials and core components, develop robot control software and core algorithms, establish national robot standardization organizations, accelerate research, formulation, and application of urgently needed robot technical standards
Increase high-end product supply for specific industries
Expand the depth and breadth of applications through various measures that bring together supply chain participants and through standards and certification
Optimize the overall structure of the robotics industry, for example: cultivate leading quality enterprises, support the development of specialized "little giant" enterprises, and promote cooperation between enterprises at various levels of the supply chain. Robots are already playing important roles in industry and society—such as platforms for emerging technologies and cornerstones of modern industry, driving digital development and intelligent upgrading of industry, as well as important tools to address population aging and improve people's quality of life. Expectations for smarter, more user-friendly, and safer robots are increasing. To this end, the plan proposes to focus on promoting innovation and application of welding, vacuum (cleaning), blasting production, logistics, agriculture, mining, construction, medical, elderly care assistance, security, epidemic prevention robots, household robots, public service robots, underwater robots, collaborative robots, and mobile robots.
China has been the world's largest industrial robot market for eight consecutive years, with a robot density in manufacturing reaching 246 robots per 10,000 employees in 2020. Industrial robots are applied in 52 "major" industry fields such as automotive, electronics, metallurgy, lighting, petrochemicals, and healthcare, and 143 "medium" industries (according to UN classification, Chinese manufacturing covers 41 major categories and 207 medium categories). Service robots have been deployed in extensive fields such as warehouse logistics, education and entertainment, cleaning services, and healthcare. However, deployment still does not keep up with socioeconomic development and people's expectations for a better life. Therefore, expanding the depth and breadth of robot applications in China over the next five years is an urgent priority for China's robotics industry. The plan clarifies application-oriented guidance to guide and accelerate robot technology updates and upgrades, promoting high-quality development of China's robotics industry.
Implementation of the plan will not only support the continuous healthy development of China's robotics industry but also promote global robotics technology and industrial automation advancement.
Author: Song Xiaogang Member of IFR Asia Executive Committee Executive Director and Secretary-General of China Robot Industry Alliance
