Battle of the machines: Chinese robot makers take on foreign peers

An intelligent robot made by a Chinese company attracts plenty of attention during the World Robot Conference in Beijing, Nov 23, 2015.[Photo by Zhang Wei/Asianewsphoto]

Between 2010 and 2014, total supply of industrial robots in China increased by about 40 percent per year on average.

"This (China's) rapid development is unique in the history of robotics. There has never been such dynamic rise in such a short period of time in any other market," IFR said in a report.

But still, for every 10,000 employees, there are only 36 robots in China, compared with 478 in South Korea, 292 in Germany and 164 in the United States in 2014.

As the surging labor cost is pushing more enterprises to embrace robots, IFR estimates China will account for more than one-third of the industrial robots installed worldwide in 2018, more than doubling over the next two years-from 262, 900 now to 614,200.

Naturally, the growth prospect offers a golden opportunity for domestic robot manufacturers.