In 2015, after much research, I wrote about China having 194 robot companies and used screen shots of The Robot Report’s Global Map to show where they were and a chart to show their makeup. We’ve just concluded another research project and have added hundreds of new Chinese companies to the database and global map.

By investing $6 million in robots, Bicycle Corporation of America (BCA) was able to take back 10% of their manufacturing from China and place it into a new factory in Manning, South Carolina employing 140 new workers.

Siao Tin Soh gives the low-down on the emerging demand in China for cutting edge, medical robotics, and the up-and-coming Chinese companies looking to compete in the market.

A recent article in The Washington Post by Morgan Stanley strategist and author of “The Rise and Fall of Nations” Ruchir Sharma, provides a nuanced overview of the issues of jobs, robots, productivity and income disparity. 

In October, the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission released a report, China’s Industrial and Military Robotics Development, prepared by the Defense Group, Inc. at the Commission’s request. The report examines the development of China’s unmanned industrial, service, and military robotics systems, such as drones and driverless cars, and the economic and national security implications of these trends for the United States.

A consortium of Chinese companies, municipalities and investors — including Siasun, the largest robotics firm in China and the city of Guangzhou — have inked a deal to set up a $20 million R&D center in Israel dedicated to developing robot technology that China can use to modernize and automate its industrial base.

China is poised to emerge as a global technological heavyweight in the not-too-distant future as the Chinese government simultaneously pushes to improve the quality of manufactured goods, the lives of factory workers, and perhaps most importantly, the in-country control of their manufacturing industry.

On Singles Day 2015, a holiday for the Chinese singles and youth market, Ecovacs Robotics sold $47 million worth of robotic products. Ecovacs only has three robotic products: a line of vacuum cleaners, a window cleaner, and a security and air purification device.

In China, the robotics industry is booming. Companies are deploying thousands of robots in all types of factories, particularly in the auto industry. Chinese companies that manufacture robots and their components are also growing. This article focuses on the robot makers.

The long-term rivalry between China and Japan, often characterised as the “World’s Most Dangerous Rivalry,” was exacerbated at the CIROS show held in Shanghai last week by a bowing Prime Minister Abe look-alike robot and an enterprising Chinese sales group.

Xi Jinping, China’s President, last year called for an “industrial robot revolution.” Since then China has created policies giving value added tax refunds and subsidies to companies making robots, and robot user companies can qualify for tax breaks.

Industrial robots keep humming along, doing the dull, dirty and dangerous work of factories around the world. Newer applications are less often known but are quickly emerging. Here are two novel ones.

April has seen Chinese VCs acquiring robotic ventures, buying out competitors, seeking funding to scale up production, and shoring up industry gaps.

In a video interview for The NY Times, Peng Zhang, Vice Director of the Economy, for Shunde (a city of 2.4 million) in Guandong Province, China, says that he is administering a project to replace humans with robots. Zhang said that the half of Shunde’s population comprised of immigrant workers from other Chinese provinces cannot continue to grow.

Russia’s Skolkovo Foundation and the Chinese Cybernaut Investment Group signed an agreement yesterday in Beijing to create a joint Russian-Chinese business incubator, a robotics accelerator program, and an investment fund worth $200M.