China is aiming to be one of the world's top 10 most automated nations by 2020 by expanding its domestic robotics market.

The Chinese government plans to increase the penetration of robotics from 36 robots per 10,000 workers currently to 150 robots per 10,000 workers by 2020. China is currently ranked as the 28th nations in the world in terms of workforce automation, according to Business Insider. As a point of comparison, South Korea stands in first place with 478 units and the United States at the 7th place with 164 units.

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“By the end of 2020, I reckon that the share of the domestic market enjoyed by Chinese robotic manufacturers could well increase to 50 percent,” said Dr. Daokui Qu, CEO of the Chinese robot maker Siasun, at the recent International Federation of Robotics CEO Round Table in Munich, Germany.

Wang Ruixiang, president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, spoke at the China International Summit of Robot Industry in Shanghai. Wang stated that the Chinese market for industrial robots continues to be dominated by imports, with foreign manufacturers taking up 69 percent of market share.

According to International Federation of Robotics (IFR), Chinese Domestic robot makers are quickly catching up. In 2013, the sales of Chinese manufacturers made up 25 percent of the robotic items sold in the market, but it has increased to 31 percent to date.

The rapid growth of the Chinese robotics market can be attributed to the government’s policy called “Made in China 2025” (MiC2025), China Money Network reported. The policy provides incentives to manufacturers to practice the quality-over-quantity philosophy and pushes them to innovate in industrial automation as China seeks to become a high-quality manufacturing nation.

For the past three years, China has been the biggest buyer of industrial robots in the world. The IFR has predicted that China will be purchasing up to 150,000 machines annually by 2018.

Tagschina, U.S., South Korea, Robotics, China robotics 2020, Midea, International Federation of Robotics, Made in China 2025, industrial automation, digital