Goal for 3-5 strong robot firms by 2020

China aims to create three to five globally competitive industrial robot makers by 2020 to meet rising demand amid higher labor costs and industrial upgrading under a new official development plan.

Homegrown robot makers are expected to account for over 45 percent of China's high-end industrial robot market by the end of this decade, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said in the plan released yesterday.

Between 2005 and 2012, sales of industrial robots to China have jumped by an average of 25 percent annually and reached 23,000 units last year, excluding those sold by Chinese robot makers, according to the International Federation of Robotics. The Chinese robot suppliers sold about 2,000 units in 2011 and 3,200 units in 2012, the IFR estimated, citing industry reports.

The high-end market is now dominated by global robot makers such as Germany's KUKA and Swiss automation group ABB, which are seeing rapid growth in China, a market which is evolving from traditional to smart manufacturing. KUKA recently opened a new plant in Shanghai to boost local supply.

China also aims for a deeper robot density of over 100 robots per 10,000 employees in the manufacturing industry by 2020, up from 20 now, the ministry said.