China's army of robots is worrying experts

While much of the world remains focused on trade tensions and shifting economies, a quieter transformation is unfolding inside China’s factories. Increasingly, robots are taking on roles once reserved for human hands — a shift that’s boosting productivity, but also prompting quiet concern among observers about where this automation trend might lead.

A recent The New York Times report has drawn fresh attention to just how deeply automation is embedded in China’s industrial landscape.

With a rapidly growing number of machines on the factory floor, China now ranks among the world’s most robotised nations, outpacing even traditional manufacturing giants like the US, Germany, and Japan. Only South Korea and Singapore have a higher density of robots per worker.

China’s journey toward becoming a global leader in industrial automation didn’t happen by chance.

Back in 2015, the government launched an ambitious initiative known as Made in China 2025 — a strategic roadmap aimed at boosting the country’s manufacturing capabilities across key sectors such as electric vehicles, shipbuilding, and high-speed rail.

The goal? To raise both quality and performance standards by the middle of the decade.

According to local media China Daily, one of the aims was to produce 100,000 industrial robots a year. Additionally, China sent out 267,000 robot workers between 2022 and 2023, according to a report from the International Federation of Robotics.

What also makes the picture more complex for the US is China’s dominant position in the supply of heavy rare earth metals — a group of minerals essential to building advanced technologies, especially in robotics. With American manufacturers depending heavily on these materials, China holds a subtle but significant advantage, one that quietly strengthens its hand amid ongoing trade tensions.

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