China targets mass humanoid-robot rollout by 2025

China is targeting the mass rollout of humanoid robots by 2025, and advanced levels of the technology by 2027.

A nine-page report released by the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) calls on the country’s manufacturing sector to rapidly ramp up its robotic technology to “realize mass production by 2025.”

The report, according to a Google translation, said China should “establish a humanoid robot innovation system, make breakthroughs in several key technologies and ensure the safe and effective supply of core components” by 2025 and establish humanoid robots as an “important new engine of economic growth” by 2027.

The initiative is part of China’s mission to bolster its domestic industrial supply chain, cement its position as a leading robotics developer and generally strengthen its self-reliance when it comes to emerging technologies.

MIIT said humanoid robots are set to become “disruptive products” in the near future that will “profoundly change” human lives and reshape global economies, with China intending to be at the forefront of this change.

According to the document, robots are expected to see significant use cases in industries such as health care, home services, agriculture and logistics, though the ministry stressed the particular need to develop robots for the manufacturing industry, as well as for hazardous environments.

As per the timeline set out in the document, by 2025 the ministry is hoping for a humanoid robot innovation system to be initially established, including several key technologies “such as ‘brain, cerebellum and limbs’”

By 2027, the ministry said the technological innovation capabilities of humanoid robots should be “significantly improved,” and that a safe and reliable industrial chain supply chain system should have been created.

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