China installs more robots than any other nation | Bloomberg

[Martian]

In the first chart below, Bloomberg shows China installed 90,000 new industrial robots last year. In contrast, all of North America (ie. United States, Canada, and Mexico) collectively installed less than 40,000 new industrial robots.
----------

China’s Robot Revolution May Affect the Global Economy

"China is installing more robots than any other nation, and that may affect every other nation.

Shipments jumped 27 percent to about 90,000 units last year, a single-country record and almost a third of the global total, and will nearly double to 160,000 in 2019, the International Federation of Robotics estimates."

 

[Martian]

China is the world's largest operator of Industrial Robots | Financial Review

From the Financial Review article (fifth paragraph): "New figures from the International Federation of Robotics show China overtook Japan last year to be the world's biggest operator of industrial robots, after annual sales reached the highest level ever recorded by a single country."
----------

China's robot revolution has foreign firms on edge | Financial Review

 

[Innocent]

I think Cheen operate close to 1.5 billions robots.

 

[vayuu1]

Judgement day is near, be ready for skynet

Sent from my vivo 1601 using Tapatalk

 

[Dovah]

@Martian how does China plan to counter the unemployment that comes with automation? Do they have plans for some sort of UBI?

 

[Martian]

@Martian how does China plan to counter the unemployment that comes with automation? Do they have plans for some sort of UBI?

Thus far, there has been no noticeable effect on Chinese unemployment. Of course, this may change in the future as industrial robots become ever more capable.

From the Financial Review article: "So far, there has not been a big wave of lay-offs or salary declines as a result of the industrial upgrade, according to Eloot."

The Financial Review article also mentioned the Chinese government's plan to move more people into the service sector and away from the manufacture-economy.

I don't think Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an imminent proposal in China. The Chinese working population is falling (due to the falling birthrate) and industrial robots will make up the difference in the labor pool.

 

[Dovah]

Thus far, there has been no noticeable effect on Chinese unemployment. Of course, this may change in the future as industrial robots become ever more capable.

From the Financial Review article: "So far, there has not been a big wave of lay-offs or salary declines as a result of the industrial upgrade, according to Eloot."

The Financial Review article also mentioned the Chinese government's plan to move more people into the service sector and away from the manufacture-economy.

I don't think Universal Basic Income (UBI) is an imminent proposal in China. The Chinese working population is falling (due to the falling birthrate) and robots will make up the difference in the labor pool.

Automation will also hit the service industry and probably sooner than it hits the manufacturing sector.

Secondly, when automation comes into picture, economic growth of the state/party will not align with the economic growth of the people, in such a scenario, will the Chinese political system be tolerated by the people once prosperity starts to plateau or even decline? UBI then becomes an extravagance for the government and a necessity for the public and considering that the public has no say in governance, is there not a high possibility of unrest?

 

[Martian]

Automation will also hit the service industry and probably sooner than it hits the manufacturing sector.

Secondly, when automation comes into picture, economic growth of the state/party will not align with the economic growth of the people, in such a scenario, will the Chinese political system be tolerated by the people once prosperity starts to plateau or even decline? UBI then becomes an extravagance for the government and a necessity for the public and considering that the public has no say in governance, is there not a high possibility of unrest?

There is no sign of declining prosperity. All of the data points to an ever-rising Chinese GDP per capita, which is currently over US$8,000.

Robots enhance productivity. Thus, the Chinese economy has grown larger. Whether the benefits will mostly accrue to rich people or to the middle class, that is a political question.

Regarding China's political stability, the people are garnering more economic rights every year (such as the abolishment of the 2,000 year-old farm tax). Over time, the people are slowly gaining more political rights (such as more court-settled disputes).

I think the last forty years have proven China's stability and ability to adapt economically and politically.

 

[airtel]

Very Good .............. more and More Unemployment in China .
By the way most of these companies are western so they are just establishing factories in Chinese land and earn maximum profit without Giving Jobs to Chinese people .

 

[Dovah]

There is no sign of declining prosperity. All of the data points to an ever-rising Chinese GDP per capita, which is currently over US$8,000.

Robots enhance productivity. Thus, the Chinese economy has grown larger. Whether the benefits will mostly accrue to rich people or to the middle class, that is a political question.

Regarding China's political stability, the people are garnering more economic rights every year (such as the abolishment of the 2,000 year-old farm tax). Over time, the people are slowly gaining more political rights (such as more court-settled disputes).

I think the last forty years have proven China's stability and ability to adapt economically and politically.

Well, the last 40 years saw rising employment, not diminishing. Citing 40 years of development in this scenario is not valid since automation is a problem that has left even countries with highly skilled workforce perplexed. If China goes ahead with its plan to boost manufacturing with automation, it will cost jobs. There is no two ways about it. What remains to be seen is, in the absence of a democracy how much of the growth reaches the people.

 

[airtel]

most of the Industries in China are monopoly of western countries when they will replace all the Chinese workers with advanced robots and all the Chinese billionaires will leave oppressive CCp government and will move to any western country then there will be massive civil war .............and all the Enemies of China will take full advantage of such situation .

btw here is a Robotic Pizza maker >>



robotic coffee shop >>


robotic building construction >>


and robotic buses >>



actually it is a problem not only for china but all over the world ...............so many people are going to loose Jobs

 

[Vijyes]

Robots need precious fuel - oil or if static robot (automated machine) - coal. Who will give that? China has coal but they are now digging 600-700 metres underground and depth is increasing by 15 metres a year in the mines. Oil - something needed for mobile robots is not easy to come by either

 

[Martian]

Well, the last 40 years saw rising employment, not diminishing. Citing 40 years of development in this scenario is not valid since automation is a problem that has left even countries with highly skilled workforce perplexed. If China goes ahead with its plan to boost manufacturing with automation, it will cost jobs. There is no two ways about it. What remains to be seen is, in the absence of a democracy how much of the growth reaches the people.

I disagree. China's exports keep rising year after year (in Yuan terms, which eliminates currency fluctuations).

The last forty years is important, because you can still see the trend of rising Chinese exports on a monthly or yearly basis today. In contrast, the US incurred a trade deficit in 1970 and it kept growing. Thus, we have two separate trends. The US had a trade deficit in manufacturing for forty years and lost a lot of manufacturing jobs.

China is very different. China has seen a boom in exports after joining the WTO in 2001. The trend of ever-rising exports is still happening today. Thus, I do not see any meaningful decrease in Chinese manufacturing jobs. As I understand it, there is a shortage of blue-collar labor in China. This led Foxconn to automate in China.

The US relinquished the advanced-technological-product export-industry to China. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the US places prohibitive licensing restrictions on its exports. One example is CNC machine tools. The US only allowed 500 CNC machine tool exports over three years. Secondly, US companies maximize profits in accordance with the demand of Wall Street. In contrast, Chinese companies only charge a fair price.

Since technology keeps increasing in sophistication, China is building an ever-increasing array of affordable high-technology products for people all over the world to buy. Consumer drones from DJI is one example. Another example is high-quality affordable 3D printers. A third example is affordable work tools, such as portable drills. You can see China's dominance of exports on Amazon.com. Many of the 3D printers and work tools are made in China.

Automation will reduce traditional manufacturing jobs, but its ultimate impact is unknown. For example, automation will create a multi-billion robotics industry within China to design new more-capable robots. Also, as more sophisticated industrial robots are developed, they will reduce the cost of advanced products. This means electric cars and every technological device will fall in price. This will enlarge the Chinese economy.

Finally, the displaced workers from the manufacturing sector can be retrained to work in the service sector. Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent are doing well and they will need more employees for the service economy.

 

[Martian]

Robots need precious fuel - oil or if static robot (automated machine) - coal. Who will give that? China has coal but they are now digging 600-700 metres underground and depth is increasing by 15 metres a year in the mines. Oil - something needed for mobile robots is not easy to come by either

China has plentiful sources of solar, wind, and nuclear power.

The cost of solar power is dropping significantly in China. China can simply deploy more solar panels and build more solar farms.

Land-based (such as those in Inner Mongolia and Xinjiang provinces) and sea-based wind turbines are proliferating in China.

In the worst-case scenario, China can resort to constructing more uranium-based nuclear power plants. Alternatively, China can build thorium-based nuclear power plants in the future.

 

[IndianHawk]

I disagree. China's exports keep rising year after year (in Yuan terms, which eliminates currency fluctuations).

Other nations won't just sit and allow china to dump those robots produced goods into their markets. Automation will contract labour market across the globe and govt will rush to protect whatever jobs left even at the cost of trade wars.

Chinese exports will face severe duty challenges in upcoming days.

 

[Dovah]

I disagree. China's exports keep rising year after year (in Yuan terms, which eliminates currency fluctuations).

The US relinquished the advanced-technological product export industry to China. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, the US places prohibitive licensing restrictions on its exports. One example is CNC machine tools. The US only allowed 500 CNC machine tool exports over three years. Secondly, US companies maximize profits in accordance with the demand of Wall Street. In contrast, Chinese companies only charge a fair price.

Since technology keeps increasing in sophistication, China is building an ever-increasing array of affordable high-technology products for people all over the world to buy. Consumer drones from DJI is one example. Another example is high-quality affordable 3D printers. A third example is affordable work tools, such as drills. You can see China's dominance of exports on Amazon Inc. Many of the 3D printers and work tools are made in China.

Automation will reduce traditional manufacturing jobs, but its ultimate impact is unknown. For example, automation will create a multi-billion robotics industry within China to design new robots. Also, as more sophisticated industrial robots are developed, they will reduce the cost of advanced products. This means electric cars and every technological device will fall in price. This will enlarge the Chinese economy.

Finally, the displaced workers from the manufacturing sector can be retrained to work in the service sector. Baidu, Alibaba, and Tencent are doing well and they will need more employees for the service economy.

The line of thought that service industry jobs will remain in place post an automation revolution is erroneous. Service industry, and by this I am assuming you mean waiters, drivers and others will be the first ones to go. If by service industry you mean programmers and skilled technicians than retraining is out of the picture. These jobs require years of eduction and considerable investment, for a government to bear this cost on such a massive scale would be disastrous.

Yes a multi-billion dollar robotics industry that designs robots seems like a possible outcome. But again, it still does nothing for the unemployed in the manufacturing sector. Let us assume that you are able to train every poorly educated mechanic to become a robotics expert overnight, how many designer positions does a company offer?

Chinese manufacturing capability will count for nothing if the people are unemployed. And this is the whole crux of the debate. Will the Chinese government which has no public participation part with the money? If they do consider it an investment to stimulate the economy, then sure, automation will propel China like the Industrial Revolution propelled Europe. But if they don't, and stick with their state-capitalist ways then no doubt there will be unrest.

 

[Martian]

Other nations won't just sit and allow china to dump those robots produced goods into their markets. Automation will contract labour market across the globe and govt will rush to protect whatever jobs left even at the cost of trade wars.

Chinese exports will face severe duty challenges in upcoming days.

There are three problems with your theory.

Firstly, Chinese exports have boomed for forty years and I don't see the protectionism that you claim will happen.

Secondly, exports are regulated by the WTO. China plays by the rules and competes on price. Consumers around the world are buying affordable Chinese products and I don't see this changing anytime soon.

Thirdly, China is a very advanced country. I don't see any competition for many Chinese exports. For example, western countries can't compete against China on price for CNC machine tools. Non-western countries don't have the technology to build their own CNC machine tools. That leaves China dominating the market for CNC machine tool exports. I don't see anything that will change this current state of affairs. It's a technological barrier.

 

[Martian]

The line of thought that service industry jobs will remain in place post an automation revolution is erroneous. Service industry, and by this I am assuming you mean waiters, drivers and others will be the first ones to go. If by service industry you mean programmers and skilled technicians than retraining is out of the picture. These jobs require years of eduction and considerable investment, for a government to bear this cost on such a massive scale would be disastrous.

Yes a multi-billion dollar robotics industry that design robots seems like a possible outcome. But again, it still does nothing for the unemployed in the manufacturing sector. Let us assume that you are able to train every poorly educated mechanic to become a robotics expert overnight, how many designer positions does a company offer?

Chinese manufacturing capability will count for nothing if the people are unemployed. And this is the whole crux of the debate. Will the Chinese government which has no public participation part with the money? If they do consider it an investment to stimulate the economy, then sure, automation will propel China like the Industrial Revolution propelled Europe. But if they don't, and stick with their state-capitalist ways then no doubt there will be unrest.

I think China has built millions of units of public housing. In the worst-case scenario, the Chinese government will build more public housing for the unemployed.

 

[Dovah]

I think China has built millions of units of public housing. In the worst-case scenario, the Chinese government will build more public housing for the unemployed.

And provide them with food, education, healthcare and entertainment.

Then this would be a utopia

 

[airtel]

There are three problems with your theory.

Firstly, Chinese exports have boomed for forty years and I don't see the protectionism that you claim will happen.

Secondly, exports are regulated by the WTO. China plays by the rules and competes on price. Consumers around the world are buying affordable Chinese products and I don't see this changing anytime soon.

.

Actually people by products of western companies because of their brand name & reputation .
they established factories in China just because of Cheap labors .
people buy Land Rover , BMW , Audi etc cars because of their brand names & quality .
nobody will buy Chinese cars like Dongfeng outside china , because of poor reputation & bad quality .