China’s factories must be ‘armed with automation’, as pandemic gives boost to machines in manufacturing
He Huifeng huifeng.he@scmp.com
Xpeng’s factory, in the southern Chinese city of Zhaoqing, touts 100 per cent automation in the installation of car bodies at its welding workshops, with more than 200 robotic arms. Photo: Handout
The US-China trade war weakened demand for automation on Chinese assembly lines from 2018-19, but a shortage of manpower during the pandemic reversed that trend last year, and analysts expect manufacturers to further embrace robots in 2021.
"The impact of the pandemic on the global industrial supply chain has been a major stimulus, forcing a huge number of orders to return to China," said Peng Biao, an analyst with Fashionprint.com, which monitors the fashion industry. "Last year was like a roller-coaster ride for Chinese manufacturers, from huge drops in revenue at the beginning of the year to a huge rebound later that year. And now there is a growing shortage of manpower everywhere, so medium- and large-sized companies are now, again, having to step up the replacement (of workers) with robots.