China will have more installed manufacturing robots than any other country by 2017
China will have more installed manufacturing robots than any other country by 2017
Foxconn, which makes consumer electronics for Apple and other companies, plans to automate about 70 percent of factory work within three years, and already has a fully robotic factory in Chengdu.
Midea, a leading manufacturer of home appliances in the heavily industrialized province of Guangdong, plans to replace 6,000 workers in its residential air-conditioning division, about a fifth of the work force, with automation by the end of the year.
Chinese factory jobs may thus be poised to evaporate at an even faster pace than has been the case in the United States and other developed countries.