Robots on the rise in China

As Liu Yilian busily hands out promotional materials at an international machine-tool show in Beijing, several industrial robots nimbly flex their long arms as they work away behind a glass wall beside her.

"My name cards have been used up," says Liu, marketing chief for Shanghai-Fanuc Robotics, the Chinese joint venture of Japanese giant Fanuc. The yellow cotton bags with Fanuc's brand name emblazoned on them are also gone, she adds, regretfully.

The interest reflects a growing interest in robotics among Chinese manufacturers, who are increasingly turning to technology to overcome the challenges of rising labour costs and fierce competition from emerging nations in South and Southeast Asia. According to Liu, the Shanghai arm of Fanuc, which dominates the global market for industrial robotics, almost doubled sales every year until cooling somewhat following the 2009 global financial crisis and outbreak of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which hurt the supply of raw materials.

"Even under such a difficult operating environment we still managed to achieve close to 20 per cent sales growth in China last year," said Liu.

The firm sold about 4,000 robots in China, up 18 per cent on the 3,400 it sold in 2011, she said.

Fanuc is one of a number of multinational companies, including ABB from Sweden, which are pouring resources into the Chinese market, lured by Beijing's efforts to upgrade its industries. Local companies are also entering the race.