China moving up the industrial value chain with high-value exports
Led by robots and EVs, the country’s move up the industrial value chain is gaining momentum, June’s industrial export figures show
China’s push to move up the industrial value chain continues to gain momentum, with exports of high-value products such as robots, EVs and advanced manufacturing equipment expanding rapidly across major global markets, as Beijing navigates a global energy transition and an intensifying technological rivalry with the US.
The country’s quadruped robots now account for nearly 70 per cent of global sales. Additionally, over 400 humanoid robot models have been developed domestically, representing more than half of the global total, according to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
Customs data released on Monday also showed that China’s robot exports – including industrial, cleaning, surgical, and bionic – reached nearly US$600 million in June.
More than 40 per cent of those shipments went to the European Union, while another 8 per cent were exported to the United States, according to the ministry.
Overseas shipments of plug-in hybrid electric vehicles also doubled in volume, while exports to the EU tripled, making the bloc the largest market for Chinese vehicles.
This trend extended across China’s advanced manufacturing sector; MIIT said on Monday that equipment manufacturing shipments accounted for nearly half of industrial export growth in the first half of the year.