bodyType

customContents

entityId

printArticlePageQuery

filter

article

body

urlAlias

articleSectionsContent

articleSeoArticle

articleSourceHeaderArticle

contentSchemaRenderContent

contentSubHeadlineContent

contentHeadlineContent

mainImagePrintArticleArticle

authorBlockPrintArticleArticle

contentSponsorTagContent

articlePianoPaywallContent

scmpYoutubeContent

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

query printArticlePageQuery(
  $entityId: String!
  $customContents: [CustomContentInput]
  $bodyType: BodyFormatTypeEnum
) {
  article(filter: {entityId: $entityId}) {
    entityId
    body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
      json
    }
    urlAlias
    ...articleSectionsContent
    ...articleSeoArticle_3o8td4
    ...articleSourceHeaderArticle
    ...contentSchemaRenderContent
    ...contentSubHeadlineContent
    ...contentHeadlineContent
    ...mainImagePrintArticleArticle
    ...authorBlockPrintArticleArticle
    ...contentSponsorTagContent
    ...articlePianoPaywallContent
    ...scmpYoutubeContent
    ...hooksTrackPageViewArticle
    id
  }
}

fragment articlePianoPaywallContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksPaywallPromiseContent
}

fragment articleSectionsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      ...helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection
      ...entityLink
      name
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment articleSeoArticle_3o8td4 on Article {
  ...hooksArticleSeoArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersGetArticleTypeArticle
  entityId
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
  summary {
    text
  }
  subHeadline {
    text
  }
  body(customContents: $customContents, type: $bodyType) {
    text
  }
  keywords
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  topics {
    name
    entityId
    id
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  images {
    style(filter: {style: "768x768"}) {
      url
    }
  }
  readingTime
}

fragment articleSourceHeaderArticle on Article {
  urlAlias
  ...entityLink
}

fragment authorBlockPrintArticleArticle on Article {
  ...defaultArticleDateContent
  ...authorNamesArticle
}

fragment authorNameAuthor on Author {
  ...entityLink
  name
  entityUuid
}

fragment authorNamesArticle on Article {
  authorLocations
  authors {
    entityId
    location
    ...authorNameAuthor
    id
  }
}

fragment blockquoteQuoteContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment contentHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  socialHeadline
  ...contentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
}

fragment contentNewsletterWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
    id
  }
  sections {
    value {
      relatedNewsletters {
        ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
        id
      }
      id
    }
  }
  ... on Article {
    relatedNewsletters {
      ...helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment contentSchemaRenderContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...blockquoteQuoteContent
  ...imageContent
  ...inlineWidgetContent
  ...photoGalleryWidgetContent
  ...scmpYoutubeContent
}

fragment contentShareWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  shortUrl
  socialHeadline
  headline
}

fragment contentSponsorTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersUseContentSponsorContent
}

fragment contentSubHeadlineContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  subHeadline {
    json
  }
  summary {
    json
  }
  ...contentSchemaRenderContent
}

fragment defaultArticleDateContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...hooksArticleDateUtilsContent
}

fragment entityLink on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  __typename
  entityId
  entityUuid
  urlAlias
  urlRedirect {
    toUrl
    id
  }
  application {
    entityId
    id
  }
  ... on Section {
    fullSectionPath {
      entityId
      id
    }
    parentSection
  }
  ...helpersAppBarVariantBase
  ...helpersApplicationBase
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersAppBarVariantBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsLiveArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...helpersSectionContent
  ...helpersStyleSectionContent
}

fragment helpersApplicationBase on BaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias {
  __isBaseWithApplicationAndUrlAlias: __typename
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesPage
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusPage
}

fragment helpersCheckIfNewsSectionInFirstIndexSection on Section {
  name
}

fragment helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle on Article {
  entityId
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  disableOffPlatformContent
  sponsorType
  published
  ...helpersCheckIsPlusArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment helpersCheckIsLiveArticle on Article {
  flattenTypeIds
  liveArticle {
    status
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    paywallTypes {
      entityUuid
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPlusPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle on Article {
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersCheckIsPostiesPage on Page {
  urlAlias
}

fragment helpersCheckIsStyleArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  sections {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersGetArticleTypeArticle on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        entityId
        id
      }
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersMassageToNewsletterItemNewsletter on Newsletter {
  entityId
  name
  alternativeName
  description {
    text
  }
  summary {
    text
  }
  homepageDescription {
    text
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle on Article {
  authors {
    types
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle on Article {
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersStyleSectionContent on Section {
  fullSectionPath {
    entityId
    id
  }
}

fragment helpersUseContentSponsorContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  topics {
    entityId
    sponsor {
      ...sponsorTagSponsor
      name
      type
      id
    }
    id
  }
  ... on Article {
    sponsorType
  }
  ...helpersCheckIsMainTopicContent
}

fragment hooksArticleDateUtilsContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  createdDate
  publishedDate
  updatedDate
}

fragment hooksArticleSeoArticle on Article {
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsPostMagazineArticle
  ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  ...hooksContentHeadlineTagContent
  ...helpersCheckIsAmpEnabledArticle
  entityId
  headline
  socialHeadline
  types {
    value {
      entityId
      id
    }
  }
  authors {
    entityId
    id
  }
  images {
    generic_og: style(filter: {style: "og_image_scmp_generic"}) {
      url
    }
    styles(filter: {styles: ["og_image_posties_article", "og_postmag", "og_image_style", "og_image_scmp_analysis", "og_image_scmp_explainer", "og_image_scmp_editorial", "og_image_scmp_fact_check", "og_image_scmp_debate", "og_image_scmp_live", "og_image_scmp_obituary", "og_image_scmp_opinion", "og_image_scmp_review", "og_image_scmp_series", "og_image_scmp_generic"]}) {
      url
      style
    }
    type
  }
  urlAlias
}

fragment hooksContentHeadlineTagContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ... on Article {
    types {
      value {
        name
        entityId
        description {
          text
        }
        id
      }
    }
    ...helpersCheckIsStyleArticle
  }
  flag
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  ...hooksContentHelperContent
}

fragment hooksContentHelperContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...helpersSanitizeArticleTypeEntityIdsArticle
  ...helpersSanitizeAuthorTypesArticle
  ...helpersSanitizedAuthorEntityIdsArticle
  flag
}

fragment hooksPaywallPromiseContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  ...helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle
}

fragment hooksTrackPageViewArticle on Article {
  entityId
  publishedDate
  headline
  sections {
    value {
      name
      id
    }
  }
  urlAlias
  authors {
    name
    id
  }
  entityUuid
}

fragment imageContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  headline
  ...checkersCheckContentContainsStarlingImageContent
}

fragment inlineWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...contentNewsletterWidgetContent
}

fragment mainImagePrintArticleArticle on Article {
  images {
    title
    url
    isSlideshow
    size_652x446: style(filter: {style: "652x446"}) {
      url
    }
  }
}

fragment photoGalleryDialogContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  __typename
  ...contentShareWidgetContent
}

fragment photoGalleryWidgetContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  ...photoGalleryDialogContent
}

fragment scmpYoutubeContent on Content {
  __isContent: __typename
  entityId
  urlAlias
  publishedDate
}

fragment sponsorTagSponsor on Sponsor {
  name
  type
  images {
    url
  }
}


sections

types

disableOffPlatformContent

sponsorType

published

headline

socialHeadline

authors

images

publishedDate

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

keywords

topics

readingTime

authorLocations

entityUuid

Josh Ye

Masha Borak

Orange Wang

This is the 12th in a series of stories about China’s once-a-decade census, which was conducted in 2020. The world’s most populous nation released its national demographic data in May and the figures will have far-reaching social policy and economic implications.
Orange robot arms weld and assemble with extreme precision. Digital cameras, powered by the latest computer vision technology, monitor parts as they move through the assembly line. Autonomous robots transport materials in, and finished products out, of the building silently and without human supervision.
Human beings have been physically removed from this assembly line, replaced by robots and digital-savvy technicians and engineers operating at a distance, who can monitor events in real-time via a digital panel accessible from anywhere in the factory via a portable device.
This is what a modern microwave-making factory run by Midea, one of the world’s largest home appliance makers, looks like in the southern city of Foshan, China, today.
What used to require 16 people now only needs four, said Xu Nian’en, a director at this Midea plant. The company has, over the last six years, invested 4 billion yuan (US$622 million) to transform itself, raising efficiency by 62 per cent and reducing its workforce by 50,000.

Amid the rapid digitalisation of China’s economy, the second-biggest in the world, Midea’s factory represents a snapshot of the future – one in which manufacturing processes and employees need to adapt to increased automation and machine-driven learning.
The challenge is an acute one for China as it continues to move up the value chain from what was once considered the world’s factory floor and has become more pressing as it confronts an impending demographic crunch that will change the country’s workplace for generations.
How China aims to dominate the world of robotics
Adding more urgency was the recent once-in-a-decade census survey, released on May 11 by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), which revealed that the country’s population in 2020 rose at the slowest pace since the 1950s, reaching 1.412 billion.
China’s working-age population, people between the ages of 15 to 59, accounted for 63.35 per cent of the entire population last year, a decline of 6.79 percentage points from a decade ago, the census data showed.
“The proportion of the working population is likely to get lower and lower,” Wang Xiaosong, professor of economics at the Renmin University of China, lamented at an online forum.




Moreover in 2020, the figure was only three-quarters of the total in 2011 and will fall to just above half by 2050, according to Lu Jiehua, a professor of population studies at Peking University.
At the same time, interest in factory jobs among young workers is shrinking, Midea’s director of information technology Zhou Xiaoling told the Post.
The census data does however, show progress in higher education with the number of people gaining a college education jumping from 8.93 per cent in 2010 to 15.5 per cent in 2020, putting the country ahead of many developing nations.
And this is the promise of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology – that many of the dirty, repetitive manual jobs of yesteryear will be replaced by more highly-skilled jobs in future.




The change is already being felt as factories find it harder to find younger workers willing to toil away on production lines.
“Nowadays, the generation in their 20s prefer service jobs, like live-streaming or sitting in offices,” said Yuan Jing, a deputy general manager of a medium-sized smart classroom equipment manufacturer based in Hebei province.
Thousands of factories across the country are already hard at work replacing manual labour with automation, robotisation and digitalisation.
Yuan’s company is doubling down on new technology at a new plant under construction, investing about 60 million yuan (US$9.4 million) on automation that will reduce the number of line workers needed for some processes by about half.
Midea plans to replace an additional 30 per cent of its front-line workers over the next three years with the help of digitalisation and automation, said Midea’s Zhou.
Over the past decade, China has gradually been transforming itself from a low-cost and low-skill labour country that churns out everything from cheap plastic toys to new iPhones, into a hub for smart manufacturing for more value-added products.

“In some senses, [the demographic changes] are not news,” said Xi Ning, chair professor of robotics and automation at the Hong Kong University (HKU). “The government actually anticipated this many years ago.”
Factories in China are now applying AI to crunch vast amounts of data and automate many processes, while the government included a policy to regulate and make data available to boost the industrial internet in its 14th five-year plan.
Companies are building up data centres to offer cloud services and help many industries go online, while state-supported 5G network expansion is under way that will support smart factories and their automation needs.
China unveils plan to become a manufacturing superpower by 2025
The shift has been boosted by state-directed efforts, ranging from national initiatives, such as the Made in China 2025 industrial policy plan, to local government efforts.
Financial support for robotics manufacturers and automation businesses comes from various levels of government in the form of subsidies, low-interest-rate loans, tax relief, or land rental incentives.
For the robotics industry, China’s government offers lavish subsidies that account for roughly 20 per cent of its net profit, according to Sinolink Securities, a financial services firm.

China has been the world’s largest industrial robot market since 2013 with companies like Midea, which acquired German industrial robots maker Kuka in 2017 for €4.5 billion (US$5.1 billion), leading the way.
In March, Midea became China’s second company after Haier to have two facilities named as “lighthouse factories” by the World Economic Forum (WEF), an international honour recognising “the world’s most advanced factories” which are judged to be “leading the way in the adoption of Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies”.
This year’s list also included factories around the world at companies such as HP, Johnson & Johnson, Siemens and Proctor & Gamble.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution, also known as Industry 4.0, refers to the ongoing automation of traditional manufacturing and upgrading of industrial practices, and the use of modern smart technology to achieve more efficient and profitable growth.

“The process of digitalisation means altering a country’s core competitiveness at a fundamental level,” said Zhu Min, former deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund and the head of Tsinghua University’s National Institute of Financial Research, in a speech last month.
“The labour cost for a Midea air-conditioner today is only about 10 yuan (US$1.60) – this was inconceivable in the past.”
And unlike other countries with legacy systems that need to be overcome for the industry to upgrade, the whole industrialisation process in China happened in the past 30 years, meaning manufacturers can effectively start from “a blank slate”, said HKU’s Xi Ning.
Xu Shaoyuan, a research fellow at the Development Research Center of the State Council, said that the decline and ageing of the working-age population were unlikely to have a significant impact on the country’s industries, as technological progress might be faster in replacing manpower than the demographic changes.
“With improvements in physical health, many people are still willing and able to work even after reaching the retirement age of 60. And with the advancement of technology, the physical requirements for workers are, in general, declining,” Xu said.

Meanwhile, while labour costs have been rising steadily over the last decade in China, many factories have moved from more expensive coastal areas to relatively impoverished and cheaper areas in the west of the country.
The national annual average wage of employees in urban private companies in China nearly tripled to 57,727 yuan (US$9,000) in 2020 from 20,759 yuan in 2010, according to the National Bureau of Statistics.
For the manufacturing sector, the average annual wage of employees of enterprises was 74,641 yuan in 2020, while in 2017 that figure was 58,049 yuan.
However, China’s robotic workforce still pales in comparison to its human workers, with 187 robots per 10,000 employees currently.
In comparison, Singapore has the highest density of robots, with 918 robots per 10,000 employees, followed closely by South Korea with 868 robots, according to January data from the International Federation of Robotics.


Beijing’s plan to make more made-in-China industrial robots has also fallen behind target, with most of the market still dominated by Japanese, European and South Korean companies, data from Shenzhen Gaogong Industry Research (GGII) shows.
And while the demographic crunch may be met with a smaller, more skilled workforce in China in future, it could be a negative for those workers who are unwilling or unable to adapt fast enough to more advanced workplace technologies.
China and the world will also have to embrace an upgrade in education and jobs. As traditional blue-collar jobs become obsolete, many of these factory workers will have to upskill or change their profession.
“Many workers will not be doing mechanical work on production lines, they will need to be able to handle data analysis and other more valuable things,” said Midea’s Zhou. “Our existing employees must transform, otherwise they could be phased out.”


As China’s working population falls, factories turn to machines to pick up the slack

China’s once-a-decade census reveals increasing pressure for the country's manufacturers to accelerate the pace of automation. Illustration: Ka-kuen Lau

epa08608539 A migrant worker waits to be employed on the street in Beijing, China, 17 August 2020. According to media reports, the surveyed unemployment rate in urban areas in July stood at 5.7 percent and the country recorded a higher youth unemployment rate in July, with a record number of university graduates expected this year. EPA-EFE/WU HONG

Midea's factory has 5G-connected sensors and cameras, powered by Huawei, tracking the movement of any personnel, bikes and trucks on site, revealing information as specific as a personâs gender and whether he is wearing a mask.

In Midea's microwave oven factory, Kuka robotic arms of apricot color are welding and assembling parts with ruthless efficiency.

(210415) -- WASHINGTON, April 15, 2021 (Xinhua) -- Robots operate on a production line at an automotive glass workshop of the Fuyao Glass Industry Group Co., Ltd. in Fuqing City of Fuzhou, southeast China's Fujian Province, Jan. 12, 2021. TO GO WITH XINHUA HEADLINES OF APRIL 15, 2021 (Xinhua/Jiang Kehong)

Technicians work on the testing line of a factory operated by E-Deodar Robot Equipment Co., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ningbo Techmation Co., in Foshan, China, on Tuesday, Feb. 28, 2017. Startup E-Deodar is building $15,000 industrial bots that are about a third cheaper than foreign brands and are being used to automate assembly lines across the Pearl River Delta manufacturing hub. China is embracing robotics with the same full-on intensity that's made it a force in high-speed rail and renewable energy. Photographer: Qilai Shen/Bloomberg

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China’s factories are turning to automation to upgrade production lines, and at the same time prepare for fewer, higher-skilled workers
Chinese manufacturing companies like Midea have already embraced automation to sharply reduce the number of humans needed



Machines are increasingly taking over China’s assembly lines as manufacturers upgrade and prepare for fewer, higher-skilled workers.


As China’s working population falls, factories turn to machines to pick up the slack

China’s factories are turning to automation to upgrade production lines, and at the same time prepare for fewer, higher-skilled workers Chinese manufacturing companies like Midea have already embraced automation to sharply reduce the number of humans needed

China’s factories are turning to automation to upgrade production lines, and at the same time prepare for fewer, higher-skilled workers

Chinese manufacturing companies like Midea have already embraced automation to sharply reduce the number of humans needed