BEIJING: China’s emergence as a leader in the global robotics industry has been put on vivid display at the ongoing World Robot Conference 2024 held in Beijing, where Chinese companies showed their latest technologies and advanced products designed for a wide range of areas from manufacturing to healthcare.
At the conference, many Chinese and foreign industry leaders highlighted China’s remarkable achievements in the robotics industry, as it has been the world’s biggest industrial robot market for 11 consecutive years. They also noted the vast potential in growing application scenarios that will create huge opportunities for cooperation.
As part of its broader push for technological innovation and new quality productive forces, China will continue to strengthen research and development in the robotics industry, which will in turn help accelerate the digitalization transition and boost high-quality development, experts said on Thursday.
The World Robot Conference 2024 officially kicked off in Beijing on Wednesday and will run through Sunday. In the exhibition halls of the conference, the vitality of the Chinese robotics industry is palpable, as a slew of Chinese start-ups are showcasing their latest technologies and products. At the booth of Chinese firm Longwood Valley MedTech, robot arms were demonstrating how to assist doctors on conducting osteotomy surgery.
Zhao Xin, marketing manager of surgical robot company Longwood Valley, told the Global Times that robots are more precise in cutting bones compared with doctors, with errors within sub-millimeter range. At present, the robot arms set has been permitted to sell as medical equipment, and some large hospitals have put the set into clinic trial, said Zhao.
Another Chinese firm MedBot showed a robotic endoscope surgery machine, through which operator can control the robot arms from a nearby console to perform minimally invasive surgery.
A representative from the company told the Global Times that with the help of 5G technology, doctors can perform remote surgeries across provinces and cities, and many hospitals have already purchased the equipment.
These are just some examples of advanced robots manufactured by Chinese companies, with many incorporating emerging technologies in which the country has become a leader, including 5G and artificial intelligence (AI), experts said.
Juha Röning, vice president of euRobotics and professor of embedded system at the University of Oulu in Finland, said the development of China’s robotics industry is promising, attributing the positive trend to academic collaboration and sufficient talented researchers. –The Daily Mail-Global Times news exchange item
