China is the world’s most dominant power in automating its manufacturing — installing nearly 10 times as many robots in its factories as the United States, according to new data.
Last year, more than half a million industrial robots were put to work in global factories — with 54% of them in China alone.
According to the International Federation of Robotics, China, which is home to nearly a third of all global manufacturing capacity, installed 295,000 industrial robots, the highest annual total on record.
In the US, meanwhile, companies put to work just 34,200 robots last year, according to the World Robotics 2025 Report.
The 34,200 figure is 9% lower than the previous year, the report found.
For the first time, domestic Chinese suppliers outsold foreign competitors, capturing 57% of their home market.
China’s robot stock surpassed 2 million units, with growth expected to continue at about 10% annually through 2028.
Japan ranked second with 44,500 installations, followed by the US, South Korea and Germany.
Europe saw an overall decline of 8%, while the Americas were down 10%.
Looking ahead, IFR projects global installations will rise 6% in 2025 to 575,000 units, surpassing 700,000 by 2028 despite geopolitical and economic headwinds.
China’s robot surge is being powered by an extraordinary $1.9 trillion in state-directed industrial lending, as Beijing redirects capital away from real estate and into factories, the New York Times reported.
Across the country, new plants are being built nonstop while older ones are upgraded with automation, making China the only nation installing more factory robots than the rest of the world combined.
At Zeekr’s electric car plant in Ningbo, the robot count has jumped from 500 to 820 in just four years, with more on the way, according to the Times.
Similar upgrades are happening across industries, helping exports climb 13.3% in 2023 and another 17.3% in 2024.
Huawei alone has opened a massive Shanghai research center for 35,000 engineers, underscoring the scale of the country’s technology push.
Former US Trade Representative Katherine Tai warned that “the tsunami is coming for everyone” as Chinese exports flood global markets, threatening factory closures and layoffs worldwide.
Analysts say the surge threatens to shutter factories and wipe out jobs not just in the US but across Europe, Latin America and Asia, where manufacturers are already losing ground to cheaper Chinese goods.
Beijing’s vast industrial lending and dominance in automation have given its companies a decisive edge, leaving policymakers worldwide scrambling to raise tariffs or impose new trade barriers in a bid to protect what remains of their domestic industries.
President Trump has tried to blunt China’s robot-driven export surge with sweeping tariffs, raising duties on Chinese imports to as high as 125% in 2025, compared with about 10% for most other trading partners.
The tariffs — aimed at products tied to China’s automation and manufacturing boom — are designed to make Chinese goods more expensive in the US market, shield domestic industries and counter what the administration calls Beijing’s “unfair trade practices.”
China has retaliated with tariffs of its own, escalating the trade war.
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