China’s Robots Can’t Do It All. They Need People
The push to automate manufacturing is accelerating. Beijing will have to do more for workers to catch up.
Made by robots.
Photographer: Akio KonLike most industrialized countries these days, China is contending with a shortage of skilled workers. A declining labor force and an urgent need to boost productivity has prompted Beijing to put forward a solution: install more industrial robots on factory floors. That, though, won’t cut it.
In a bid to spruce up production lines that can churn out higher-value goods, China’s Ministry of Industry and Information released the Robotics-plus Application plan last month. It had a clear target: double the industrial sector’s robot density by 2025, from 246 per 10,000 workers in 2020. The blueprint recommends widening the use of machines into areas like hydropower stations, wind farms and critical electricity systems.