“It will change the world”: the machine revolution that is brewing in China and goes far beyond humanoid robots

Without a doubt, your world does change. The 28-year-old stays up to date with the latest technologies by spending his free time visiting factories that are embracing automation. That way you know what aspects you should prioritize when teaching your classes on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics.

In front of him, about 30 university students study programming. One of them types frantically while alternating his gaze between the screen and the robot:

“The idea is to take that cylindrical piece and move it there,” he points out.

A row of industrial robots waits to be programmed, and in another part of the classroom, students are trying to develop robotic medical instruments. As he guides them, Chen declares:

“If the world of AI and robotics doesn’t need them, then they will definitely be among those to be replaced.”

For the people in this room, this represents a step, or rather a leap, toward a future that China is meticulously building: Xi Jinping’s $20 billion plan to put his country at the forefront of innovation and in direct competition with the United States.

The evidence is everywhere.

They are located at the Hangzhou Technical Institute, one of several huge vocational schools built specifically to train the next generation of tech-savvy engineers.

The campus is located on the outskirts of Hangzhou, a former imperial capital whose futuristic horizon is just the first clue to its role as a global technology center.

Nationwide, more than two million robots work in factories, more than anywhere else in the world, and their numbers continue to grow at an extraordinary rate.

The evidence

This is a gamble that will surely change the world, much like the last time the Chinese economy underwent a massive transformation.

China is already exporting its robots all over the planet: more than half of the world’s industrial robots are currently manufactured in the country.

What is less clear is the impact of such extensive automation in a country that occupies a central place in global manufacturing, trade and innovation.

What does this mean, for example, for the Chinese workforce? And how could we really measure the cost of this transformation in a regime that controls information so tightly?

The future of Chinese workers is uncertain amid the industrial revolution the world is watching: impressive solar grids, quiet peak hours thanks to electric vehicles and machines that run faster than Usain Bolt.

Over the weekend, China hosted the second edition of the World Humanoid Games, in which robots boxed, ran and paraded.

Fueling this spectacle is another, less visible revolution happening inside factories and classrooms.

The BBC has visited industrial facilities where it was shown robots that do not look human, nor do they dance or jump on stages, but rather weld, paint, lift loads, assemble parts and work twenty-four hours a day without breaks or work benefits.

Some are even designed to build more robots. We have also toured academies where China trains the people who will work alongside this robotic workforce.

It is an insider’s view of what Xi calls China’s “new productive forces” and how they could change the country.

In a factory in the southern city of Chengdu, the old and the new work hand in hand.

An assembly line of about 30 middle-aged men and women screws, drills and polishes CRP Technology’s flagship product: a robotic arm capable of performing various industrial tasks.

In the same room, four young engineers are grouped around a console trying to solve the challenges of a prototype, a new robot that they hope will help build other robots.

One of them is Pang Kai, 31, a member of the research and development team. Push the robotic structure across the room. The reason is that China’s future workforce is not yet ready to work on its own. For now, you can only perform simple repetitive movements, such as scanning a QR code.

“Maybe in another six months I can do another task,” Pang says with a smile.

The road is long and the team celebrates every small progress.

CRP Technology, which employs about 300 people, has been manufacturing robotic arms for nine years.

Each can be tailored to the specific needs of a factory to assist in the production of automobiles, electronic components or wind turbines. The company claims that a single arm can be programmed to perform more than 90% of repetitive tasks.

The usual questions

Engineers also wonder if they will one day be able to replace the company’s own staff.

“We want our new robot to be like a human being. We hope it can think for itself,” Pang says.

And he adds: “We need these types of robots because perhaps in ten years we will not have enough workers in China.”

A declining population and aging workforce are other reasons why Beijing is in a hurry to revolutionize its factories. According to official estimates, by 2035 more than a third of China’s population will be over 60 years old.

Furthermore, some estimates indicate that the country will lose nearly 60 million inhabitants over the next decade, a figure almost equivalent to the population of France.

The hope is that increased automation will cover this job shortfall before it severely impacts an economy already showing signs of slowing. However, the speed of the transition is crucial.

Approximately 120 million people continue to work in the manufacturing sector. If China moves too quickly, job losses could deal a catastrophic blow to millions of people who depend on factory wages.

“In theory, the machines can work 24 hours a day, which is undoubtedly an advantage over human workers. But they also require maintenance. Every day we must dedicate time to that and, every month, the production line needs inspections and repairs,” explains Cao Li, vice president of electric vehicle manufacturer Leapmotor.

Increasingly popular in Europe, the company’s affordable, highly technological cars are assembled at the Hangzhou factory with the help of robots at every stage of the process. At the end of the production line, more human workers appear again.

The company has more than 25,000 employees and hundreds of them perform final checks as newly manufactured vehicles move down the line. Will the day come when they are no longer necessary?

“It’s totally possible,” Cao responds.

“And it can happen relatively soon. In stamping, welding and painting shops, we have basically reached 100% automation.” duck.

The Chinese advantage

China has an advantage over the US thanks to its huge manufacturing base. Motors, batteries, electronics, gears and sensors: everything you need to build a robot body is at your fingertips.

“China also has an idea. It has a plan. It knows where it wants to be in five years. They plan at a central level, but they break down the objectives to the regions and municipalities,” Dr. Susanne Bieller, secretary general of the International Federation of Robotics, explains to the BBC.

“If you want to build a robot in Shenzhen, there is a whole ecosystem. It takes less than an hour to get the necessary components to manufacture it. In Europe it can take up to a week,” he adds.

However, he recognizes that, although China is very good at building the “body” of robots, the US continues to lead the creation of the “brain”, which includes the development of the artificial intelligence that programs them.

Still, Chinese companies like DeepSeek and Moonshot have introduced new AI models that they say can compete with the best ones developed in the US.

Driven by an “open source” approach, in which AI startups share their programming, Chinese innovation has managed to advance faster than expected, despite US controls on the export of critical advanced chips.

Analysts now believe that the next phase of this race will not depend on who has the best language model, but on who manages to integrate that intelligence into millions of machines.

And that is why China is also investing in training a generation of students capable of imagining what will come next.

At the Hangzhou Technical Institute, for example, young people can begin their training from the age of 15.

And the magnitude of what is taught there can be astonishing. There is an entire building dedicated to engines and aeronautics, as well as a restricted plant for students who will work on keeping China at the forefront of processing rare earths, another key strategic resource in the competition with Washington.

This is seen by some as a solution to China’s persistently high youth unemployment rate, where one in five young people struggle to find work.

“Our students are in high demand and companies even book them before they finish their studies. They don’t need to worry at all about finding a job, and we organize competitions as part of their training,” says Chen.

“It is better to find your place within the technological wave. In every process of progress, structural changes inevitably occur, and precisely in these changes are the future job opportunities for students.”

However, China continues to face serious economic challenges, from a continuing housing crisis to massive local government debt and persistently weak consumption.

It is not clear if or how the revolution Beijing is promoting will solve these problems, and it is also difficult to gauge how those whose jobs could be threatened by the coming changes feel. Will robots create prosperity for them or simply replace many of their jobs?

“My students ask me what will happen in the future,” Chen says.

“And I tell them that I don’t know. Technology is changing too quickly. But we can’t stay still or sleep here. We have to keep moving forward to discover what we are capable of,” he concludes.