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Recently, the Federation of Korean Industries released the “GlobalrobotIndustry and South Korea’s Influence” report, which shows that China’s robotics industry has surpassed South Korea’s competitiveness.

The Confederation of Korean Industries stated that the Chinese government is leading the intensive investment in the robotics industry, such as subsidizing R&D costs, and actively acquiring global robotics companies, with “Made in China 2025” andIndustry 4.0With the advancement of the grand plan, my country’s intelligent manufacturing level has developed very rapidly.

The “Korea Economy” also recently reported that a new batch of Chinese-made Robots featuring high-tech content are occupying the Korean market with their cost-effective advantages. At present, Korean production plants, logistics centers and restaurants are all Chinese robots.

Korea is ChinaIndustrial robotlargest overseas market

According to Korean media, China is one of the fastest growing countries in the robot industry in the world. Even if it is hit by the new crown pneumonia epidemic in 2020, the Chinese robot market has grown by 27.6%. In 2021, the output value of China’s Robot Industry may reach a scale of more than 120 billion yuan.

It is understood that due to the advantages of price competitiveness, Chinese robots have occupied the robot market in South Korea’s Industrial and service industries. Robots made in China are about 20% cheaper than those in South Korea, thanks to China’s strong support for the robot industry, including subsidies , tax reduction and other preferential measures.

In terms of industrial robots, it is reported that China’s industrial robots have developed rapidly, with an increase of more than 7 times from 2015 to 2020. At present, South Korea is China’s largest overseas market for industrial robots, accounting for about 15% in 2020.

Statistics show that about 60% of the robots responsible for transportation and movement on South Korean industrial production lines and logistics lines are made in China, and Chinese products are rapidly occupying the domestic robot market in South Korea.

existservice robotOn the other hand, commercial service robots made in China are also developing rapidly in South Korea, and have been widely used in catering, household cleaning, entertainment, helping the elderly and the disabled, and education.

Such as dining at restaurants over the past few years, it has become increasingly common for Koreans to see the service of robots that can order food or move around in restaurants that lack side dishes.Especially as the COVID-19 pandemic continues, social distancing has become commonplace and face-to-face contact has decreased.service robotThe number is increasing sharply.

“Seoul Economy” quoted analysts as saying that as China is focusing on cultivating artificial intelligence, big data and other related technologies to lead the fourth industrial revolution, it is expected that robots in China’s service field will also accelerate with the development of related technologies.

In addition, in terms of logistics robots, South Korea’s logistics machine industry has also been suppressed by China. It is estimated that more than 60% of the logistics robots introduced by major Korean companies are made in China. In this case, Korean companies have to focus on customized products. Robot services occupy the remaining market, but some Korean companies only use OEM methods to sell robots made in China in South Korea and become robot companies only responsible for after-sales maintenance services.

South Korea has an urgent need for robots

South Korea has always been a big country in the use of robots. As early as 2001 to 2011, the average annual growth rate of the total installed robots in South Korea was as high as 11.7%. It was six times the average usage density of industrial robots in the world at that time.

Therefore, South Korea attaches great importance to the robot industry. Since March 2008, the “smart robotAfter the Development and Popularization Promotion Law, a “Basic Plan for the Robot Industry” is formulated every five years to promote the development of the robot industry in a systematic manner.

In 2019, South Korea released a blueprint for the development of robot manufacturing, which shows that in the future, South Korea will simultaneously develop industrial and service robots, use robots to revitalize traditional industries, and seek to master the core technologies of hardware and software in the field of robotics. It is estimated that by 2025, the size of the Korean robot market will grow from 5.8 trillion won in 2018 to 20 trillion won (about 100.55 billion yuan).

The reason why South Korea attaches so much importance to robots is that its labor force has been reduced due to the continuous decline in its fertility rate. Data shows that South Korea’s total fertility rate in 2021 will only be 0.81, setting a record for the world’s lowest fertility rate, and then falling below the second quarter of 2022. to 0.75, completely falling into the “ultra-low fertility trap”.

Coleman, a professor of demography at Oxford University in the United Kingdom, even said that if South Korea’s fertility rate continues to decline, South Korea may become the first country on the planet to “disappear naturally”. Such a serious population problem will naturally have a huge impact on economic development. We can only pin our hopes on robots.

In February this year, the “Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership” (RCEP) officially entered into force for South Korea, which means South Korea will further expand trade relations. Industry as a future growth point, actively carry out related mergers and acquisitions and technology investment.

Not long ago, South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. said that it will realize the unmanned operation of major production bases in the world by 2030 at the earliest. Except for the minimum management personnel, the rest of the work will be replaced by robots and other automation equipment. The labor shortage caused by the decline.

Korean media pointed out that the unmanned factory is to use the technology of the fourth industrial revolution to improve production efficiency to cope with the problem of “difficult recruitment”. It is expected that more and more large Korean companies based on manufacturing will consider introducing unmanned factories. .