According to the British "Daily Telegraph" report on the 12th, experts led by several senior executives of foreign companies, including the CEO of Ford, recently visited several smart manufacturing factories in China. It is said that these visitors from the West were "quite shocked" by China's technological progress.
According to reports, after visiting a new energy vehicle factory in China, Ford CEO Jim Farley expressed his interest in innovations in autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, facial recognition and other technologies. "China's production costs and vehicle quality far exceed those of Western manufacturers," Farley told the media.
Andrew Forrest, president of Australian mining giant Fortescue Metals Group, revealed that after coming to China, he decided not to engage in the production of electric vehicle powertrains within the company. "If you go around the factory, you will know that the entire production line is a big conveyor belt, and the parts are assembled piece by piece. After eight or nine hundred meters along the conveyor belt, you can see that a truck has been assembled, and it is all done by robots, not human hands." Frist told reporters.
Greg Jackson, the boss of Octopus Energy, the UK's largest electricity supplier, mentioned that
According to the British "Daily Telegraph" report on the 12th, experts led by several senior executives of foreign companies, including the CEO of Ford, recently visited several smart manufacturing factories in China. It is said that these visitors from the West were "quite shocked" by China's technological progress.
According to reports, after visiting a new energy vehicle factory in China, Ford CEO Jim Farley expressed his interest in innovations in autonomous driving, artificial intelligence, facial recognition and other technologies. "China's production costs and vehicle quality far exceed those of Western manufacturers," Farley told the media.
Andrew Forrest, president of Australian mining giant Fortescue Metals Group, revealed that after coming to China, he decided not to engage in the production of electric vehicle powertrains within the company. "If you go around the factory, you will know that the entire production line is a big conveyor belt, and the parts are assembled piece by piece. After eight or nine hundred meters along the conveyor belt, you can see that a truck has been assembled, and it is all done by robots, not human hands." Frist told reporters.
Greg Jackson, the boss of Octopus Energy, the UK's largest electricity supplier, mentioned that he once visited a "mobile phone factory with amazing output". Because this factory is completely operated by robots, it is actually a "black factory" - the kind that does not need to turn on the lights. "China's advantage has shifted from government subsidies and cheap labor to a large number of highly skilled and well-educated engineers who are working hard to innovate," Jackson said.
Regarding the reasons behind these achievements, the report quoted a report released by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), saying that the Chinese government is vigorously promoting automated production in various ways, resulting in China's industrial base undergoing earth-shaking high-tech transformation in the past decade. From 2014 to 2024, the use of industrial robots in China has soared from 189,000 units to more than 2 million units. The growth rate is really amazing.
The report mentioned that although some people will use "China's large population" to explain China's achievements, data shows that even based on population proportion, the number of robots used in China far exceeds that of the United States, Germany, Britain and other countries. Moreover, it is completely different from the "cheap Chinese products" perceived by Westerners in the past. Now the industry generally believes that China is already at the forefront of technology in many fields such as new energy vehicles, batteries, and drones.
Sander Toldol, a well-known economist at the Center for European Reform, pointed out that if they want to keep up with China's pace of innovation and maintain the momentum of manufacturing, Western countries must increase their investment in robotics technology. "Now that China has an advantage here, we have to catch up."
