Pudong to become a robotics hub
November 10, 2020 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
Shanghai’s Pudong New Area has announced a three-year plan to turn the district into a hub for robotics. Pudong, now home to over 100 industrial multinationals including ABB, CSG and FN Robotics, posted over CNY15 billion in industrial output in 2019. It hopes to reach CNY50 billion by 2023, making the district China’s leading center for robotics with a global influence, according to the plan. Pudong will back efforts in intelligent perception, human-computer interaction, brain-computer interface and other cutting-edge technologies. It will focus on health care, care of the elderly, rehabilitation, education and other fields. It hopes to lead technical innovation, create new applications with synergy, and build enterprise clusters as well as a dynamic industrial ecosystem. In particular, Pudong plans to develop two growing segments in the robotics field — medical robots and discrete manufacturing, said Guan Xiaojun, Deputy Director of Pudong.
The Zhangjiang AI Robot Valley will cover an area of 3.9 square kilometers and develop a robotic community covering the entire industry chain. Phase-one construction will focus on high-end medical robots and AI service robots. Right now, over 80 industrial firms, startups and innovation institutes involved in robotics, have settled down in Zhangjiang, generating an annual output of CNY11.7 billion. Fourier Intelligence makes exoskeleton robots for people with debilitating spinal injuries, allowing them to stand up. Funing Robotics developed the ophthalmic robot for sensitive eye surgeries, becoming the first in the world to totally replace doctors. MicroPort developed the laparoscopic surgical robot allowing surgeons to work with high-definition 3D views and smart robotic arms. It is the first domestically-developed surgical robot to be used in very difficult urologic surgery. “We’ve introduced many projects. They represent the latest fruits in the application of robots in life science,” said Yuan Tao, Chairman of Zhangjiang Group. Jodell Robotics is one of the newcomers to the valley. It is known for its invention of a robotic hand. Jodell’s Co-founder Zhang Wei said Zhangjiang’s rich industrial resources are very attractive, the Shanghai Daily reports.
Shanghai has been voted as the favorite city for foreigners on the Chinese mainland for the eighth consecutive year, according to the “2019 Amazing China – the Most Attractive Chinese Cities for Foreigners” survey. Shanghai was followed by Beijing, Shenzhen, Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Hefei, Nanjing, Chengdu, Qingdao and Suzhou. Shanghai has 215,000 foreigners working in the city, 23.7% of the country’s total.
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