Chinese students are so intelligent.
Reinventing the Nation: Made in China 2025
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Chinese students are so intelligent.
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AI to spur R&D in service robot industry
By Liu Zheng (chinadaily.com.cn)
October 22, 2016, 12:09 am TWN
Some voices in the industry reckoned that thanks to developments in the internet around the world, the R&D growth rate of AI robots will be faster than people's expectations, and we will witness a boom in the industry similar to the rise of the smartphone sector, in a very short period.
"AI is recognized as a new subject and cutting-edge technology, fusing computer science, psychology and even philosophy, to stimulate, learn and expand the intelligence of human beings in solving language and image recognition and natural language processing," said Zhuang Yongjun, chief technology officer of Qihan Technology Co Ltd.
Qihan participated in this year's World Robots Conference (WRC) 2016 held in Beijing, demonstrating the company's service robot named Sanbot, which is able to interact with users through voice control and facial recognition.
"The new tech has been deployed in a variety of industries, including voice identification and physical object recognition," Zhuang said. "Due to the complexity of algorithms, which are associated with large amounts of data mining, the implementation of AI relies heavily on the internet to conduct cloud computing to achieve performance."
Zhuang noted that the R&D abilities of Chinese robot manufacturers have become more and more strong and technology-driven companies have mushroomed in the country in recent years.
"The more things the hardware is able to do, the greater the demand for AI will be," said Zhuang.
Since its establishment in 2006, the Shenzhen-based company has become a global leading CCTV surveillance equipment and solutions provider.
The company currently owns more than 100 patents based on Machine Vision Recognition, Multi-axis Automatic Control, and Big Data Analysis.
In a recent published report by the White House entitled "National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan", China was described as a nation that has overtaken the US in terms of the number of journal articles that mention "deep learning" or "deep neural network", which are core subjects in the AI R&D development process.
Zhuang said that existing AI technologies used in robots focus on voice and image recognition, and the algorithms behind the applications have close relevance to "deep learning".
"Chinese enterprises who specialized in voice recognition, semantics understanding and image identification have performed very well in recent years. Some of the leading companies in the country have also ascended to top positions worldwide," said Zhuang. "Chinese companies' enthusiasm about AI has overtaken imaginations of some developed countries."
But he added that many algorithms were originally published by overseas engineers and the R&D of a large number of AI applications had drawn lessons from overseas counterparts.
Statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) show that the market demand for service robots will boom in the next three years, with the market scale reaching $46 billion, up more than 6 times that in 2015.
"Medical assistant robots, elder-care robots and education assistant robots will be some of the core segment markets in the future," Zhuang said.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/china-business/2016/10/22/481721/AI-to.htm
By Liu Zheng (chinadaily.com.cn)
October 22, 2016, 12:09 am TWN
Some voices in the industry reckoned that thanks to developments in the internet around the world, the R&D growth rate of AI robots will be faster than people's expectations, and we will witness a boom in the industry similar to the rise of the smartphone sector, in a very short period.
"AI is recognized as a new subject and cutting-edge technology, fusing computer science, psychology and even philosophy, to stimulate, learn and expand the intelligence of human beings in solving language and image recognition and natural language processing," said Zhuang Yongjun, chief technology officer of Qihan Technology Co Ltd.
Qihan participated in this year's World Robots Conference (WRC) 2016 held in Beijing, demonstrating the company's service robot named Sanbot, which is able to interact with users through voice control and facial recognition.
"The new tech has been deployed in a variety of industries, including voice identification and physical object recognition," Zhuang said. "Due to the complexity of algorithms, which are associated with large amounts of data mining, the implementation of AI relies heavily on the internet to conduct cloud computing to achieve performance."
Zhuang noted that the R&D abilities of Chinese robot manufacturers have become more and more strong and technology-driven companies have mushroomed in the country in recent years.
"The more things the hardware is able to do, the greater the demand for AI will be," said Zhuang.
Since its establishment in 2006, the Shenzhen-based company has become a global leading CCTV surveillance equipment and solutions provider.
The company currently owns more than 100 patents based on Machine Vision Recognition, Multi-axis Automatic Control, and Big Data Analysis.
In a recent published report by the White House entitled "National Artificial Intelligence Research and Development Strategic Plan", China was described as a nation that has overtaken the US in terms of the number of journal articles that mention "deep learning" or "deep neural network", which are core subjects in the AI R&D development process.
Zhuang said that existing AI technologies used in robots focus on voice and image recognition, and the algorithms behind the applications have close relevance to "deep learning".
"Chinese enterprises who specialized in voice recognition, semantics understanding and image identification have performed very well in recent years. Some of the leading companies in the country have also ascended to top positions worldwide," said Zhuang. "Chinese companies' enthusiasm about AI has overtaken imaginations of some developed countries."
But he added that many algorithms were originally published by overseas engineers and the R&D of a large number of AI applications had drawn lessons from overseas counterparts.
Statistics from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR) show that the market demand for service robots will boom in the next three years, with the market scale reaching $46 billion, up more than 6 times that in 2015.
"Medical assistant robots, elder-care robots and education assistant robots will be some of the core segment markets in the future," Zhuang said.
http://www.chinapost.com.tw/china/china-business/2016/10/22/481721/AI-to.htm
AndrewJin
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Let's wait for the new PISA results to be released soon.
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'Core tech needed' for robotics
China Daily, October 22, 2016
A robot draws a portrait at an industry expo held in Beijing on Friday. [Photo / China Daily]
Long-term commitments to core technologies and closer ties with artificial intelligence firms are needed to make robots more intelligent and flexible, as China ramps up resources to upgrade its labor-intensive manufacturing with technological innovation, experts said on Friday.
Zhao Jie, a mechanic professor at Harbin Institute of Technology, a top engineering university in China, said China's robot industry is growing rapidly, but it is still bottlenecked by domestic robot maker's lack of competence to mass-produce reliable key robot parts, such as speed reducers.
"Most of components are still imported from foreign countries, which increases the cost of robots," Zhao said at a robot conference in Beijing.
Also, lack of well-known brands is limiting the development of the domestic robot sector, he added.
China became the world's biggest market for industrial robots in 2013, surpassing Japan, according to the International Federation of Robotics. But for every 10,000 employees, there are still only 36 robots in China, compared with 478 in South Korea, 292 in Germany and 164 in the United States in 2014.
Amid surging labor costs, the robotics federation estimates that China will likely to usher in more than one-third of the industrial robots installed worldwide in 2018, more than doubling over the next two years from 262, 900 currently to 614,200.
Michael Wang, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said that with advances in technology, robots would become increasingly affordable and what really mattered was how to expand various application scenarios.
"Currently, most robotic arms are deployed in the automotive industry, whose products are highly standardized," Wang said.
"But when it comes to the consumer electronics sector, robots are still not smart enough to assemble smartphones, which require the flexibility of human hands. That is the direction robot makers should move forward."
China earlier this year unveiled plans to triple its annual output of industrial robots to 100,000 in five years, which prompted investors to pour money into the booming industry.
Heavyweights such as Siasun Robot & Automation Co — China's largest robot maker by market value — and startups are all joining in.
Li Boji, deputy chief engineer at GSK CNC Equipment Co Ltd, a major robot maker in China, said the robot industry was more complicated than the smartphone sector, with far more components and technologies involved. "Any breakthrough demands long-term efforts. Shortsighted strategies will lead to failure," Li said.
Zhao, from Harbin Institute of Technology, agreed. "The robot industry is investment-intensive, highly risky and of slow-return," he said.
"Investors need to remain calm and have a clear mind. More efforts are needed to focus on scientific research."
China Daily, October 22, 2016
A robot draws a portrait at an industry expo held in Beijing on Friday. [Photo / China Daily]
Long-term commitments to core technologies and closer ties with artificial intelligence firms are needed to make robots more intelligent and flexible, as China ramps up resources to upgrade its labor-intensive manufacturing with technological innovation, experts said on Friday.
Zhao Jie, a mechanic professor at Harbin Institute of Technology, a top engineering university in China, said China's robot industry is growing rapidly, but it is still bottlenecked by domestic robot maker's lack of competence to mass-produce reliable key robot parts, such as speed reducers.
"Most of components are still imported from foreign countries, which increases the cost of robots," Zhao said at a robot conference in Beijing.
Also, lack of well-known brands is limiting the development of the domestic robot sector, he added.
China became the world's biggest market for industrial robots in 2013, surpassing Japan, according to the International Federation of Robotics. But for every 10,000 employees, there are still only 36 robots in China, compared with 478 in South Korea, 292 in Germany and 164 in the United States in 2014.
Amid surging labor costs, the robotics federation estimates that China will likely to usher in more than one-third of the industrial robots installed worldwide in 2018, more than doubling over the next two years from 262, 900 currently to 614,200.
Michael Wang, professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, said that with advances in technology, robots would become increasingly affordable and what really mattered was how to expand various application scenarios.
"Currently, most robotic arms are deployed in the automotive industry, whose products are highly standardized," Wang said.
"But when it comes to the consumer electronics sector, robots are still not smart enough to assemble smartphones, which require the flexibility of human hands. That is the direction robot makers should move forward."
China earlier this year unveiled plans to triple its annual output of industrial robots to 100,000 in five years, which prompted investors to pour money into the booming industry.
Heavyweights such as Siasun Robot & Automation Co — China's largest robot maker by market value — and startups are all joining in.
Li Boji, deputy chief engineer at GSK CNC Equipment Co Ltd, a major robot maker in China, said the robot industry was more complicated than the smartphone sector, with far more components and technologies involved. "Any breakthrough demands long-term efforts. Shortsighted strategies will lead to failure," Li said.
Zhao, from Harbin Institute of Technology, agreed. "The robot industry is investment-intensive, highly risky and of slow-return," he said.
"Investors need to remain calm and have a clear mind. More efforts are needed to focus on scientific research."
AndrewJin
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AndrewJin
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They are not pets dude!
They are designed for water quality surveillance.....
onebyone
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Luo Binyi, right, and Peng Zhihui, second right, pose for photos with Ares, a humanoid bipedal robot they helped design with funding from a Shanghai investment company, displayed during the World Robot Conference in Beijing, China, Oct. 20, 2016.
AP PHOTO/NOMAAN MERCHANT
BEIJING — The Canbot can say its name, respond to voice commands, and “dance” as it plays Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean.” Other robots China is displaying at the World Robot Conference can play badminton, sand cell phone cases and sort computer chips.
China is showcasing its burgeoning robot industry at the five-day exhibition in Beijing, part of a national effort to promote use of more advanced technologies in Chinese factories and create high-end products that redefine the meaning of “Made in China.”
Play VIDEO
Artificial Intelligence, real-life applications
Apart from the cool factor, China’s sweeping plans to upgrade its factories and production lines depend on building and better using advanced robots. Automation is crucial for industries facing rising labor costs and slowing growth in the work force thanks to the “one-child” policy era andaging of the population.
China will have to make big strides to leap ahead of Germany, Japan and other nations whose robots are generations ahead.
Infinities International Group, based in eastern China’s Shandong, advertises its Canbot U-Partner as a service robot that could be programmed to run in shopping malls, restaurants and banks. But it’s modeled on the “Pepper” robot made by Japan’s SoftBank.
Nearby, Peng Zhihui and Luo Binyi stood with “Ares,” a human-sized robot they designed with exposed metal arms and hands and a wide range of uses in mind, from the military to performing basic tasks in a home.
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35 PHOTOS
Robots programmed to save the world
Peng and Luo, both 24, developed the mannequin-like Ares while attending college in southwestern China’s Sichuan province. A Shanghai investment company pitched in some funding.
“Many robots aren’t very useful right now, but will show their true value when they are used in homes in the future,” Peng said.
Thousands of factories in southern China’s industrial centers which long were manned by low-cost migrant workers, are now turning to robots. China has become the world’s top consumer of industrial robots and will soon have the most commercial robots in operation of any country. Foxconn, the Taiwanese firm that assembles Apple’s iPhones in China, has installed 40,000 robots in its factories.
China made robotics a focal point of its recent “Made in China 2025” plan, and has set national goals of producing 100,000 industrial robots a year and having 150 robots in operation for every 10,000 employees by 2020, a figure known as robot density. Currently, China ranks 28th in the world for robot density, behind Portugal and Indonesia. Chinese suppliers sold about 20,000 robots last year to local companies.
Play VIDEO
Humanoid robot is powered by neural network
“There has never been such a dynamic rise in such a short period of time in any other market,” the International Federation of Robotics said in an analysis of China’s robot industry published earlier this year.
Steve Wyatt, head of sales and marketing for Switzerland-based ABB Robotics, said his company employs more than 1,600 people in China and has seen its sales in China grow by a factor of 50.
But the country remains behind in terms of the complexity of tasks Chinese-made robots can handle, Wyatt said.
Chinese appliance maker Midea Group recently announced it was purchasing almost all of German industrial robot manufacturer Kuka.
Wing Chu, a senior economist at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, said China will continue to seek foreign expertise to advance in robotics as part of a broader effort to transform its economy.
“In the longer term, China wants to upgrade all its industries,” he said.
© 2016 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
http://www.cbsnews.com/news/robots-are-key-to-chinas-strategy-to-surpass-rivals/
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Robot named after philosopher shows calligraphy
(Chinanews.com) 09:22, October 25, 2016
A humanoid robot that looks like Wang Yangming of Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644) writes Chinese calligraphy at the World Robot Conference 2016 in Beijing, Oct. 24, 2016. Wang was a philosopher, official, and calligraphist during the Ming dynasty. With the theme "Win-Win Collaborative Innovation Toward the Building of an Intelligent Society," the five-day WRC2016 has drawn nearly 150 robotics companies from across the world. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Guanguan)
A humanoid robot that looks like Wang Yangming of Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644) writes Chinese calligraphy at the World Robot Conference 2016 in Beijing, Oct. 24, 2016. Wang was a philosopher, official, and calligraphist during the Ming dynasty. With the theme "Win-Win Collaborative Innovation Toward the Building of an Intelligent Society," the five-day WRC2016 has drawn nearly 150 robotics companies from across the world. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Guanguan)
A humanoid robot that looks like Wang Yangming of Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644) writes Chinese calligraphy at the World Robot Conference 2016 in Beijing, Oct. 24, 2016. Wang was a philosopher, official, and calligraphist during the Ming dynasty. With the theme "Win-Win Collaborative Innovation Toward the Building of an Intelligent Society," the five-day WRC2016 has drawn nearly 150 robotics companies from across the world. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Guanguan)
(Chinanews.com) 09:22, October 25, 2016
A humanoid robot that looks like Wang Yangming of Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644) writes Chinese calligraphy at the World Robot Conference 2016 in Beijing, Oct. 24, 2016. Wang was a philosopher, official, and calligraphist during the Ming dynasty. With the theme "Win-Win Collaborative Innovation Toward the Building of an Intelligent Society," the five-day WRC2016 has drawn nearly 150 robotics companies from across the world. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Guanguan)
A humanoid robot that looks like Wang Yangming of Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644) writes Chinese calligraphy at the World Robot Conference 2016 in Beijing, Oct. 24, 2016. Wang was a philosopher, official, and calligraphist during the Ming dynasty. With the theme "Win-Win Collaborative Innovation Toward the Building of an Intelligent Society," the five-day WRC2016 has drawn nearly 150 robotics companies from across the world. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Guanguan)
A humanoid robot that looks like Wang Yangming of Ming Dynasty (1368 -1644) writes Chinese calligraphy at the World Robot Conference 2016 in Beijing, Oct. 24, 2016. Wang was a philosopher, official, and calligraphist during the Ming dynasty. With the theme "Win-Win Collaborative Innovation Toward the Building of an Intelligent Society," the five-day WRC2016 has drawn nearly 150 robotics companies from across the world. (Photo: China News Service/Liu Guanguan)
ways China's businesses are evolving from imitation to innovation
By Bruce McKern, The Conversation | Business Insider – 2 hours 29 minutes ago
Most of us use products made in China every day and are aware of its growing economic power as a factory to the world. But China intends to become a developed nation by mid-century and integral to this ambition is its intense focus on innovation.
In a very few decades, Chinese companies had evolved from imitators to imaginative and effective innovators.
As part of my research with my colleague George Yip on this issue, we identified three key phases in China’s development:
Chinese companies now pose a challenge to established multinationals, as they enter the markets of the developed world to become insiders.
Since China’s former leader, Deng Xiaoping, implemented market-oriented economic reforms to China in 1979-80, the driving forces of this transformation have been the customer and the culture. Chinese customers have an insatiable and rapidly growing demand for products, as the large, diverse population seeks better lives. This has stimulated many companies to develop affordable products for those needs. And a culture of entrepreneurship in the business sector has been facilitated by a far-sighted government with a strong drive for independence and economic development.
The Chinese government has fostered an innovation ecosystem across the country, consisting of some 100 science and technology parks, universities and government research institutions, which provide support for new enterprises. The Chinese government and business invested some US$190 billion in research and development in 2013, which is around 40% of the annual R&D investment in the United States.
China’s research and development expenditure represents just over 2% of its GDP, which is slightly more as a share of GDP than that of Western Europe. The government’s priority for technological development is matched by the entrepreneurial spirit and drive of Chinese entrepreneurs.
From copying to fit for purpose
In the first phase of development, Chinese companies started by copying products and processes from Western firms or producing components for the supply chains of multinational corporations. Chinese suppliers to multinationals were forced by their business partners to achieve high standards of quality at low cost.
While demand from domestic consumers was initially for very cheap products, Chinese producers quickly learned to develop products that were “good enough”, combining fitness for purpose with low cost. For example, an enterprising start-up created the “Apple Peel”, a component which the customer could combine with an iPod Touch, turning it into a mobile phone, very much like an iPhone.
Contrary to the low level of competition in China’s state-owned sector, private companies operated in sectors that were more open and competitive. Chinese firms’ better understanding of local customers enabled them over time to compete effectively with multinationals in the Chinese market.
Although local firms lacked the research and development capabilities of foreign companies, they were helped to innovate by the extensive technology network and innovation ecosystem developed by the Chinese government. With the experience they gained in satisfying customer demands and dealing with intense competition, Chinese firms were also able to diversify into other markets and more advanced products.
An example of this is Joyoung, a Hangzhou-based domestic appliance company, which began as the inventor of an appliance that makes soy milk, later copied by many others (including foreign firms). Joyoung built on its success with its soy milk appliance to become a large diversified maker of small household appliances.
This competitive experience in the fast-growing markets of China led Chinese firms to the second phase in their evolution.
From followers to world standard
In this phase, Chinese firms ambitiously set their sights on achieving global standards, particularly those companies active in export markets, such as the domestic appliance firm Haier.
Haier from the beginning was focused on innovation and is now the biggest company by sale revenue in the appliance sector. A legendary innovation of Haier’s is a washing machine that washes potatoes as well as clothes, which was in response to a need from farmers.
Many of China’s companies have now reached global standards of quality. However, very few have strong brands that are recognised outside China. This is one of the reasons for the third phase in their evolution.
From seeking new resources to seeking new knowledge
Building on the capabilities they developed in the domestic market, coupled with the cash generated by their successes, Chinese businesses are now moving outside China.
In contrast to the earlier expansion of Chinese firms investing abroad in petroleum and other natural resources, this third phase is very much about exploiting innovation developed at home and applying it to the consumer and industrial markets of the West.
Chinese businesses are seeking brands, market access and technologies that may be missing from their home-developed portfolios. Their entries into foreign markets are often by acquisition, and European firms (particularly German middle-sized companies) have been popular targets.
Others have set up research and development centres in the United States and Europe, located in centres of innovation such as Silicon Valley. A good example is the telecoms equipment and smartphone maker Huawei.
Over many years of international expansion, Huawei has developed a global network of 16 research and development institutes and 36 joint customer innovation centres. Huawei and the other major Chinese telecoms company ZTE are consistently among the top 10 patent filers each year in the international patent system (PCT) application process.
Chinese lessons in business management
Chinese firms have also adopted a number of management practices that are less common in the West. Our research identified ten of these, ranging from deep understanding of their customers, rapid decision-making, rapid prototyping and learning from mistakes, to a ready willingness to deploy extensive resources to innovate.
While these are not of themselves particularly new, they are a source of competitive advantage in the Chinese environment, where foreign companies have not applied them consistently.
Foreign companies have much to learn from China, as it is becoming a leading market for the world. They can develop in China capabilities that they may have neglected, including bold experimentation, speedy implementation, new product category creation, focus on “lean value” and developing mixed teams and global leaders.
There is a tidal wave of competition approaching the developed world from China. The best way multinationals can prepare themselves for this is by participating directly in the Chinese innovation ecosystem.
Bruce McKern an Honorary Professor in the Business School of the University of Sydney and Recently Visiting Fellow at Hoover Institution, Stanford University and Oxford University.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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By Bruce McKern, The Conversation | Business Insider – 2 hours 29 minutes ago
Most of us use products made in China every day and are aware of its growing economic power as a factory to the world. But China intends to become a developed nation by mid-century and integral to this ambition is its intense focus on innovation.
In a very few decades, Chinese companies had evolved from imitators to imaginative and effective innovators.
As part of my research with my colleague George Yip on this issue, we identified three key phases in China’s development:
- From copying to fit for purpose
- From followers to world standard
- From seeking new resources to seeking new knowledge
Chinese companies now pose a challenge to established multinationals, as they enter the markets of the developed world to become insiders.
Since China’s former leader, Deng Xiaoping, implemented market-oriented economic reforms to China in 1979-80, the driving forces of this transformation have been the customer and the culture. Chinese customers have an insatiable and rapidly growing demand for products, as the large, diverse population seeks better lives. This has stimulated many companies to develop affordable products for those needs. And a culture of entrepreneurship in the business sector has been facilitated by a far-sighted government with a strong drive for independence and economic development.
The Chinese government has fostered an innovation ecosystem across the country, consisting of some 100 science and technology parks, universities and government research institutions, which provide support for new enterprises. The Chinese government and business invested some US$190 billion in research and development in 2013, which is around 40% of the annual R&D investment in the United States.
China’s research and development expenditure represents just over 2% of its GDP, which is slightly more as a share of GDP than that of Western Europe. The government’s priority for technological development is matched by the entrepreneurial spirit and drive of Chinese entrepreneurs.
From copying to fit for purpose
In the first phase of development, Chinese companies started by copying products and processes from Western firms or producing components for the supply chains of multinational corporations. Chinese suppliers to multinationals were forced by their business partners to achieve high standards of quality at low cost.
While demand from domestic consumers was initially for very cheap products, Chinese producers quickly learned to develop products that were “good enough”, combining fitness for purpose with low cost. For example, an enterprising start-up created the “Apple Peel”, a component which the customer could combine with an iPod Touch, turning it into a mobile phone, very much like an iPhone.
Contrary to the low level of competition in China’s state-owned sector, private companies operated in sectors that were more open and competitive. Chinese firms’ better understanding of local customers enabled them over time to compete effectively with multinationals in the Chinese market.
Although local firms lacked the research and development capabilities of foreign companies, they were helped to innovate by the extensive technology network and innovation ecosystem developed by the Chinese government. With the experience they gained in satisfying customer demands and dealing with intense competition, Chinese firms were also able to diversify into other markets and more advanced products.
An example of this is Joyoung, a Hangzhou-based domestic appliance company, which began as the inventor of an appliance that makes soy milk, later copied by many others (including foreign firms). Joyoung built on its success with its soy milk appliance to become a large diversified maker of small household appliances.
This competitive experience in the fast-growing markets of China led Chinese firms to the second phase in their evolution.
From followers to world standard
In this phase, Chinese firms ambitiously set their sights on achieving global standards, particularly those companies active in export markets, such as the domestic appliance firm Haier.
Haier from the beginning was focused on innovation and is now the biggest company by sale revenue in the appliance sector. A legendary innovation of Haier’s is a washing machine that washes potatoes as well as clothes, which was in response to a need from farmers.
Many of China’s companies have now reached global standards of quality. However, very few have strong brands that are recognised outside China. This is one of the reasons for the third phase in their evolution.
From seeking new resources to seeking new knowledge
Building on the capabilities they developed in the domestic market, coupled with the cash generated by their successes, Chinese businesses are now moving outside China.
In contrast to the earlier expansion of Chinese firms investing abroad in petroleum and other natural resources, this third phase is very much about exploiting innovation developed at home and applying it to the consumer and industrial markets of the West.
Chinese businesses are seeking brands, market access and technologies that may be missing from their home-developed portfolios. Their entries into foreign markets are often by acquisition, and European firms (particularly German middle-sized companies) have been popular targets.
Others have set up research and development centres in the United States and Europe, located in centres of innovation such as Silicon Valley. A good example is the telecoms equipment and smartphone maker Huawei.
Over many years of international expansion, Huawei has developed a global network of 16 research and development institutes and 36 joint customer innovation centres. Huawei and the other major Chinese telecoms company ZTE are consistently among the top 10 patent filers each year in the international patent system (PCT) application process.
Chinese lessons in business management
Chinese firms have also adopted a number of management practices that are less common in the West. Our research identified ten of these, ranging from deep understanding of their customers, rapid decision-making, rapid prototyping and learning from mistakes, to a ready willingness to deploy extensive resources to innovate.
While these are not of themselves particularly new, they are a source of competitive advantage in the Chinese environment, where foreign companies have not applied them consistently.
Foreign companies have much to learn from China, as it is becoming a leading market for the world. They can develop in China capabilities that they may have neglected, including bold experimentation, speedy implementation, new product category creation, focus on “lean value” and developing mixed teams and global leaders.
There is a tidal wave of competition approaching the developed world from China. The best way multinationals can prepare themselves for this is by participating directly in the Chinese innovation ecosystem.
Bruce McKern an Honorary Professor in the Business School of the University of Sydney and Recently Visiting Fellow at Hoover Institution, Stanford University and Oxford University.
This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.
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AndrewJin
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BEIJING - "Please do not stand too close or my pretty face will be too big in your photos," Jia Jia told her "fans" at the 2016 World Robot Conference in Beijing.
Jia Jia is a typical oriental beauty with shiny hair, bright skin, a slender figure and a tender voice. More importantly, as China's latest interactive robot, she is considerate and humorous.
Aside from Jia Jia, many other robots have delighted the audience during the five-day robot conference that closed this week, such as humanoid robots that can read emotions or write traditional Chinese calligraphy, and robots that can perform medical operations, wait at tables or work in factories.
"If asked to use one word to describe the development of China's robotics industry, I would choose 'explosion,'" said Zhao Jie, director of the Robotics Institute of Harbin Institute of Technology.
Zhao said thousands of companies were established in dozens of robot industrial parks across China, with the number of employees growing rapidly.
China's robot shipments topped 68,000 sets last year, accounting for 26.7 percent of the global market. Asia has become world's largest supplier of industrial robots, taking up 60 percent of the global market.
According to the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), about 75 percent of shipments in the past five years were from China, the Republic of Korea, Japan, the United States and Germany. The average growth of China's robot market over the period stood at 17 percent per year.
"Not only the increasing market size, but I am also optimistic about the manufacturing and development of China's industrial robotics," said Wang Yu, a professor of engineering at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Wang said that after just one year, roughly one-third of industrial robots used in China were manufactured domestically, and the percentage is still climbing.
In addition to industrial robots, service robots have also received extensive attention. China's service robotics are leading the world in firefighting, disaster relief, health care and catering.
According to an IFR report, an estimated 94,800 professional service robots will be installed from 2013 to 2018, with total sales of $17.1 billion. Medical and military robots accounted for 55 percent of the total sales.
Remebot, China's first neurosurgery robot, was a hit at the conference. The designers said that it was accurate to just one millimeter, and with its help, brain surgery that used to take hours could be done within 30 minutes.
Service robotics has become a major field of development in China's robotics industry, said Sun Bolin, honorary chairman of the product information working committee of the China Instrument Society.
Besides areas such as coal mining, power generation and oil exploitation, service robots can also accomplish much in anti-terrorism, criminal investigation and explosives handling, Sun said.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China announced plans at the conference to invest 200 million yuan ($29.5 million) to support the study of the basic theory and key technologies of robots that can work alongside people.
Chinese companies have also been engaged in cross-border mergers and acquisitions in the robot industry. In April, Wanfeng Technology Group acquired US industrial robot manufacturer Paslin, giving Wanfeng access to advanced automated welding technology and clients that Paslin has developed over 80 years.
Many investment and finance institutions are also eyeing the future of China's robotics industry. "We are actively encouraging listed companies to participate in the industry either through capital contribution or technology acquisition," said Li Xiaoxue, deputy director of the China Association for Public Companies.
"China's robotics industry is transitioning from a follower to a frontrunner," Li said.
Watch: China-developed robot helps with transformative Parkinson’s surgery
The surgery assisted by Remebot and funded by a medical aid division of China Social Assistance Foundation was performed on a patient in his late 60s on Thursday.
Such technological breakthroughs are increasingly common in China as the government encourages innovation and entrepreneurship, which it sees as a new economic growth engine. Chinese companies have been developing medical robots since the 1990s, making the country a leader in this field.
Take a look at how the operation was performed and its effects.
