Guangdong pulls ahead as a center of industrial robot production
The province makes more than 40% of China’s industrial robots, and its output grew faster than the country’s through September.
Guangdong province, the southern manufacturing powerhouse that makes more than 40% of China’s industrial robots, increased its output faster than the rest of the country in the first nine months of the year, extending its lead as China’s main robot-making center.
Output of industrial robots in the province rose 34.2% from a year earlier from January through September, according to the Oct. 23 release from Guangdong’s provincial statistics bureau (广东省统计局), which also gave the province’s share of national output.
Nationwide, output rose 29.1% over the same period, to 794,781 robots, the National Bureau of Statistics (国家统计局) said in the September figures we covered earlier. Guangdong’s year-to-date growth has been above the national rate in every monthly release this year.
The gains come on top of a strong 2025, when Guangdong’s robot output rose 31.2%, the bureau said in its review of the year.
Both bureaus count only industrial firms with annual revenue of at least 20 million yuan (about US$3 million). The provincial bureau names no makers or cities behind the gains. Shenzhen, the province’s tech-manufacturing hub, reported faster growth: 44.8% for January through August, against 35.8% for the province over the same period.
Sources:
- Guangdong statistics bureau, Oct. 23 release
- Guangdong statistics bureau, 2025 analysis (PDF)
- PHBS Think Tank, Q1 2025 Guangdong report (PDF)
Editor: Ian Lamont
