Robots at center of China’s strategy to leapfrog its rivals in technology

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 cellphone 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 highend products that redefine the meaning of “Made in China.”

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 workforce thanks to the “one-child” policy era and aging 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 is 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.

Peng and Luo, both 24, developed the mannequinlike 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 that 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 company that assembles Apple’s iPhones in China, has installed 40,000 robots in its factories.

Ng Han Guan / Associated Press A boy shouts into the Canbot, a companion robot, displayed during the World Robot Conference in Beijing. China is showing off its robot industry as it seeks to promote more advanced technologies in its factories.

Nomaan Merchant / Associated Press The Ares team, Luo Binyi, right, and Peng Zhihui, second from the right, display the humanoid bipedal robot they helped design with funding from a Shanghai investment company.