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China is laying the groundwork for a robot revolution by planning to automate the work currently done by millions of low-paid workers. [...]

The scale and importance of China's robot ambitions were made clear when the vice president of the People's Republic of China, Li Yuanchao, appeared at the country's first major robotics conference, held recently in Beijing. Standing onstage between two humanoid entertainment robots with outsized heads, Li delivered a message from China's leader, Xi Jinping, congratulating the organizers of the effort. He also made it clear that robotics would be a major priority for the country's economic future.

Many of the robots on show at the conference's exhibition hall were service or entertainment robots such as automated vacuum cleaners, cheap drones, or quirky looking machines designed to serve as personal companions. But there were also many industrial robots that signaled the real impetus for China's robot push: its manufacturing sector.

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