Long perceived as the workshop of the world, Shenzhen is now established as The nervous center of the next industrial revolution. The city is no longer just a large -scale assembly platform, but it becomes the place where the robotic systems that will redefine global production are invented, and are deployed. And at the origin of this dynamic, an ambitious transformation plan: Made in China 2025.
An unparalleled manufacturing density
Shenzhen concentrates a unique industrial ecosystem made up of manufacturers of components, assemblers, engineering laboratories, Deeptech startups, public and private investors, all gathered within a short logistics department. This proximity between design, prototyping and production allows Ultra-fast iteration cycleswhich accelerate the development of complex robotic products. A precision model that is reminiscent of Silicon Valley.
This vertical integration capacity gives a decisive advantage. Companies like ROBOTICSspecialized in quadrupeds and humanoids at low cost, or Ubtechoriented towards industrial humanoid robotics, can design, test and produce a robot in a few months. So Agibotalcreated in 2023, had already manufactured nearly 1,000 units at the end of 2024, the speed here became a structural factor of industrial domination.
Made in China 2025: the genesis of a switch
Launched in 2015, the strategy Made in China 2025 aims to pass China from an economy based on low cost labor Sovereign technological and industrial power. Among the ten priority sectors identified, the robotics occupies a central place.
Three levers structure this strategy:
- Technological upright in components, systems, and on -board software.
- Industrial autonomy via advanced vertical integration (objective: 70 % domestic content in critical chains by 2025).
- Massive investment, in particular by local and national authorities.
Shenzhen, supported by the authorities of Guangdong, has established himself as the pilot territory of this policy.
Robots that build robots
In the factory Kuka of Guangdong (now owned by the group MIDEA), the robotic assembly lines are targeting a rhythm of production of a robot every 60 seconds. This dynamic is reinforced by the advances of companies as Efortwhich currently builds a production super-site of 100,000 units per year, or Siasunwith more than 200,000 m² of industrial infrastructure.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4T1814THQYS
At the house of Xiaomia “Lights-Out Factory” assembles smartphones at one rate of one per second, without human intervention. These independent, long conceptual factories, already work, prefiguring self-replicative robotic production.
Locally mastered strategic components
One of the key issues of robotics is control of the value chain. Shenzhen and its industrial satellites now master the manufacture of many Critical components ::
- THE High precision reducers (Gearbox) are produced locally by Leaderdrivewhich dominates the Chinese market of Harmonic Drive gears.
- THE Lidarcrucial for mobile robots, is carried by Hesai Technologyin strong development in the robotics and automotive industry.
- THE permanent magnets necessary for precision engines come mainly from groups such as JL Mag,, Jingci And Ningbo yungshengall based in China.
- THE lithium-ion batteriesused in mobile and humanoid robots, are provided by Catlworld leader, or Bydalso active in the automation of its own production lines.
This mastery extends to engines, actuators, drives and microcontrollerscomponents whose standardization and low -cost availability facilitate the scale of new projects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0_z_PVMXCS
A permanent expansion ecosystem
Beyond humanoids, Shenzhen covers the entire robotic spectrum:
- Djiworld known for its civilian drones, also develops educational robots (Robomaster) and remains an example of industrial success built on rapid iteration.
- Estun Automationintegrated actor, designs more than 90 % of its internal components.
- Start-ups like Agibotal Or Uniter Experience direct economic models (humanoid robots marketed at less than $ 20,000), bypassing the conventional long and expensive R&D cycles.
The dominant logic is Design locally, produce locally, deliver overall.
An industrial vision in motion
What Shenzhen embodies is A post-Taylorian industrial modelbased on modularity, operational autonomy, advanced robotization and speed. Robotics is not a sub-sector but it is Transversal productive infrastructureintegrated into all industrial trades and soon in services (logistics, construction, health, education).
In 2023, the Chinese Ministry of Industry published a quadrennial plan dedicated to humanoid robotics, aiming mass industrial production from 2025. Shenzhen is both the site of this ambition and its natural accelerator.
Shenzhen, China’s tech heart
Shenzhen has become the laboratory, the factory and the window of the new robotic economy. In ten years, the city has increased from subcontracting to autonomous self-production. It is no longer a simple industrial center but the embodiment of the industrial strategy of a state and the agility of a market.
To go further, we invite you to discover this documentary on Tech in China
