This Day, That Year

Item from Sept 16, 1990, in China Daily: Scientists from the Shanghai Instrument Factory study a new generation of robots.

Shanghai is setting up an experimental assembly system operated by robots. It will be used in the manufacture of small and medium-sized mechanical and electrical products. The system, using technology from the United States, aims to show enterprises that many products can be assembled on the robot-operated automatic line.

China has become the world's largest industrial robot market, with annual sales topping 56,000 units last year, accounting for about 25 percent of global sales, according to the China Machinery Industry Federation.