ABB eyes rapid expansion as robotics grows

ABB Ltd, the Swiss multinational operating mainly in robotics and the power and automation-technology sectors, said it is planning a rapid expansion in China, following strong growth of the country's robotics market.

Ulrich Spiesshofer, its chief executive, predicts China will become the world's largest robotics market, and said he is hoping to position his firm to help with that expansion, especially in the use of robotics to clean up the environment.

Spiesshofer was reacting to the latest world robot statistics, released by the International Federation of Robotics, which showed 57,000 industrial robots were sold last year, a 56 percent increase on 2013.