Innovation boosts China's trade tempo

On the factory floor of Warsonco Intelligent Technology (Guangdong) Co in Dongguan, South China's Guangdong province, palletizing robots lifted cartons from conveyor belts and stacked them neatly onto pallets in late July, while engineers carried out routine performance checks before shipment.

Replacing labor-intensive manual handling, the palletizing robots can stack between eight and 12 cartons per minute. They can be programmed with up to 800 palletizing patterns and simultaneously handle two different product types, making them well suited for industries such as food processing, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods and printing.

The scene reflects a broader shift taking place across China's manufacturing sector, where artificial intelligence and automation are making industrial robots easier to deploy, operate and scale.

Xiao Fageng, the company's sales director, said as manufacturers worldwide face rising labor costs and growing demand for flexible production, Chinese robotics companies are increasingly developing AI-powered systems that lower technical barriers while expanding their presence in overseas markets.

Demand for the company's robots has been growing both in China and overseas. Its products are now sold in more than 50 countries and regions, and Warsonco expects total shipments to reach between 8,000 and 10,000 units this year, up about 60 percent from a year earlier, according to information released by Huangpu Customs in Guangdong.