Fujian, Shanxi show how tech will help overcome slowdown

BEIJING - Like birds pecking at grain, a dozen robotic arms pressed components onto a point-of-sale or POS machine, checked its functions and packed it into a box under the supervision of a human worker. Next to the robots, it took over 60 workers to assemble the same device, used to process card and mobile payments.

The two juxtaposed assembly lines at the Kingtronics factory offer a glimpse into the robotic revolution sweeping East China's Fujian province. Like China's other coastal regions, rising labor costs and dwindling foreign orders are galvanizing labor-intensive factories into action.

Instead of shrinking production, Kingtronics chose to deploy more robots, a strategy that not only raised the company's profits but also allowed the Hong Kong-invested firm to expand its business by designing and selling automatic equipment to manufacturers that cannot afford imported robots.