Why Does China Want Israeli Robotics?

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After Chinese investments in various sectors of the Israeli industry and especially Hi-Tech, it’s the robotics industry’s turn. An investment agreement of $20 million was signed between the Israeli Robotics Association headed by Prof. Zvi Shiller, and a group of investors from advanced industries of the city of Guangzhou, among them Chinese government representatives and business managers. The agreement includes establishing a development center in Israel, allocating $20 million to industrial R&D of robotics, and starting development projects in Israel for the Chinese industry.

The Chinese economy needs robots in various fields, and as it recognized the huge potential in connecting Israeli technology and the Chinese market, it is willing to invest substantial amounts. As part of this cooperation, an establishment of Chinese-Israeli Robotics Institute (SIRI) in Guangzhou was declared, to become a portal for the Chinese market to the Israeli industry. Now an agreement has been signed to establish the Israeli branch of SIRI, which will deal first with creating business contacts, recognizing research laboratories and researchers for joint developments of technologies and products, and creating training channels for professional in the business. Afterwards it is meant to evolve into a robotics development center for the chinese market.

“This agreement is a breakthrough for the Israeli robotics industry, which is supported by one of the world’s most advanced scientific infrastructure in the field of robotics, but lacks the necessary investments to develop innovative products in a growing field that is still making its way in the global market. This immediate link to the Chinese market offered by the Chinese-Israeli Robotics Institute and the investments in research and development by leading Chinese companies are marching the Israeli robotics industry to a top spot in the robotics revolution of the 21st century, said prof. Zvi Shiller, head of the Israeli Robotics Association.

Mr. Zhang Jin, Marketing Director at Siasun, the largest robotics company in China, explained that China is experiencing a production crisis, since as the number one manufacturer in the world, it relied on cheap labor, which is now getting expensive. “Because of this, we have chosen to form a new production model, based to robots. Therefore, the robotics industry is an important strategic goal for China and one of the preferred ten sectors by the Chinese government. Today we have 30 robots for every 10,000 workers in the industry, compared to 62 robots in countries like Japan, hence the potential in China. At the same time, we are also developing service provider robots such as Waiter-Robots and we estimate that this market will bypass the industry market.”

Prof. Shiller said he hopes to see first results of this cooperation as soon as 2016.