Liu Minxia

    mllmx@msn.com

    SHENZHEN will build itself into a manufacturing base for robotics, wearable products and other intelligent equipment by 2020 as it takes a leading role in those industries in the country, according to a city official.

    “Shenzhen is allocating 500 million yuan (US$80.65 million) every year from 2014 to 2020 to support the development of industries such as robotics, wearable products and other intelligent equipment,” Ping Yuan, a deputy director with Shenzhen’s economic and information commission, told a First China Intelligent Equipment Industry Exposition forum late Thursday.

    The fair, which closed Friday at the Shenzhen Convention and Exhibition Center, hosted more than 30,000 buyers and more than 500 exhibitors, with one-fourth coming from overseas.

    Shenzhen’s intelligent equipment industry has taken shape, industry insiders say. The output of the industry surged 344 percent to 480 billion yuan last year, according to Shi Hao, head of Shenzhen’s Electronic Equipment Association.

    Shenzhen is home to 300 robotics manufacturers, with 192 industrial robotic makers and 45 service robotic makers, and the total output reached 48 billion yuan by the end of last year, according to statistics provided by Shenzhen’s Electronic Equipment Association. The output of Shenzhen’s nearly 500 wearable products makers totaled 1 billion yuan, and half of the companies are located in Bao’an District.

    Shenzhen exported 160,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) in the first five months of this year, 69 times the number exported last year, taking up 99.9 percent of the country’s total export of such vehicles, customs statistics showed. Major exporters are DJ-Innovations and Shenzhen AEE Technology Co.

    Despite the progress, there is a gap in Shenzhen’s research and development of intelligent equipment and that of overseas countries. “Robot technology used here is not as advanced as in foreign countries,” Du Zhengzhi, a manager of DST Robotics, told the forum. “Our short-term goal is to maximize the use of robots by lowering their cost and developing robots suitable for our industries.”

    Li Guangxin, a top manager with Kuka Robotics, encouraged Shenzhen robot makers to develop robots exclusively used for the 3C industry since the industry occupies an important place in the city.