THE country has pledged to achieve breakthroughs in core robotic technologies and related high-end products by 2025, according to a guideline released Tuesday.

The country will strive to become a global hub for robotics innovation by then, attaining the performance and reliability for key robot components to meet international standards, said the guideline jointly issued by government departments including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).

For the robotics industry, the annual growth rate of its operating revenue is expected to exceed 20 percent on average by 2025, and the robot density in the manufacturing industry will double from the current level, the guideline said.

Vowing progress in developing technologies and robot operating systems, the guideline noted that the country will encourage industrial innovation and expand application scenarios to achieve the set targets.

Another development plan the MIIT released Tuesday said China will see 70 percent of its major manufacturing firms basically digitalized and networked by 2025.

The plan on smart manufacturing also states that all of China’s manufacturing firms above a designated size will be digitalized and networked by 2035.

China will also build more than 500 industry-leading smart manufacturing demonstration plants by 2025, according to the plan.

Although China’s smart manufacturing has progressed from the pilot test phase to application, it still lags behind the standard of high-quality development.

The plan proposes a range of special actions, including innovation, application, supply and support, to advance the development of smart manufacturing.

The country Tuesday also unveiled a development plan for the medical equipment sector during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-2025).The country aims to accelerate the integration of information technology into the medical equipment industry by 2025, creating medical robots and digital health platforms, according to the plan.

China’s medical equipment sector witnessed robust growth in the past five years, with the market scale reaching 840 billion yuan (US$131.81 billion) in 2020. (Xinhua)