China's largest robot conference set for Beijing

The 2015 World Robotic Conference will be held in Beijing Nov 23- 24, the China Association for Science and Technology said Friday.

The conference, which will be the largest for the robotic industry in China, will be jointly hosted by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the China Association for Science and Technology.

The conference will include three components: a robotic technology forum, a robot expo and a robotic contest for students.

According to the organization committee, the forum will attract 5,000 industry experts from home and abroadand the Expo will hold exhibitions for 200 companies that are estimated to attract 40,000 visitors.

Also, the conference will include a technology transfer platform, which allows research institutions to build closer connections with robot producers.

Mao Weiming, China's vice minister of Industry and Information Technology, said that the conference will boost China's robotic industry by clarifying the direction of industrial development and increasing the international influence of China's robotic companies.

"The manufacturing industry is an important indication for the core competence of a country. Now China has become one of the countries with the biggest proportion for the world's manufacturing industry, so the demands for robots are on a sharp increase," he said.

The latest data shows that in 2014, China consumed 57,000 industry robots, a 55 percent increase over the previous year. However, the demand for high-end industry robots has highly relied on imports, as domestic producers are less capable of producing them.

"We've been losing great market opportunities. Now we should improve our own high-end equipment production, and catch up with the demand of the market," Mao said.