China's Factory Robotics

choi

Keith Bradsher, 中国在贸易战中的秘密武器：一支机器人大军. 纽约时报中文网, Apr 24, 2025
https://cn.nytimes.com/business/ ... ts-automation/dual/

, which is translated from

Keith Bradsher, Army of Robots Gives China Edge in Trade War; Advanced automation in factories keeps exports cheap. New York Times, Apr 24, 2025, at page A1 (main news report in that page)
("Factories are now more automated in China than in the United States, Germany or Japan. China has more factory robots for every 10,000 manufacturing workers than any other country except South Korea or Singapore, according to the International Federation of Robotics")

My comment:
(a) Perhaps I am ignorant. But I am not convinced that robots can replace humans in factories. One example stands out: For at least a decade, Foxconn has announced repeatedly that it was doing research on robotics to help assemble iPhone. Nothing has come out of it. Besides, labor is China's demographic dividend. Is automation a blessing or pitfall for China?
(b) One photo (whose caption in print is simply "an assembly line") that is missing in the cn.nytimes.com is: