The Great Robot Takeover Has Some Limits
Xi Jinping wants robotics to lift China’s economy. The benefits aren’t showing.
Robots from China get ready to rumble at CES Las Vegas.
Photographer: Zhang Shuo/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images
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At last week’s giant Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Chinese robots were overly represented, if the raw statistics are evidence. Of the nearly 600 companies showing off robotics, 149 were from China. Of the 40 or so booths exhibiting humanoid robots, 21 were Chinese. Indeed, about a quarter of the 4,000 exhibitors were from the People’s Republic. That should be visual evidence of the success of President Xi Jinping’s latest efforts to juice future growth in his country, right?