China is accelerating the deployment of AI-powered robots across industries, from automobile factories to restaurants, as it prepares for a shrinking workforce and an ageing population. According to United Nations projections, the country’s working-age population, between 15 and 64 years old, is expected to decline from a peak of around one billion during the past decade to nearly 300 million by the end of the century. At Sany Truck Manufacturing in Changsha, Hunan province, humanoid robots are now used for labour-intensive vehicle assembly work. Deputy General Manager Huang Tie stated, “For labour-intensive industries, we believe replacing humans with robots is inevitable.” The government is encouraging adoption of “embodied artificial intelligence” across manufacturing, logistics, retail and healthcare. Yuhan Zhang, Principal Economist at the China Center of the Conference Board, said, “We have not seen a transformation of this speed and scale since the Industrial Revolution.” According to the International Federation of Robotics, China installs more industrial robots than the rest of the world combined, and between 2021 and 2024, the number of industrial robots operating in Chinese factories doubled to around two million units. A Morgan Stanley report estimates China accounted for nearly 90 per cent of the world’s humanoid robot shipments last year.