China’s robot revolution poses US risks, warns Wilbur Ross
  
       US commerce secretary says Beijing’s industrial automation drive poses threat to America
 
       Wilbur Ross: '... in robotics, there apparently are something like 400 robotics companies in China right now ... maybe 360 of those are in it to get the subsidies' © EPA
                  
       Wilbur Ross, US commerce secretary, has attacked China’s fast-growing robotics industry, warning that big subsidies risk compounding the overcapacity caused by Chinese state support for traditional industries such as steel.Speaking to reporters in Hong Kong on Wednesday, after talks with top Chinese officials including Premier Li Keqiang in Beijing, Mr Ross singled out China’s substantial subsidies for industrial automation as an emerging threat to the US economy.“Overcapacity is a big problem already and given the 2025 plan and the subsidies that it contemplates for a number of new industries, one of the worries that one has to have is that that may result in future overcapacity,” he said.“For example in robotics, there apparently are something like 400 robotics companies in China right now and people in the industry tell me their estimate is that maybe 360 of those are in it to get the subsidies and tax breaks and are not really that serious about products.”Mr Ross has previously warned that Beijing’s plan to upgrade its industrial sector — called “Made in China 2025” — is an “attack” on “American genius”. US President Donald Trump’s administration last month launched a probe into Chinese trade practices, including allegations about intellectual property theft.China is in the midst of an unprecedented robot revolution, as it buys and builds industrial robots at a faster pace than any other country, helped by generous government support.The province of Guangdong, the beating heart of China’s manufacturing industry, has vowed to invest $8bn in automation between 2015 and 2017, amid increasing wages and declining costs for robotic technology.Last year China installed 87,000 new industrial robots, with about a third produced by domestic companies, overtaking Japan to become the world’s biggest operator of the machines. Sales are expected to continue rising by 15-20 per cent a year, according to the International Federation of Robotics, an industry lobby group based in Germany.Louis Kuijs, an economist at Oxford Economics in Hong Kong, said that while China was right to focus on developing advanced sectors such as industrial automation, Mr Ross was also correct to highlight the overcapacity risks.“China has a history of government-led and government-steered initiatives to identify and develop new industries and that then leads to massive overcapacity,” he said.In addition to robots, Mr Ross warned of the potential negative impact from China’s concurrent pushes to become a global leader in electric vehicles and semiconductors, crucial components for the electronic industry.He said the US was happy for China to pursue self-sufficiency in high-technology industries but that it must be a “fair match”.“We would be not comfortable with that being accomplished through disrespect for intellectual property rights, through forced localisation, through forced technology transfers,” he said. “Those are very big issues.”The commerce secretary was in China to prepare for a visit by Mr Trump in November.Mr Ross said he was “optimistic” that Mr Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping could agree on “specific deliverables” that would address US claims of unfair trade practices by China because of the “strong personal relationship” between the two men.China’s ministry of commerce did not respond to a request for comment.

https://www.ft.com/content/08c9e370-a33e-11e7-9e4f-7f5e6a7c98a2