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liKe the countless white-collar workers in China’s many state-owned enterprises based in Beijing， Zhou Yun is busy from sunrise to sunset， with little time to devote to housework and cooking. But thanks to a China-developed intelligent technology， she now has the comfort of knowing that at the end of her long work day， a full bowl of hot steamy rice is waiting for her back home.
Just before leaving her office， Zhou is able to turn on her rice cooker at the touch of an application on her smartphone. By the time she arrives home， the delicious and flagrant rice is ready to be eaten， bringing much needed convenience to her busy urban life.
“This smart rice cooker can be remotely controlled by your phone， so you can turn it on to cook rice or porridge anytime anywhere，”Zhou told ChinAfrica. “By scanning the barcodes on the rice packages， it can also recognize rice varieties and automatically select the best cooking mode.”
“Made in China” used to be perceived as a byword for low-tech manufacturing. But the past few years have seen a variety of smart devices made by Chinese companies taking over both domestic and overseas markets. It appears that China， known as the global manufacturing powerhouse， is adding yet another skill on its already impressive name card： intelligent manufacturing.
Intelligent manufacturing
Zhou’s smart rice cooker was produced by Xiaomi， a super star among Chinese technology startups， who released the smart cooking appliance together with an app designed to control it.
This innovative product is in line with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology five-year plan （2016-20） for the development of the country’s light industry， released in August， which put an emphasis on innovation and creativity. The plan stated that intelligent manufacturing should be promoted in the country’s competitive industries such as food， household appliances， leather ware and furniture.
An industry which has most benefitted from the government’s strong impetus for “intelligentization” is the mobile terminal industry， also a specialty area of Xiaomi. According to data released during the Mobile Intelligent Terminal Summit held in Beijing in December 2015， from 2011 to 2015， Chinese mobile terminal enterprises submitted 87，000 patent applications related to intelligent mobile terminal， representing nearly half of the world’s applications in this sector. In 2015， Chinese mobile manufacturers Huawei， Xiaomi and Lenovo ranked third， fourth and fifth respectively in terms of global smartphone shipments， marking huge improvements in corporate competitiveness， brand influence and innovative R&D strength. Meanwhile， the Chinese market for smart wearable devices， a newly emerging market of intelligent mobile terminals， has grown to 12.6 billion yuan （$3.7 billion） in 2015， up 472 percent from the previous year.“I’ve used several smart bracelets， such as Xiaomi and Huawei， and they help me when I exercise by recording the number of steps I take and measuring my heart rate； this brings a lot of convenience to my training，” electronic equipment specialist Su Hao told ChinAfrica. Smart robotization
Since 2011， China has been encouraging research on intelligent manufacturing equipment， which has become a driving force for the upgrading of equipment manufacturing enterprises. The development of intelligent robots， such as the ones used in the manufacturing sector， plays an important role in improving productivity in China’s traditional manufacturing industry.
According to the China Robot Industry Alliance（CRIA）， 22，000 units of industrial robots of Chinese brands were sold in 2015， a significant growth from 9，600 units in 2013. While foreign brand still hold most of the market， domestic industrial robot brands have gradually grown to occupy 34 percent of China’s total sales in 2015.
For Wang Xiaoming， researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council， it makes no doubt that robotization represents the path to follow for the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry.
Wang said that in the future， the size of the robot industry in China could even compete with that of the automobile， home appliance and mobile phone industries. However， robotization might not come easy. Due to high costs and high standards of utilization， maintenance and security， it remains difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt and apply robot technology in industrial production.
This explains why a major part of China’s manufacturing industry is still mostly relying on traditional processes and equipment which are in need of upgrade. In many industrial sectors， explained Wang， the chal- lenge remains first automation and digitalization； intelligentization will only come at later stage.
But with industrial robot technology constantly progressing and developing， it is expected to be applied in more industrial fields in the future.
“The era of artificial intelligence will not only promote progress in terms of technical aspects， but more importantly， it will bring about changes in consumer attitudes and lifestyle，” said CityEasy CEO Li Zheng in an interview with China Economic Times newspaper. One of the first companies to tap into the children’s smart watch market， CityEasy has recently launched a smart robot dog， opening the door to the use of intelligent robots in the field of children’s education.
Sharing benefits
The positive effects of China’s intelligent upgrading can be felt not only at home， but also all the way to Africa. In recent years， encouraged by the Chinese Government’s Belt and Road Initiative， many of China’s intelligent manufacturing companies have expanded their activities abroad and reached the African continent， helping promote local industrial development and employment.
China’s Transsion Holdings is the first foreign mobile manufacturer to set up an after-sales service network in Africa. Over the past few years， the Chinese company established the continent’s largest customer service network consisting of 86 world-class service centers and employing more than 1，100 senior service technicians， Nanfang Daily reported. It also set up offices in Nigeria， Kenya， Tanzania， Cameroon， Ghana， and Egypt and established a factory in Ethiopia.
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei also committed itself to bringing intelligent manufacturing capabilities to the continent.
During the 27th African Union Summit held in 2016， Huawei officially joined Smart Africa， an Africaled alliance of innovation to share knowledge and experience and provide affordable broadband access and other information and communication technologies on the continent. The initiative’s ultimate goal is to improve socio-economic development of Africa by helping African countries digitalize.
“Huawei will continue to actively support Smart Africa and work with all the stakeholders to promote interconnection and build an intelligent Africa，” said Pang Jimin， Vice President of Huawei.
Hamadoun Touré， Executive Director of Smart Africa， welcomed Huawei and other Chinese companies’participation in the initiative， stressing that Chinese companies have significantly improved the continent’s telecommunications services， while always making sure local people could afford those services.
Just before leaving her office， Zhou is able to turn on her rice cooker at the touch of an application on her smartphone. By the time she arrives home， the delicious and flagrant rice is ready to be eaten， bringing much needed convenience to her busy urban life.
“This smart rice cooker can be remotely controlled by your phone， so you can turn it on to cook rice or porridge anytime anywhere，”Zhou told ChinAfrica. “By scanning the barcodes on the rice packages， it can also recognize rice varieties and automatically select the best cooking mode.”
“Made in China” used to be perceived as a byword for low-tech manufacturing. But the past few years have seen a variety of smart devices made by Chinese companies taking over both domestic and overseas markets. It appears that China， known as the global manufacturing powerhouse， is adding yet another skill on its already impressive name card： intelligent manufacturing.
Intelligent manufacturing
Zhou’s smart rice cooker was produced by Xiaomi， a super star among Chinese technology startups， who released the smart cooking appliance together with an app designed to control it.
This innovative product is in line with China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology five-year plan （2016-20） for the development of the country’s light industry， released in August， which put an emphasis on innovation and creativity. The plan stated that intelligent manufacturing should be promoted in the country’s competitive industries such as food， household appliances， leather ware and furniture.
An industry which has most benefitted from the government’s strong impetus for “intelligentization” is the mobile terminal industry， also a specialty area of Xiaomi. According to data released during the Mobile Intelligent Terminal Summit held in Beijing in December 2015， from 2011 to 2015， Chinese mobile terminal enterprises submitted 87，000 patent applications related to intelligent mobile terminal， representing nearly half of the world’s applications in this sector. In 2015， Chinese mobile manufacturers Huawei， Xiaomi and Lenovo ranked third， fourth and fifth respectively in terms of global smartphone shipments， marking huge improvements in corporate competitiveness， brand influence and innovative R&D strength. Meanwhile， the Chinese market for smart wearable devices， a newly emerging market of intelligent mobile terminals， has grown to 12.6 billion yuan （$3.7 billion） in 2015， up 472 percent from the previous year.“I’ve used several smart bracelets， such as Xiaomi and Huawei， and they help me when I exercise by recording the number of steps I take and measuring my heart rate； this brings a lot of convenience to my training，” electronic equipment specialist Su Hao told ChinAfrica. Smart robotization
Since 2011， China has been encouraging research on intelligent manufacturing equipment， which has become a driving force for the upgrading of equipment manufacturing enterprises. The development of intelligent robots， such as the ones used in the manufacturing sector， plays an important role in improving productivity in China’s traditional manufacturing industry.
According to the China Robot Industry Alliance（CRIA）， 22，000 units of industrial robots of Chinese brands were sold in 2015， a significant growth from 9，600 units in 2013. While foreign brand still hold most of the market， domestic industrial robot brands have gradually grown to occupy 34 percent of China’s total sales in 2015.
For Wang Xiaoming， researcher at the Development Research Center of the State Council， it makes no doubt that robotization represents the path to follow for the transformation and upgrading of China’s manufacturing industry.
Wang said that in the future， the size of the robot industry in China could even compete with that of the automobile， home appliance and mobile phone industries. However， robotization might not come easy. Due to high costs and high standards of utilization， maintenance and security， it remains difficult for small and medium-sized enterprises to adopt and apply robot technology in industrial production.
This explains why a major part of China’s manufacturing industry is still mostly relying on traditional processes and equipment which are in need of upgrade. In many industrial sectors， explained Wang， the chal- lenge remains first automation and digitalization； intelligentization will only come at later stage.
But with industrial robot technology constantly progressing and developing， it is expected to be applied in more industrial fields in the future.
“The era of artificial intelligence will not only promote progress in terms of technical aspects， but more importantly， it will bring about changes in consumer attitudes and lifestyle，” said CityEasy CEO Li Zheng in an interview with China Economic Times newspaper. One of the first companies to tap into the children’s smart watch market， CityEasy has recently launched a smart robot dog， opening the door to the use of intelligent robots in the field of children’s education.
Sharing benefits
The positive effects of China’s intelligent upgrading can be felt not only at home， but also all the way to Africa. In recent years， encouraged by the Chinese Government’s Belt and Road Initiative， many of China’s intelligent manufacturing companies have expanded their activities abroad and reached the African continent， helping promote local industrial development and employment.
China’s Transsion Holdings is the first foreign mobile manufacturer to set up an after-sales service network in Africa. Over the past few years， the Chinese company established the continent’s largest customer service network consisting of 86 world-class service centers and employing more than 1，100 senior service technicians， Nanfang Daily reported. It also set up offices in Nigeria， Kenya， Tanzania， Cameroon， Ghana， and Egypt and established a factory in Ethiopia.
Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei also committed itself to bringing intelligent manufacturing capabilities to the continent.
During the 27th African Union Summit held in 2016， Huawei officially joined Smart Africa， an Africaled alliance of innovation to share knowledge and experience and provide affordable broadband access and other information and communication technologies on the continent. The initiative’s ultimate goal is to improve socio-economic development of Africa by helping African countries digitalize.
“Huawei will continue to actively support Smart Africa and work with all the stakeholders to promote interconnection and build an intelligent Africa，” said Pang Jimin， Vice President of Huawei.
Hamadoun Touré， Executive Director of Smart Africa， welcomed Huawei and other Chinese companies’participation in the initiative， stressing that Chinese companies have significantly improved the continent’s telecommunications services， while always making sure local people could afford those services.