China's first robotics industry association was recently established. The Shenzhen Robotics Industry Association was founded on March 31, aiming to explore the robotics industry and technology. Initiated by dozens of enterprises and institutions in Shenzhen engaged in robotics research and production, this marks the entry of the emerging strategic robotics industry into the fast lane of development in Shenzhen.
　　It is reported that the global market for household robots will reach US\$15 billion in 2015, with the industry inflection point appearing in 2010. Robots have now become a key emerging strategic industry that Shenzhen focuses on; its industrial and technological development can directly drive the development of numerous industries such as information, home appliances, and equipment manufacturing. Shenzhen has more than 10 companies joining its robot incubator, and Shenzhen Yinxing Company's annual sales of household cleaning robots have reached 300,000 units, exported to Japan, South Korea and other places.
　　According to the introduction, members of the Shenzhen Robotics Industry Association include the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenzhen University, Shenzhen Polytechnic, Shenzhen Huacai Testing Company, Shenzhen Yinxing Intelligent Appliances Company, Shenzhen Fushi Industrial Company, Guangdong Dechang Electromechanical Company, Shenzhen Tianwei Ming Company, Shenzhen Bosida Company, and Shenzhen Eagle Company. After its establishment, the association will play a positive role in organizing the High-Tech Fair robot exhibition, coordinating Shenzhen's industry, academia, and research sectors to participate in industrial development strategic research, major industry-academia-research projects, incubator construction, and guiding traditional industries into the robotics industry.
　　Gao Guohui, Deputy Secretary-General of the Shenzhen Municipal Government, said that the global robotics industry has entered a new historical stage. He hopes that the Shenzhen Robotics Association, as the first robotics association in China, can establish a new brand and, through the concerted efforts of its members, enable the rapid development of Shenzhen's robotics industry.
　　Fan Jianping, President of the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, said that as the first national-level research institution to be located in Shenzhen, the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology has strong R\&D capabilities. Robotics is one of its most important research and industrialization directions, and the institute has gathered more than 70 experts and scholars in robotics technology from home and abroad. They will take advantage of the establishment of the association to promote government policy support for the industry and create a robotics industry with independent intellectual property rights. (According to Xinhua Net)