What does ten years signify?

For Anhui's intelligent robotics industry, it is the journey of nurturing a seed named "innovation" into a thriving industrial forest.

There were no shortcuts in cultivating this "forest"—only patient nurturing. Over the years, Anhui has established a spatial layout guided by "dual-core leadership with multi-point support," allowing the seeds of innovation to take root and flourish in the fertile soil of policies, platforms, and real-world applications. Ultimately, this has enabled the industry to transition from catching up technologically to leading the way.

The newly released "Anhui Province Intelligent Robotics Industry Development Action Plan (2025–2027)" proposes a "Ten-Hundred-Thousand" development framework. This aims to cultivate more than 10 leading domestic enterprises in specialized fields, achieve breakthroughs in over 100 key technologies and landmark products, and achieve a total industry chain revenue of 100 billion yuan. 

Looking ahead to the 15th Five-Year Plan period, intelligent robotics is undoubtedly an industry brimming with immense potential.

In 2017, the province's industrial robotics sector (covering the entire industry chain) achieved a main business revenue of 20 billion yuan, with an output exceeding 8,000 industrial robots. Additionally, the service robotics sector had already developed a relatively comprehensive product portfolio.

Subsequently, the "Anhui Province Robotics Industry Development Plan (2018–2027)" and the "Several Policies to Support the Development of the Robotics Industry" were introduced. These documents outlined a development path of "whole-chain cultivation, all-factor support, and full-scenario application," establishing a comprehensive support system. Innovation platforms such as the Hefei Intelligent Robot Institute were established, accelerating the synergy between industry, academia, and research in innovation.

Starting in 2023, Anhui's robotics industry began to "explode." A series of policies were intensively rolled out, with Anhui focusing on the emerging field of embodied intelligence and building a "23456" innovation system and industrial ecosystem. Two leading industrial zones in Hefei and Wuhu rapidly took shape. Sub-sectors such as humanoid robots and industrial mobile manipulators achieved parallel progress and even took the lead in some areas, marking Anhui's robotics industry as an emerging force on the national stage.

Through the passage of time, Anhui's robotics industry has not only achieved quantitative growth but also realized a qualitative leap. By 2024, the number of enterprises across the entire industry chain exceeded 500, with revenue surpassing 60 billion yuan and an annual output reaching 30,000 units—a thirtyfold increase over the past decade. The overall scale and competitiveness of Anhui's robotics industry rank fifth nationally, with its industrial robot output consistently placing it in the top tier nationwide. Anhui has emerged as a core growth engine for robotics industry development in the Yangtze River Delta region. Wuhu ranks sixth in China's comprehensive city rankings for industrial robotics, establishing itself as one of the benchmark cities for robotics industry development nationwide.

Behind this remarkable leap lies the profound transformation of "Anhui Manufacturing" into "Anhui Intelligent Manufacturing."

Behind this leap is the dual drive of policy support and platform empowerment, the strategic boost of "dual-core leadership with multi-point support," and the deep integration of whole-chain cultivation and full-scenario application. With breakthroughs in core technologies and the prominent clustering effect of industries, Anhui's intelligent robotics sector now ranks among the top tier in comprehensive strength nationally.

Today, Anhui's robotics industry has grown into a flourishing forest, forming an ecosystem characterized by "leading enterprises driving the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises." It continues to write a brilliant chapter on the map of "Made in China."

Source: Anhui Daily