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2025-10-13 | subscribe | homepage

Welcome back to China Insights Weekly. Here are some of the key highlights for this week’s edition:

• China installs nearly 300,000 industrial robots, more than all other countries combined

• Kenya converts USD 3.5B Belt & Road loan to yuan, saving USD 215M a year in interest

• China’s cargo corridor traffic jumps 70%, linking 75 cities to 577 global ports

• Deep Robotics’ IP66 humanoid brings weatherproof robots closer to real-world use

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🚀 Headlines

China installed nearly 300,000 industrial robots in 2024, more than all other markets combined (link)

China has set a world record by installing 295,000 robot units in 2024. This was up 7% – representing 54% of global demand. For the first time, Chinese manufacturers sold more than foreign manufacturers at home with 57% across industries in 2024, up from 47% in 2023. Robot installations in the food and beverage sector surged 86% year-on-year to 8,900 units in 2024, with domestic suppliers accounting for 80% of the total. The textiles, leather and apparel sector saw installations rise to 5,700 units in 2024, up 29% from the previous year, where all units were supplied by Chinese manufacturers. On a global scale, China accounted for 95% of installations in this category. In the wood products industry, installations reached a record of 4,300 units in 2024. China represented 91% of global installations in the sector. The electronics industry remains the main customer of industrial robots in China, with 83,000 installation units in 2024. This was up 7% year-on-year. The automotive industry has been the second-largest customer industry since 2016. The number of installations reached 57,200 units - a decrease of 12%. Robot installations in the metal and machinery industry increased significantly by 31% to 54,600 units in 2024 – the highest level ever recorded. Chinese robot suppliers had a market share of 90%.

Chinese tech giant Meituan enters the US with Peppr, point-of-sale and marketing suite for independent US restaurants (link)

Meituan, China's largest food delivery platform, has entered the US market through the launch of Peppr, a POS/restaurant SaaS system, rather than via its food delivery service. Peppr, which directly competes with industry leaders like Toast and Square, offers a range of services including POS, ordering and delivery applications, and a kitchen display system. The platform emphasizes compatibility with existing restaurant systems and has developed Peppr Grow, a digital marketing suite for independent restaurants. Peppr has over 200 employees and is targeting family-owned, mom-and-pop restaurants in the US. This move is part of Meituan's broader international expansion strategy, which includes ventures in instant retail, power bank sharing, and drone delivery under the Keeta brand.

China's car sales, output, and exports set new highs in September for fifth straight month, BEVs hit record (link, link)

In September, China's passenger car production, sales, and exports set new records for the fifth consecutive month. Output surged over 17% year-on-year to 2.838 million units, while retail sales rose 6.3% to 2.241 million units. Domestic brands led the growth, with retail sales jumping 13% to 1.5 million units, capturing a 67% market share. Conversely, the market share of German and Japanese brands shrank to 14.3% and 11.6%, respectively. Passenger car exports soared nearly 21% to approximately 533,000 units. The month also saw a record launch of over 70 new vehicle models, intensifying market competition.

Battery electric vehicles (BEVs) hit a record high of 826,000 units, accounting for 63.7% of all NEVs and representing a 28.5% annual growth. China's passenger new energy vehicle (NEV) retail sales in September reached 1.296 million units, the second-highest monthly volume on record, marking a 15.5% year-on-year increase. In contrast, retail sales of hybrid vehicles declined 2.7% year-on-year to 469,000 units. The overall NEV penetration rate in the passenger vehicle market reached 57.8%, with domestic brands achieving a 78.1% penetration rate. Furthermore, China exported 211,000 passenger NEVs in September, a surge of 96.5% year-on-year, accounting for 40.1% of total passenger car exports.