China unveils five-year plan for robotics

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in collaboration with 14 other government departments, revealed how it will continue to grow the country's robotics industry in its 14th five-year plan. China's five-year plans are a series of social and economic development initiatives that have been issued by the Chinese government since 1953. The document lays out several smaller goals for the Chinese robotics industry before 2025, but the overarching goal is to make China a key source of global robotics innovation. The government also expects the average annual growth rate of operating income in the robotics industry to exceed 20%. A study by the Center for Security and Emerging Technology published in November 2021 found that China is the global leader in the total number of robotics patents issued.