SHENYANG, June 30 (Xinhua) — Arc welding robots transfer their multi-joint mechanical arms with regular precision, as welding torches glide forwards and backwards amid showers of vibrant sparks. In moments, a automobile physique takes form.
At the welding workshop of Geely’s new vitality automobile (NEV) manufacturing plant in Yiwu, east China’s Zhejiang Province, almost 100 domestically developed heavy-payload industrial robots at the moment are in full operation, underpinning manufacturing capability for the automaker whose NEV merchandise are exported to markets throughout the globe.
The innovation marks a significant breakthrough in China’s high-end gear sector.
“For more than three decades, German and Japanese robotic systems have held an absolutely dominant position across the welding and assembly lines of mainstream domestic automakers,” mentioned Zhou Jun, head of good manufacturing at Geely Automobile Group Co., Ltd.
Against this backdrop, carmakers have lengthy been reluctant to exchange their present robotic fleets over considerations about operational stability, leaving domestically produced welding gear with little alternative for real-world purposes, Zhou added.
To resolve the conundrum, Siasun Robot & Automation Co., Ltd., primarily based in Shenyang of northeast China, has joined forces with Geely over the previous 4 years, surmounting greater than 1,000 technical and process-related hurdles.
“Bringing home-grown robots to the automotive welding assembly lines and realizing self-reliance in high-end equipment has been a long-cherished wish of generations of Chinese robotics researchers and practitioners,” mentioned Zhang Jin, president of Siasun.
At the top of 2022, the primary two Siasun robots had been put in on the welding manufacturing line of Geely. The subsequent 72 hours proved to be an arduous trial for Siasun’s analysis and growth staff, which solved all 83 recognized system compatibility points to finish the alternative.
Today, Siasun’s arc welding robotic programs have been utilized in 5 automotive producers in China.
Siasun’s breakthrough is one among many, reflecting Shenyang’s transformation from a conventional heavy industrial base right into a high-tech manufacturing hub.
Stepping into the Industrial Museum of China in downtown Shenyang, guests can stroll straight right into a dwelling timeline of the nation’s industrial evolution because the founding of the People’s Republic of China in 1949, the place rows of classic equipment fill halls devoted to distinct levels of growth.
Reborn from an deserted state-owned industrial plant, the museum demonstrates the time-honored industrial heritage of Shenyang, the birthplace of China’s first homegrown lathes, jet engines and even the primary solid metallic nationwide emblem that after hung atop the Tian’anmen Rostrum.
“As a national-level manufacturing powerhouse, Shenyang bears the core mission of exploring transformation paths for old industrial bases and fostering new quality productive forces,” mentioned Wei Wengang, deputy dean of the College of Marxism at Shenyang Agricultural University.
Official knowledge reveals that through the 14th Five-Year Plan interval (2021-2025), Shenyang’s complete industrial output worth surpassed 680 billion yuan (about 100 billion U.S. {dollars}), with the whole output worth of its main industrial enterprises registering a median annual development price of three.9 p.c.
Shenyang has continued to ramp up innovation funding. In 2025, its complete analysis and growth (R&D) expenditure reached 26 billion yuan, a year-on-year rise of 11.2 p.c. Now town is residence to greater than 30,000 technology-based enterprises.
Automotive manufacturing stands as a core pillar {industry} in Shenyang. The metropolis hosts the world’s largest manufacturing base for German premium automaker BMW, with cumulative output from the ability hitting 7 million items as of May 2026.
With automation charges reaching as excessive as 95 p.c, BMW Brilliance Automotive’s Shenyang manufacturing base demonstrates how synthetic intelligence (AI) is reshaping trendy manufacturing. Approximately 200 AI purposes have been deployed throughout the bottom, empowering your complete worth chain from shop-floor operations and back-end administration to provide chain optimization and high quality management.
Meanwhile, one hundred pc of the electrical energy used within the plant comes from renewable sources, and it has established a whole useful resource recycling and reuse system.
“Aligned with BMW Group’s global quality benchmarks, Shenyang production base operates a rigorously validated quality management system that exceeds industry norms,” mentioned Michele Melchiorre, senior vice chairman of expertise and manufacturing at BMW Brilliance Automotive Ltd.
Fostering new high quality productive forces is one among China’s high priorities within the fifteenth Five-Year Plan interval (2026-2030).
According to Li Shengzhi, director of Shenyang’s bureau of {industry} and data expertise, town is prioritizing clever manufacturing as its core growth orientation, with a key deal with advancing industry-wide digital transformation.
Highlighting town’s strengths in sectors corresponding to high-end gear, aerospace and industrial robots, Wei famous that this growth path has repeatedly enhanced Shenyang’s innovation capability and emerged as a core engine driving the area’s all-round revitalization.
Ninety-five years in the past, Japanese troops attacked Chinese forces in Shenyang, marking the beginning of Japan’s 14-year invasion of China. That traumatic expertise kinds a part of town’s collective reminiscence, informing the outlook of many residents.
“The wartime memories taught us a hard lesson — backwardness leaves one vulnerable to attacks,” mentioned Zhang Jin with Siasun.
“The same applies to the field of science and technology. We must accelerate technological innovation,” Zhang added.