A technician tests welding robots in a workshop in the THDZ. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By Staff Reporters

Walking into the manufacturing center of Tangshan Robot Industry Base is like entering another world, as technicians rush about testing robot products that include flexible two-arm robots and wide-vision 3D industrial cameras.

The robot industry has been developing for 20 years in north China's Tangshan Hi-tech Industrial Development Zone (THDZ). The zone has adhered to the market-oriented development vision, relied on supporting enterprises, and tried to integrate industry, academia, research and application.

"Our robot industry has grown from scratch, but it has now formed a strong industry system featuring industrial robots and specialized robots," said Li Xiaoli, director of the high-tech division of THDZ's Science and Technology Bureau.

Over the years, the THDZ administrative committee has endeavored to create a sound environment for the development of the robot industry. It has encouraged resource sharing, collaborative innovation, and technological transformation.

The robot industry has become one of the most dynamic and characteristic industries and serves as an important growth pole, leading the intelligent manufacturing industry in Tangshan and even Hebei province.

With an efficient collaborative mechanism involving multiple parties, many robot-related enterprises have decided to settle here, and found diversified paths and broader space for the industrialization of their technological achievements.

Liu Ruizhi, founder of Tangshan Zhonghong Guangtai Electronic Technology Co., LTD., is one of those who has benefited from the business environment of the zone.

Liu recalled that when he founded his company in 2016, the company only had four employees, with annual sales of 200,000 RMB.

"My company now has annual sales of 30 million RMB, and owns a number of patents in intelligent technology and industrial robots. These results cannot be achieved without the support of THDZ, which provides us with free rent, tax reduction and a series of other preferential policies," said Liu.

As a leader in China's welding equipment manufacturing, Kaiyuan Group has set up a national welding industry base in THDZ, focusing on the manufacturing of welding and cutting equipment, welding robot systems, welding materials, and welding auxiliary equipment.

Through cooperation with world-class welding enterprises in Japan, the U.S., Germany and other countries, the company now provides welding solutions for global customers.

"We will continue to leverage our advantages in the robot industry, promote further integration of innovation, industry, capital, and talent chains, and create a first-class entrepreneurship ecosystem, so as to inject stronger impetus for high-quality development of THDZ," said Dong Xuezhong, secretary of the Party Working Committee of THDZ.