More and more factories in China are using robots on the assembly lines to replace workers who demand high salaries.
越来越多的中国工厂在组装线上使用机器人,以取代高薪劳动力。
Factories have struggled to keep up with overseas orders due to the rising labour cost and instead opted for machines, according to a report by China Central Television Station(CCTV).
据中国中央电视台报道,由于劳动力成本的上升,工厂已经选择机器生产以奋力追赶海外订单的需求。
A reporter from CCTV visited two robot-equipped factories, both situated in Guangdong Province. The region, located in southern China, is well-known for its large number of factorieshandling overseas orders for famous brands including Disney.
中央电视台的记者造访了两家都位于广东省、已经配置机器人的工厂。该地区地处中国南部,因为拥有大量承接海外著名商标(包括迪斯尼)订单的工厂而闻名。
One factory, which produces lenses for German brand Carl Zeiss in Guangzhou, started using robots four years ago in a bid to improve productivity and to cut costs.
其中一家为德国品牌卡尔·蔡司生产镜头的广州工厂,为了提高生产率,降低成本,在四年前就开始使用机器人了。
Its manager Zeng Zhiyong told the reporter that they were informed in 2012 that China's labour cost is twice more expensive than Mexico's and four times more expensive than India's.
经理曾志勇告诉记者,他们在2012年的时候得知,中国劳动力成本比墨尔本高两倍,比印度高四倍。
'We were very surprised at this huge gap and started to think of how to improve productivity,' he said.
他说:“我们对这一巨大差异感到震惊,并开始思考如何提高生产率。”
Between 2012 and 2015, Zeng cut down the number of workers by 70 people - from 440 to370- but managed to increased the output from four million to five million lenses per year.
在2012年到2015年,曾志勇裁掉了70名员工,使员工总数从440名降至370名,但是同时将镜头年产量从400万增加到了500万。
China became the world's largest market for industrial robots in 2013. According to People's Daily Online, more than 20 per cent of the world's industrial robots are purchased by China.
2013年,中国成为世界最大的工业机器人市场。据人民日报英文在线报道,世界上超过20%的工业机器人被中国购置。
Foxconn, the Taiwanese company which assembles iPhones and iPads, has also brought in machines to replace its 60,000 workers in one of its branches in southern China.
富士康是一家组装iPhones和iPad的台湾公司,他们同样引入机器人,替代了位于中国南方一家分公司的六万名员工。