Published on: 2026-08-13
Source: People’s Republic of China — Translation
An important disclaimer is at the bottom of this article.
On July 31, the BBC published an article titled “Chinese robots are changing the retail industry in the UK.”
After the customer places an order online, its processing usually begins within a few minutes. Today, this process is often initiated by a silver autonomous mobile robot: it moves under the shelf, lifts it, and carries it to a worker waiting in another part of the warehouse.
A BBC correspondent visited a factory in the city of Hefei, Anhui Province, China, where these robots are manufactured, and saw them coming off the conveyor belt, undergoing testing, and then being sent to warehouses around the world. Currently, British retail giants such as Tesco, Asda, and Next use the robotics from this Chinese company. According to a company representative, by automating repetitive cargo-handling operations, retailers can speed up product sorting, place more stock in hard-to-reach areas, and reduce the number of errors.
For more than ten years, the UK has been suffering from low labor productivity growth. Economists note that if businesses want to increase efficiency, a broader adoption of robotics is necessary.
This opens commercial opportunities for Chinese robotics companies. The UK has one of the largest e-commerce and logistics markets in Europe, yet automation is still at an early stage in many warehouses. In this context, the UK has become the largest European market for the aforementioned Chinese robotics company. One British company has already implemented more than 2,000 Chinese robots across ten of its warehouse sites.
Please note; This information is raw content obtained directly from the source. It is an accurate report of what the source claims and does not necessarily reflect the position of MIL-OSI or its clients.