Gan Xie, Mr. G. Chee Wren

Both the U.S. and China are facing a labor shortage. The U.S. solution is to import millions of low skilled workers.

China's solution is to reduce the need for workers by 90%.

China to Start Using Robots in Assembly Line in Guangdong’s First Zero-Labor Factory

Everwin Precision Technology Ltd., a private company based in Dongguan, is planning to put 1,000 more robots in use in its first phase of the zero-labor project. The company has already put 100 robots on its assembly line, the report added.

"The 'zero-labor factory' does not mean we will not employ any humans, but what it means is that we will scale down the size of workers by up to 90 percent," Chen Qixing, the company's board chairman, said.
Chen added that from the current 2,000 workers, the company will only need at least 200 employees who will operate the software and do backstage management.

The report said the call to use smart robots in places around the Pearl River Delta, including Foshan and Dongguan, became widespread with the current labor shortage which have affected the manufacturing sector.

"It is necessary to replace human workers with robots, given the severe labor shortage and mounting labor costs," Di Suoling, head of Dongguan-based Taiwan Business Association, was quoted as saying.

According to data released after the Lunar New Year in February, manufacturers need an estimated 600,000 to 800,000 workers.

The report added that hordes of migrant workers have returned home and some decided to stay and settle down in their hometowns.

Capitalism is relatively simple. Accumulate capital, invest in capital goods that raise productivity, increase profits and wages, accumulate more capital......

China's solution to the labor shortage is to place the burden on capital, to rely on capitalism, which will lead to greater per capita wealth in the future. The U.S. solution is to place the burden on labor, which will lead to lower per capita wealth in the future.

WSJ: Why China May Have the Most Factory Robots in the World by 2017

“China has explosive growth (in robots),” says Henrik Christensen, head of Georgia Institute of Technology’s robotics lab, adding that all the world’s biggest automation companies are rushing to build factories there to supply demand for new machines.

The International Federation of Robotics estimates about 225,000 industrial robots were sold throughout the world last year—27% more than the year before and a new record. Of those, about 56,000 were sold in China.

The trade group says one reason China will continue booming is because it has relatively low “robot density.” China has about 30 robots for every 10,000 factory workers. In Germany, the density is 10 times higher. In Japan, it’s 11 times higher.

China, along with the entire developed world, have the right demographics for automation. China and Japan are relying on capital investment, the U.S. and Europe are relying in part on imported labor. Both may achieve similar top line growth, but the policies of China and Japan are far more favorable to the average citizen in terms of expected per capita income going forward.