cross-posted from: https://lemmy.zip/post/50900195

https://archive.md/kzbKS

Robotics has catapulted Beijing into a dominant position in many industries

“It’s the most humbling thing I’ve ever seen,” said Ford’s chief executive about his recent trip to China.

“Their cost and the quality of their vehicles is far superior to what I see in the West,” Farley warned in July.

Andrew Forrest, the Australian billionaire behind mining giant Fortescue – which is investing massively in green energy – says his trips to China convinced him to abandon his company’s attempts to manufacture electric vehicle powertrains in-house.

Other executives describe vast, “dark factories” where robots do so much of the work alone that there is no need to even leave the lights on for humans.

“We visited a dark factory producing some astronomical number of mobile phones,” recalls Greg Jackson, the boss of British energy supplier Octopus.

In Britain, Shenzhen-based BYD multiplied its September sales by a factor of 10 this year – overtaking far more established brands such as Mini, Renault and Land Rover.