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Central Media Spotlight! Economic Daily and Securities Daily Report on Zhongnan Intelligent on the Same Day: China's Industrial Robots Go Global, Shifting from "Selling Products" to "Selling Solutions"

Release date: 2026-07-08

On July 6, Economic Daily and Securities Daily — two authoritative central-level media outlets — simultaneously published an in-depth report titled "Industrial Robots Going Global: From Selling Products to Selling Solutions," focusing on the transformation of China's industrial robot industry as it accelerates its climb toward the mid-to-high end of the global value chain. Hunan Zhongnan Intelligent Equipment Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Zhongnan Intelligent") was interviewed as a representative enterprise of the industry. The company's embodied-intelligence welding robots and its integrated go-global model of "technology + solutions + services" received prominent coverage, demonstrating Zhongnan Intelligent's technical strength and industry influence amid the wave of Chinese intelligent manufacturing expanding overseas.

Accelerated Global Expansion: A Historic Leap for China's Industrial Robots

As the report noted, data from the General Administration of Customs shows that China's industrial robot exports grew 48.7% year on year in 2025, with export volume surpassing imports for the first time — a historic breakthrough into net exports. From January to May 2026, cumulative exports reached 86,597 units, up 39.5% year on year, including 20,090 units in May alone, up 51.2%, as overseas demand for Chinese-made industrial robots continued to surge. China's industrial robots are evolving from component suppliers to the "world's factory" into solution providers for global intelligent manufacturing.

In this process, the key to competition is no longer the export of stand-alone products, but a comprehensive contest of technical solutions and service standards — precisely the direction in which Zhongnan Intelligent has been deeply engaged for years.

A Technological Calling Card: Rapid Overseas Adoption of Embodied-Intelligence Welding Robots

Gao Di, Member of the General Party Branch Committee of Zhongnan Intelligent and Chairman of Changsha Changtai Robot Co., Ltd., stated in an interview: "In the industrial robot arena, competition has never been about the export of stand-alone products — it is a comprehensive contest of technical solutions and service standards. Technological distinctiveness is a calling card for China's industrial robots."

Take Zhongnan Intelligent's independently developed embodied-intelligence welding robot as an example: equipped with an embodied intelligence system, the robot can autonomously generate optimal welding recommendations and automatically adapt to production requirements without frequent production-line debugging. This both distinguishes it from conventional industrial robots and represents the distinctive competitive edge of China's industrial robots.

Gao Di noted that a large proportion of the industrial robots the company currently exports are embodied-intelligence robots. As the focus of competition in the global robot industry shifts from traditional automation efficiency toward intelligent collaboration and multi-scenario applications, Zhongnan Intelligent's embodied-intelligence robot products have rapidly scaled up and gained a firm foothold in overseas markets.

Systemic Capability: From "Able to Make" to "Making It Well," from "Selling Products" to "Selling Solutions"

The research, development, manufacturing, and application of industrial robots are important benchmarks of a country's capacity for scientific and technological innovation and high-end manufacturing. As a backbone enterprise in Hunan's intelligent manufacturing sector, Zhongnan Intelligent has built a full-chain capability system covering R&D, manufacturing, integration, and services around its three core business segments — intelligent robots, digital-intelligent services, and laser equipment — continuously advancing the deep integration of artificial intelligence with intelligent manufacturing equipment.

For overseas markets, the company has transformed and upgraded its export model into the integrated delivery of "technology + solutions + services." No longer confined to the sale of stand-alone products, it leverages the differentiated advantages of core technologies such as embodied intelligence to provide overseas customers with holistic solutions — a vivid example of the Chinese industrial robot industry's shift in role from "selling products" to "selling solutions."

Looking Ahead: Anchored in the 15th Five-Year Plan, Setting Off Again at a Striding Pace

The simultaneous coverage in two major central media outlets is both a strong endorsement of Zhongnan Intelligent's technological innovation and achievements in going global, and a new starting point for the company's ascent toward the mid-to-high end of the global value chain. Standing at the critical juncture of the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan, Zhongnan Intelligent will maintain its "striding" development pace, continue to increase R&D investment, cultivate frontier technologies such as embodied intelligence, and keep refining its integrated delivery capability of "technology + solutions + services." While consolidating its foundation in the domestic market, the company will actively expand into overseas markets, contributing more "Zhongnan solutions" as Chinese intelligent manufacturing goes global.

Keywords: Central Media Spotlight! Economic Daily and Securities Daily Report on Zhongnan Intelligent on the Same Day: China's Industrial Robots Go Global, Shifting from "Selling Products" to "Selling Solutions"