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Beijing declared its strategic vision of building a global innovation center for the robot industry by 2025 at the ongoing 2017 World Robot Conference (WRC).

The WRC, a feast for both tech geeks and general visitors, kicked off on Aug. 23 in Beijing.

China is transiting from a major market of robot applications to an innovation base for the industry.

Sales volume of industrial robots in China has seen an average annual growth of 35% in recent years. A total of 72,000 industrial robots have been produced by the country in 2016, accounting for a quarter of the world's total.

In addition, China is now leading the world in terms of voice and image recognition technologies, and has made major breakthroughs in the development of key components, such as controllers, servomotors, and precise reducers.

As the hotbed of China's cutting-edge information technologies, Beijing has its advantages in the development of the robot industry. In 2016, the city's revenue of software and information service industries totaled 728.76 billion yuan. Meanwhile, Beijing is also home to more than 240 AI enterprises, with 7,841 patents.

Beijing will take two steps to achieve its strategic vision. By 2020, the capital will have established 10 leading industry enterprises, 10 research and innovation centers, and 10 major industrial robot projects, raising revenue by 12 to 15 billion yuan.

For the second step, the city plans to forge a world-leading system of robotic technology synergy innovation, and complete the construction of the innovation center before 2025.