manufactures

China manufactures 90% of the world’s humanoid robots and the reason is not its industrial policy: it is crossing the street

by

On Chinese New Year, 16 Unitree humanoid robots danced a folk dance before almost a billion viewers. The West reacted as always: some with panic, others with disdain, others with an undisguised admiration that sometimes tends to concoct theories with more clichés regarding China than real analysis. None of those answers is entirely true and that blindness has a cost. The context. China manufactures about 90% of the humanoid robots sold in the world. In 2025, about 13,000 units were shipped, with Chinese companies (AgiBot, Unitree, UBTech…) dominating the ranking by volume, according to Omdia data collected by Bloomberg. Tesla, with all its brand reputation and all its industrial apparatus, internally deployed around 800 units of the Optimus that same year. The figure. He Unitree G1 It costs $13,500. He Tesla Optimus will exceed 20,000. That gap is the difference between being able to iterate ten times with the same budget or staying at one. Between the lines. The story circulating in the West has two versions, equally lazy: The first: all this is the five-year plan, the hand of the State, industrial policy made robot. The second, reserved for the most condescending: it is because they copy. Neither of them explains what is really happening. China’s advantage in robotics does not come from the Communist Party. It comes from the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze Delta: the two densest manufacturing ecosystems on the planet. Motors, actuators, sensors, custom PCBs… everything is available within walking distance. Is what it describes Rui Xuan engineer who has worked in robotics startups in China and Silicon Valley. When Unitree wants to test a new joint design, it crosses the street and comes back with the right component. A team in San Francisco has to wait weeks to receive the same component from China. The background. That difference in iteration speed changes everything in hardware engineering. It stops being a problem of talent, because Chinese and American engineers are equally capable, and becomes a problem of infrastructure. Breaking a robot, learning, replacing it, and trying again: that’s what builds cumulative technical advantage. If breaking a robot costs three weeks of logistics, learning stops and times become longer. Yes, but. China does have state support, and it is completely legitimate to point this out. The government has injected a lot of money into that sector and has set production targets. But it’s not that Silicon Valley is an impoverished region: it has more capital, investors with more experience and resources, and more decades of experience financing high-risk bets. If this were a war to see who has the fattest checkbook, the United States would win handily. But it is not. Furthermore, Chinese state money comes with strings attached: it is classified as “state asset” and founders assume personal liability if the company fails. That pushes capital toward politically safe bets, not necessarily toward the most innovative ones. The question. Can the West make up ground in robotics? Yes, but not like he’s trying. Attracting foreign talent helps on the margin, but does not solve the underlying problem. The equalization involves building local supply chains capable of delivering a spare part in two days, not two weeks. And that is not an immigration or R&D problem. It is an industrial-based problem, and solving it takes many years of work. And of thankless work, from which those who arrive later may reap the fruits. Until then we are going to see many more viral videos of Chinese robots doing pirouettes with increasing naturalness. And it’s because they’ve built the best environment in the world to break things and try again. In engineering, that explains almost everything. Featured image | CCTV In Xataka | Folding clothes or taking apart LEGOs has always been a tedious task. Xiaomi’s new AI for robots has put an end to it

Europe manufactures in Algeria with the same method that criticizes China and Algeria has been tired

by

When Ebro arrived in Spain, it was said that the intention was to return the company to a fully Spanish past. The truth is that, for the moment, it has little because Ebro S700 and S800 They are, in essence, versions of the Chery Tiggo who are given life through the DKD system. This way of working It resembles that of a puzzle. Instead of having a whole assembly line where the different pieces are assembled and equipped with a driving train, Chery sends cars in almost mounted containers and, here, they finish joining a few parts to leave through the doors of the factory. The system is controversial. At the moment he has helped to boost work in the old Nissan factory in Barcelona for which a clear future was not. But The DKD system is hardly impact on the region since less workers are needed and all pieces (and suppliers) come from China. This way of acting, in fact, It has not been well seen by the European Union that they have already warned Chery that they would not help them save tariffs on their electric cars, understanding that They were bridging They with a minimum investment. A similar situation is what they have in Algeria. And the government has sent a message: the time has come for this to end. “We want to produce cars” “We want to produce global cars locally, and the time of inflating tires is over.” The words have been pronounced by Abdelmajid Tebboune, president of Algeria, In an interview with local media. This metaphor for “inflar tires” refers to the superficial investment that large manufacturers make in the country to “produce” your cars in the country African. Right now, Stellantis is producing fiat cars there. So does the Volkswagen group (with Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen and Audi) or Renault. Hyundai or Chery is expected to also open new plants in the country in the near future. However, Algeria lives a complicated situation with this part of the industry. As in the case of Ebro, the local investments of the manufacturers are minimal and what you really want is to skip tariffs and difficult homologations of imported vehicles that have been created to protect the local economy. Renault, for example, acts with the symbol (his Renault Clio in Algeria) in the same way that Chery does with Ebro in Spain. “The vehicle arrives semi or completely finished, so there is nothing to ride,” says Mohamed Bairi, head of Ival, importer of Iveco, to local media. The intention, therefore, is that the use of pieces provided by local suppliers and the involvement in Algerian plants is greater. Stellantis ensures that the use of local pieces will increase by, minimum, 35% from 2026. What the government wants is that this changing forcing the integration of local parts to be at least 30%. As they collect in L’Automobilejust 5% of pieces used in Algeria come from local supplies. It remains to see how this will affect Hyundai’s plans and, above all, those of companies like Chery who trusted the CKD system to sell their vehicles in the country. This last option increases work rates in the country where you work locally and that is what You want to do with the electric omoda 5 In Barcelona. However, all pieces come from abroad and that is what ampoules has raised in the European Union and want to avoid in Algeria. Photo | Renault In Xataka | Morocco is positioning himself as an opponent to beat in the electric car: China has it clearer and clearer

manufactures in a week what the earth takes one billion years

by

For centuries, diamonds have been synonymous with luxury, shortage and geological time: a jewel that nature carries over one billion years underground. Now China has found a way to reduce times and create the perfect diamond. Made in China. 70% of synthetic diamonds Used in worldwide jewelry they are already manufactured in China, especially in the province of Henan. In a Financial Times report They have explained That companies like Jiaruifu, led by Feng Canjun, have managed to manufacture a three carat diamond – the typical size of a engagement ring – in just a week. But it is synthetic. Yes, but its irruption has meant an unprecedented disruption in the market of precious stones. As explained by Marty Hurwitz, director of the Grown Diamond Trade Organization, to the British environmentthis is “the first really competitive product that the natural diamond has faced.” And he has done it with devastating consequences: the prices of smaller natural diamonds have fallen to minimums of the last decade. According to data from the Tenoris consultantsynthetic diamond already represents 17 % of the volume of the retail market in the US, and more than half in commitment rings, a key category. 60 years of improvement. After the break with the USSR in the 60s, Beijing was forced to develop its own production capacity. As New York Times collectedthe Soviets used diamonds not only as raw material but as a diplomatic and economic weapon. Given that pressure and without relevant natural reservations, China opted for the technological and long -distance path: produce its own laboratory diamonds. What was born as a geopolitical survival strategy has become a globally dominant industry today. The creation process. As have detailed in FTcompanies such as Jiaruifu mainly use two methods: high pressure-high temperature (HPHT) and chemical vapor deposition (CVD), the latter most recent and effective for large gems. In addition, efficiency is not just technique. The carving process is subcontracts to India, where labor costs are lower, and transport is carried out through hubs such as Dubai or Antwerp, although on the label of the final product there is no trace of its Chinese origin. There is another differential. China does not stay with crossed ones as soon as it has a fixed goal, we have already observed that its plans are never in the short term, we can observe it in Your plans with oil. As detailed The Huanghe Whirlwind company are also making improvements in the diamond creation process, but they wanted to bet on a more sustainable model. In this project they have managed to integrate solar energy into their manufacturing process. This innovation not only drastically reduces the carbon footprint by quilate, but also positions China as a pioneer in “green” synthetic diamonds. A dramatic turn. The traditional natural diamond industry is in check. In 2024, by Beers – the historical giant of the sector— It accumulated an inventory of non -selling diamonds valued at 2,000 million dollars. Its synthetic diamond division, Lightbox, He closed recently After losing competitiveness in front of Chinese brands. To this is added a cultural change: younger consumers no longer demand natural diamonds, and many prioritize price and sustainability. As He has revealed British designer Fei Liu to the Financial Times, at first he resisted using synthetic stones, but the price “flew his head.” Another conquered sector. Beyond technological and commercial success, synthetic diamond is becoming a new strategic front for China. The Government has not left the market to operate freely: in Henan, the Provincial Administration has promoted the creation of a diamond association with the aim of stabilizing prices and avoiding a destructive career down. As He explained Feng Al Financial Times, a minimum price of $ 15 per caa has been set for the stones between one and ten carats. If a company sells below that threshold, its competitors can report it to the authorities, which will intervene. This policy reminds the strategy adopted in the electric car sector, another field in which China He has led technologicallybut where excess supply and fierce competition also caused price wars. In both cases, Beijing has sought to impose order in sectors considered key to industrial sovereignty and the country’s geopolitical positioning. Compressing times. In that process, the Asian giant has challenged a centenary industry, has democratized luxury and has drawn a new map for the global diamond trade. What was previously a symbol of rarity and eternity, today can be produced in mass, sold at a low cost and with a minimum ecological footprint. The diamond is no longer what it was. And it is very possible that, for most consumers, that is not necessarily a bad. Image | Pexels and Unspash Xataka | Antimony under another flag: the Chinese mineral that continues to enter the US disguised for Thai or Mexican export

manufactures its pieces in Mexico

by

20%tariffs, to begin with all the countries of the European Union. That has been one of Donald Trump’s great ads last morning. The president of the United States has confirmed an almost endless list of new taxes to a total of 200 countries and regions. And, in addition, some specific ones are maintained. Among them, those related to the automobile industry. 25%. That is the tax that The United States Government will charge To all cars and pieces to make cars that enter through its borders. At least that is the intention of the US administration that has maintained these rates despite the concrete impositions to countries or organizations. This implies that a car that is manufactured in the United States will also have to pay A 25% extra cost For each and every one of the pieces that have been exported to the country. For example, if the battery of an electric car is manufactured outside its borders, said vehicle will have 25% of that battery. Tariffs to countries. This measure has not prevented Donald Trump from announcing new tariffs yesterday night. These new economic walls country will apply by country (or the sum of them, like the European Union). Implies that Europe will pay 20% For each and every one of the exports that makes the United States. Spain, for example, has in its Olive wine and oil exports to the United States as one of its main markets. If you want to continue operating in the country, companies will have to pay 20% more for their products to enter through their borders. However, these generalized tariffs do not apply if a specific industry has a higher tax. As 25% to the automobile industry is greater than 20% that the products of the European Union receive, the highest section is applied. Little affected … The automobile industry in Spain will be little affected. At least directly. This occurs because most of the cars that are manufactured in Spain are small and of contained prices. That is, they are The perfect product to sell in the European Union That, in fact, it is with much the main buyer of cars Made in Spain. In fact, mass vehicles are not exported to the United States. Some time ago it was done with the Mercedes Vito and the Ford Transit. However, no car or van is currently sent. … more or less. That the automobile industry does not directly suffer the designs of the new United States government does not mean that 20% tariffs to the European Union and 25% to cars are not a problem. Keep in mind that with such high tariffs an increase in short -term prices is expected, which, in turn, results in an economic deceleration and lower consumption. It is a threat to Germany, that does not go through its best moment And it is also the main car buyer in Spain. Of course, it is not good news that the European buyer has less money in his pocket. The component industry. Those who will be more affected by the 25% tariff to the non -American car are component manufacturers to produce cars. This industry represents more than 25.6 billion euros in Spain, According to Sernauto data. The Spanish Association of Automotive Suppliers (SERNAUTO) points out that 65% of the exports that Spain carries out in this sector are destined for the European Union, adding more than 16,600 million euros. Again, Germany (3,950 million euros) and France (3,840 million euros) were the main commercial partners. The role of the United States is much more content. It is the eighth country by business volume to which Spain exports its components. However, the association indicates that it is a strategic market, with high added value and key indirect dependencies. Beyond the direct tax. Beyond the 1,021 million euros that the export of components for automotive to the United States is calculated, the sector is enduring breathing because it ensures that the Spanish component industry has a great presence in Mexico. So much Mexico like Canada await What measures Donald Trump finally takes with these countries. Historical commercial allies, the president of the United States has repeatedly threatened them with raising new levies against them. This would be a greater coup for the interests of Spanish companies. In addition, we must add that an increase in the price of the products that Germany exports to the United States can force productive costs to be cut and, therefore, other commercial partners are studied. Here, it is impressible for Spain to remain competitive so as not to be replaced by suppliers that offer their products at a lower price. Government response. For the moment, The European Union waits until April 9 To vote what measures it takes against tariffs that the United States to Imports of Steel and Aluminum (keys also in vehicle production). Besides, hope to have this Friday A meeting with American representatives. From the Government, Pedro Sánchez has announced that a source of support to the sectors affected by exports worth 14,100 million euros will open. Of these, 6,000 million euros in two ICO guarantees of 6,000 million, a 200 million euros investment support fund for new plants and the network mechanism “to maintain templates similar to how ERTe acted during the pandemic”, in words collected by The country. Photo | The White House and Sernauto In Xataka | Trump tariffs have caused the Big Tech debacle in the stock market. And propose a slowdown in investment in AI

Log In

Forgot password?

Forgot password?

Enter your account data and we will send you a link to reset your password.

Your password reset link appears to be invalid or expired.

Log in

Privacy Policy

Add to Collection

No Collections

Here you'll find all collections you've created before.