Robots, AI and Innovative Drugs Emerge as New Drivers of China’s Export Growth
Dragon Media News Desk
Robots, artificial intelligence (AI)-related products and innovative drugs are emerging as major new drivers of China’s export growth as the country expands further into higher-value industries powered by innovation.
According to data released Friday by China’s General Administration of Customs, the country’s exports rose 17.8 percent year on year in July. High-tech products, including industrial robots and 3D printers, contributed nearly 60 percent of the total increase in exports.
Exports of industrial robots rose 13.2 percent in July to 7.34 billion yuan, equivalent to about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars. The sector has continued to gain momentum after China became a net exporter of industrial robots for the first time in 2025.
Beyond industrial robots, Chinese-made consumer and humanoid robots are also finding broader applications worldwide, ranging from manufacturing to everyday life.
Official data showed that in the first half of this year, exports of surgical robots increased 3.3-fold year on year to 480 million yuan. Exports of cleaning robots and intelligent bionic robots—including humanoid robots, robotic dogs and biomimetic fish and birds—reached 18.09 billion yuan.
Exports related to artificial intelligence also recorded strong growth. From January to June, exports of electronic components and computer parts both posted double-digit increases, jointly contributing 6.9 percentage points to overall export growth.
China’s technology exports are no longer limited to physical products and are increasingly expanding into digital services. Chinese companies are providing overseas markets with AI algorithms, cloud-computing services and various digital solutions.
According to OpenRouter, a global platform that aggregates large language models, all six of the most-used models on its platform in July were open-source models developed in China.
A similar trend is visible in the pharmaceutical sector, where Chinese companies are increasingly taking their innovations to global markets through licensing agreements for new drugs.
In the first half of this year, Chinese companies signed 81 outbound licensing agreements for innovative drugs with partners in 20 countries and regions, including the United States, Britain, France and Italy. The total value of those agreements reached about 80 percent of the full-year total recorded in 2025.
According to China’s National Medical Products Administration, the country now accounts for around 30 percent of new drugs currently under development worldwide, ranking second globally in this field.
The rapid expansion of robotics, AI, digital services and pharmaceutical innovation indicates that China’s export structure is increasingly shifting beyond traditional manufacturing toward high-technology and higher-value industries.
