Chinese catering robots to test waters in Japan

Robot serve meals at a restaurant.[Photo/People's Daily Online]

Pangolin-Robot, the largest catering robot manufacturer in China, will soon spread to Japan by cooperating with the University of Electro-Communications, Japan’s Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported.

Kunshan-based Pangolin-Robot will set up an agency in Japan for marketing and sales as early as this month. In April 2017, the company will establish a research and development center at the university. CampusCreate, an institute affiliated with the University of Electro-Communications, will provide technological assistance for the project.

Huis Ten Bosch, a theme park in Nagasaki, Japan, is considering introducing such food service robots in the park, according to the report. The park's dining area has previously introduced greeting and cooking robots. The food service robot will be sold for 500,000 Japanese yen (about 30,000 RMB).

Pangolin-Robot accounts for roughly 70 percent of the catering robot market share, thanks to its sales network around China. It has also signed a cooperation memorandum with Hikuchi, which specializes in model-making and the robot business.

China emphasized the development of its robotics industry in a mid-term plan to upgrade manufacturing in 2015. As China has gradually put more effort into its robotics industry, Chinese enterprises are becoming more competent and competitive.