China’s National People's Congress announced venture capital fund / Frankfurt, Mar 25, 2025 — China’s National Development and Reform Commission has announced to set up a state-backed venture capital fund focused on robotics, AI and cutting-edge innovation. The long-term fund is expected to attract nearly 1 trillion yuan (US$138 billion) in capital from local governments and the private sector over 20 years. This initiative aims to continue China's technology-driven success story in manufacturing: In ten years, the country's global share of industrial robot installations has risen from around one-fifth to more than half of the world's total demand. "China has succeeded in upgrading its manufacturing industry at an unprecedented pace," says Takayuki Ito, President of the International Federation of Robotics. "Based on their national robotics strategy released in December 2021, the country has set an example of how to systematically strengthen competitiveness." (....)