Workers assemble vehicles in a smart factory of Chang'an Kuayue Automobile Co., Ltd. in Wanzhou District, southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Sept. 23, 2020. In recent years, Wanzhou District has stepped up measures to make the local manufacturing industry smarter. Factories have become more efficient with the introduction of industrial robots and cloud platforms. (Xinhua/Wang Quanchao)

Overseas industrial giants in different fields from robotics to chemical products are expanding their production facilities in the Chinese mainland, as they view plenty of business opportunities arising in the process of China's industry manufacturing upgrade, a key mission in the country's five-year plan between 2021-25. 

On Friday, the Switzerland-headquartered robotics company ABB opened a fully automated robotics company in Shanghai after several years of construction. 

The facility is 67,000 square meters in size, and combines both production and research representing a total investment of $150 million, the company revealed. 

Divided into multiple sectors including a research laboratory, automated warehouses and production lines, the new plant is installed with large, neat-looking workshops, modular production cells and "robot-making robots," which is widely seen as one of the biggest highlights of the new facility, the Global Times observed on site. 

According to the company, the factory will produce 41 of the company's robotics products and 31 robot models including six-axis robots and painting robots. The products will serve a wide range of industries ranging from traditional ones such as automotives and food to emerging industries like 5G consumer electronics. 

ABB is one example of overseas industrial giants that have made the move to expand in-vestment in China in recent years, despite challenges such as the coronavirus. For example, German chemical giant BASF inaugurated its largest surface treatment site in Pinghu of  East China's Zhejiang Province in November, the company announced on its official website.

On November 25, US fiber and chemicals plant Invista also inaugurated a new adiponitrile plant in Shanghai with a total investment of over $1 billion, which is the largest capital project in the company's history, according to a press release sent by the firm to the Global Times.

Such examples of investment by leading overseas industrial giants are a reflection of over-seas investors' confidence in the potential of the Chinese market despite temporary economic fluctuations, as they see that China's industrial upgrade is offering them plenty of business opportunities. 

"China is undergoing a transformation in industrial automation and is at the heart of a global market that we predict will be worth $130 billion by 2025," said Sami Atiya, president of the robotics and discrete automation business at ABB on Friday. 

He said that the transformation is happening as businesses are looking to generate resilience against uncertainties and searching for solutions to labor and skill shortages. 

According to Liang Rui, head of ABB Robotics Division China, the company is speeding up its "localization strategy" in the country because Chinese companies have shown strong, continued demand for automation with the Chinese government's strong support for the industry in the 14th Five-Year Plan.

China's 14th Five-Year Plan featured a focus on transforming the country into an advanced manufacturing superpower. China has also unveiled a plan for its robotics industry, aiming for it to become a global center of technology innovation, high-end manufacturing and integrated applications by 2025. 

Interiors of a new plant opened by robotics company ABB in Shanghai. Photo: Courtesy of ABB