Job fair held for elderly care robotics

CHENGDU — Authorities in Chengdu, a sci-tech hub in Sichuan province, have unveiled their inaugural requirements for hospital and senior care robotics at a special job fair.

The pioneering event, hosted by the Chengdu Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, the civil affairs bureau and the health commission on March 12, highlighted Chengdu's ambition to become a national hub for robotics innovation while addressing labor shortages through automation.

In elderly care there are 22 categories of robots spanning daily life assistance, rehabilitation nursing, safety patrols and emotional companionship, according to the municipal bureau of economy and information technology.

For hospitals, needs range from medical assistance and drug delivery to artificial intelligence-powered diagnostics and precision rehabilitation, spanning 10 projects at nine medical centers.

Zhang Long, a manager at Chengdu 7th People's Hospital, arrived with a specific request: sanitation robots.

"Traditional manual disinfection is inefficient. We need smart devices to replace repetitive, single-task jobs," he said, reflecting a broader shift toward automation in public health.

Zhang emphasized Chengdu's growing reliance on advanced robotics like surgical and rehabilitation assistants to meet rising healthcare demands.

He described the event as "mutually beneficial exploration" bridging tech developers and end users.

Zhang's employer is among nine institutions piloting robots for tasks such as patient guidance and logistics.

"Opening up real-world scenarios as 'testing grounds' allows us to gradually discover smarter robots," he explained, noting that adoption starts with basic tasks like disinfection before scaling up to complex roles.

Chengdu's government aims to accelerate this synergy.

The municipal bureau of economy and information technology outlined plans to leverage the city's healthcare strengths to create a "demand-driven, scenario-validated" ecosystem.

It identified 87 robotics products from 31 companies in its first supply catalog, enabling targeted matches at the event.

Local tech startups also seized the opportunity to pitch cutting-edge solutions.

At the job fair, Feng Rui, chairman of a local technology company, entered wearing a helmet-like brain-computer interface device.

"This equipment is primarily used for autism screening. Today, I am here to seek 'partners'," he said.

"Brain-control technology is an integral part of the robotics industry chain. There are several companies here that we can collaborate with," Feng noted, expressing his desire to find more testing grounds for the company's research and development products.

"Currently, our products are being used in several community health centers, and a production line in Jinjiang district (of Chengdu) is set to be operational within this year. We hope to seize opportunities like this to expand our market reach," he said.

Fan Xinhua, CEO of Buffalo Robotics (Chengdu) Technology Co, promoted the company's exoskeletons, which have been deployed at many of the nation's top hospitals.

The company's new-generation brain-controlled exoskeleton, set for 2025 release, uses neural signals to enhance rehabilitation accuracy.

"We aim to bring these devices into communities and homes, empowering the elderly and disabled," Fan said.

According to the China Commercial Industry Research Institute, the market size for service robots in China was approximately 60 billion yuan ($8.4 billion) in 2023, with average annual compound growth of 32 percent over the past five years.

Analysts predict that the market for service robots in China will grow to 85 billion yuan by 2025.

Backed by robust policies, Chengdu is fast-tracking its robotics industry with strategies including monthly robotics fairs and "robot plus" opportunity lists. It will also launch initiatives to crowd-source breakthroughs in core technologies while fostering collaboration among labs, manufacturers and end users.

Xinhua