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OFFICIALS in Foshan, south China’s Guangdong Province, said yesterday they plan to open a “robot supermarket” in the city’s Shunde District.

The center, which is set to open in September, will be the first of its kind, they said.

It will give developers a place to exhibit and sell their latest models, and provide a platform for research and development, and intellectual property rights protection, said Xuan Ganhua, an official with the robotics industry in Shunde.

“It will incorporate robot sales and exhibitions as well as labs where industrial robots are designed, programmed and built,” Xuan said, adding that robots at the center will serve different industrial sectors.

An IPR protection court will also be located on the premises, Xuan said.

Officials will allow only well-known brands to join. A total of 30 Chinese and foreign brands will have a presence during the initial phase.

“We have already chosen some companies, including German brand Kuka,” said Lie Haijian, deputy head of Shunde.

The district is a model area for robotics development and home to more than 20 companies.

The main complex of the center has been completed, and workers are decorating the interior.

The role of industrial robots is growing in China due to worker shortages and soaring labor costs. Last year, 56,000 industrial robots were sold in China, up 54 percent from the previous year. According to the International Federation of Robotics, China will have 400,000 industrial robots by 2017.

“The supermarket will be conducive to the development of the robotics industry in China because it will bring the world’s latest technology into one platform,” said Yang Yang, general manager of Changsha Chaint Robotics Co.

Despite growing demand, China’s domestically produced robots lag behind international producers.

Last year, robots from domestic producers accounted for less than 29 percent of the total sold in China, and even robots classified as domestic rely on key imported components.

“The supermarket will give companies from home and abroad a chance to compete and learn from each other,” said He Minjia, general nanager of GSK CNC Equipment Co, a Guangzhou-based company focused on numerical control of machine tools.