(Yicai Global) July 7 -- China, the world's largest robot market, is attracting more companies to the industry. Domestic robot enterprises still have a long way to go to catch up with international titans.

Japan's Yaskawa Electric Corp. [TYO:6506] and Germany-based KUKA AG [FWB:KU2] were among those that introduced major products at the China (Guangzhou) International Robotics Exhibition 2017, which opened on July 5. Chinese robotics firms occupied the largest number of booths at the event.

China's robot makers promoted their products as having an advantage in cost-effectiveness at the show. A speed reducer (a core industrial robot part) that was made in China can be priced for 20 to 30 percent less than its imported counterparts as domestic firms do not need to pay import tariffs and their transportation and production costs are lower than foreign firms' outlays, a reducer producer said.

Many domestic robot companies said that although they were local firms, core components in their products were imported.

The Chinese robot industry's foundation is still relatively weak, both in terms of independent innovation capacity and core technology, which has become the bottleneck in the country's development in the sector, Wang Ruixiang, president of the China Machinery Industry Federation, told Yicai Global.

Most domestic robot products at the expo lacked distinctive characteristics and had a primitive design, a sharp contrast with the impressive red-orange KUKA bots and the ocean blue YASKAWA ones.

The robot industry has struggled to advance its development with financial subsidies, said Qu Daokui, president of Shenyang-based Siasun Robot and Automation Co.

Siasun is building technical, talent and capital platforms to improve its robotics ecosystem, Qu said. With about USD2.9 billion (CNY20 billion), Siasun's capital platform may foster several robot companies with high technology content, Qu said.