China has been the world's largest market for industrial robots for eight consecutive years, becoming a vital force to support the development of the global robot industry, state broadcaster CCTV reported.

Xin Guobin, vice-minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, made the remarks at the 2021 World Robot Conference on Saturday.

Carrying the theme "Inject momentum and share results to build a win-win collaborative society", the high-tech fair attracted over 110 exhibitors showcasing more than 500 new robotics products and solutions.

Statistics showed the size of the global robot sector increased to $30.6 billion in 2019 from $20.4 billion in 2016, with average annual growth rate of 14.5 percent. Since the COVID-19 outbreak, the role of service robots has expanded greatly.

Liang Jing, deputy secretary-general of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, said robots' application scenarios have transformed from traditional industrial manufacturing and family services to logistics, storage, community management, catering and entertainment.

During the first half of this year, thanks to supportive polices and the overall business environment, the robot industry witnessed rapid growth, bringing huge development space and opportunities for enterprises.

This year, China's robot industry is expected to see growth of more than 30 percent, said Hao Yucheng, deputy director of the China Robot Industry Alliance.

In economics, industry and society, China has a huge market. Thus, the capital market remains positive on the domestic robot sector, with more rational inflows, Hao added.