Much has been made of the artificial intelligence race between the US and China as the two national powerhouses compete for leadership in the world’s fastest-growing industry. For some Western observers, China’s progress in autonomous robotics is a cause for concern. But the nation’s robotics revolution extends far beyond surveillance and military uses, existing at the intersection of increasingly capable computing, manufacturing and industrialization capabilities. This confluence is perhaps best exemplified by China’s advances in smart agriculture, where engineers are bringing autonomous robots to the country’s agricultural, livestock and aquaculture industries. By developing autonomous robots to help plant and harvest crops, control pests, identify diseases, monitor animal health, and even socially engineer fish behavior, China has reached several major milestones in its robotic breeding program.
Beijing outlined its ambitions to boost AI agriculture in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs’ National Smart Agriculture Action Plan. In the plan, the government outlines its expectation that more than 30 percent of its agricultural production will be driven by information-based systems by 2026. At the forefront of this national smart agriculture initiative is the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which has developed a national strategy to promote innovative advances in robot-assisted agriculture in several Chinese provinces. To accelerate these developments, Beijing has established 34 innovation labs and 35 IT labs dedicated to smart agriculture. As a result, farms across the country have begun employing LLMs and autonomous robots in their operations. This trend could create a new global agricultural landscape where AI drives progress in multiple endeavors, from fighting potato disease to genetically modifying crops.
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Automation is becoming a fixture in Chinese agriculture
Two drones and a red tractor against a vast green farm field – Smart Industry China/X
Robotics is playing an increasingly important role in China’s crop management systems. For example, in the Chinese province of Sichuan, autonomous robots are inspecting rice fields using black-light cameras, channeling data through their embedded AI systems to flag both pests and diseases. At another farm, “smart brain” systems remotely monitor fields to gather data on soil quality, crop health and environmental trends, enabling predictions of crop growth, yields and pest outbreaks. A set of agricultural robots controlled by WeChat can plant seeds, harvest crops and remove weeds.
Some projects have even applied artificial intelligence-based robotics to crop breeding, with a team of scientists speeding up crop development by 400 percent using the technology, according to SCMP. This process has been facilitated by “robot-friendly” crops, which are designed to be easier to pollinate and harvest by robots. Using the same autonomous robotic systems, some Chinese farms have been able to completely automate their crop cultivation processes.
However, Beijing’s use cases for robotics in agriculture go beyond crops. A robot developed by Muyuan Foods Co., Ltd. uses smart sensors to monitor and analyze animal biometrics. The fishery has also begun to develop high-tech autonomous solutions that monitor fish behavior and growth patterns. For example, at the National Innovation Center for Digital Fisheries in Beijing, robotic fish modeled after tuna and dolphins swim through breeding pools to monitor fish patterns, environmental health and net infrastructure; they accomplish this without disturbing their aquatic counterparts. Developers hope these robotic fish could eventually lead schools of fish to designated harvesting and feeding areas, in addition to being used for deep-sea exploration.
Advances in Chinese robotics fit into broader economic trends
Multiple nozzles on an AI-driven planting machine plant leafy vegetables in a tray – China Science/X
China’s robotics revolution coincides with broader leaps in data analytics and agricultural machinery. Using data from autonomous robots, drones and other smart farming systems, Chinese engineers may be able to take the guesswork out of irrigation, pest control and planting schedules. Farmers have begun using smart agriculture to analyze factors that influence crop growth—including temperature, rainfall, soil moisture, and mineral levels—to better define irrigation needs, plan drought responses, and predict maturity. On a farm, autonomous drones collect data on crop maturity to produce horticultural maps that can guide harvesting.
In addition to its advances in robotics, China is also seeing substantial growth in domestic car production. The nation exported $9.3 billion in agricultural machinery in the first half of 2025 — a 26.5 percent increase from the previous year, according to the Global Times. Domestically produced smart harvesting technology, including artificial intelligence-assisted corn harvesters, marks a sea change in an agricultural industry that has historically depended on imported high-end machinery. According to an English-language Xinhua report on seed technology, China’s northwestern region of Xinjiang has seen particular success following these advances, achieving a 97 percent mechanization rate in its cotton farming practices.
Some experts question the scalability of intelligent automated farming systems, especially in a country with a diverse climate, geography and agricultural production. These variables introduce significant challenges to building cost-effective, standardized autonomous farming systems—and given the industry’s historically thin profit margins, cost is a particularly pressing consideration. But combined with other technological leaps, such as “smart soil” that grows larger crops with less water and drones with insects that can pollinate crops, the global agriculture industry may be on the precipice of its next technological revolution.
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