China is aiming high on the industrial ladder. Getting there requires advanced equipment such as robots that is still firmly in the hands of foreign enterprises. Industrial robots are used to do things like bolt panels on cars or assemble motherboards. China is the world’s second-largest robotics market, growing on average by 25% per year between 2005 and 2012, according to the International Federation of Robotics. The country is projected to become the biggest market for industrial robots by 2016.