NANJING, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- Estun Automation, a leading Chinese manufacturer of automation products, has started production of industrial robots in its new plant in the eastern Chinese city of Nanjing.

It is estimated that the new plant will have an annual production capacity of 9,000 industrial robots and pieces of equipment.

The plant, co-designed by Estun and German manufacturer Bosch Rexroth, is a cooperation project between China and Germany on smart manufacturing, according to Estun.

"In the future, Estun aims to provide more localized service, technical support, and eventually a one-stop solution for digitalized plants, in an effort to boost efficiency and competitiveness," said Wu Bo, Estun's chairman.

The robot industry has been listed as a key development area in the country's "Made in China 2025" strategy, which aims to upgrade the country's manufacturing sector.

The output of China's industrial robots exceeded 100,000 in the first 10 months of 2017, up 70 percent year on year, said the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

China is the biggest market for industrial robots in the world, accounting for about one-third of the global demand.

The market volume of China's industrial robots is expected to reach 4.2 billion U.S. dollars in 2017 and increase to 5.9 billion dollars in 2020.