SHUNDE, China—Chinese appliance manufacturer Midea Group employs robots for most assembly jobs, leaving only the final checks and testing to humans.

BEIJING—The number of industrial robots in use in China will more than double over the next two years—from 182,000 today to 428,000 by 2017—thus overtaking the robot populations of either North America or the EU’s five largest economies.

BEIJING, China—High-volume manufacturers in China are increasingly using robots to assemble everything from keyboards to home appliances.