UK 48 Group Club Chairman: China's Robot Industry Leads in Data Accumulation, UK-China Cooperation Should Deepen
Jack Perry, Chairman of the UK 48 Group Club and Executive Chairman of LEC Robotics, said in a written interview with China News Service on October 3, 2026, that China's robot industry is becoming a global leader, and UK-China cooperation should shift from simple trade to industrial collaboration.
Perry noted that China's robot industry benefits from a complete supply chain, fast mass production, and, more importantly, deep data accumulation. Unlike language models, robots cannot rely on ready-made data and must be trained in real-world scenarios. China has already deployed robots at scale, and its advantage is widening. In contrast, Europe has strong engineering capabilities but a fragmented supply chain and slower iteration cycles.
He said commercial robot demand in Europe is rising, particularly in logistics, warehousing, and manufacturing, with hospitality, healthcare, and retail also growing. He predicted that within the next decade, robots will build most commercial buildings in Europe, and within five to ten years, about 90% of agriculture will be robotized.
However, Chinese companies still face barriers entering Europe. Perry cited insufficient awareness of Chinese robots among European firms, geographic distance, and the difficulty of a single manufacturer providing complete systems for industry needs. To address this, LEC Robotics has established the "House of Robots" in London, the UK's first headquarters dedicated to physical AI, featuring showrooms and an AI lab where European customers can operate Chinese robots and meet with Chinese enterprises during "Robot Week."
Perry also said the 48 Group Club has signed a cooperation memorandum with TEDA's cross-border overseas comprehensive service port, with TEDA providing one-stop domestic services and LEC Robotics offering local support in Europe. In the next one to two years, he hopes Tianjin robots will appear at the House of Robots and that certification and localization pathways will be established to feed European market demand back to Tianjin enterprises.
