BEIJING — China's industrial robot production surged 51.4 percent year-on-year in September to 23,194 units, with growth accelerating from a rise of 32.5 percent in August, official data showed.

In the first nine months of the year, the country produced 160,715 industrial robots, up 18.2 percent from the same period of last year, data from the National Bureau of Statistics revealed.

In 2019, the country's industrial robot production totaled about 177,000 units, down 3.1 percent from the previous year.

China is striving to upgrade its labor-intensive manufacturing sector through technological innovation as it faces a shrinking working-age population and increasing labor costs.

The country issued a guideline in 2016, vowing to expand the use of robots in industries such as automobile manufacturing, electronics, home appliances, aviation, textiles and chemicals.