BEIJING, Aug. 3 -- China's robot industry maintained steady expansion in the first half of the year, an official with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has said.

China's output of industrial robots reached 222,000 sets, an increase of 5.4 percent year on year, while the production of service robots amounted to 3.53 million sets, up 9.6 percent from a year ago, said Wang Hong, an official with the ministry.

"China's robot industry has achieved steady and healthy development and has become the backbone of the global robot industry," Wang said.

In China, industrial robots are now widely used in emerging industries, including new energy vehicles, photovoltaics, and lithium batteries. Service robots have been applied in medical and health, construction, old-age care, and other industries on a large scale. Special robots are playing an increasingly important role in scientific investigation and emergency rescue.

In the future, China will further enhance its industrial innovation capability, and promote the high-quality development of the robot industry," Wang said.