A visitor shakes hands with a robot developed by a Nanjing company at a robotics show in Jinan. [JU CHUANJIANG/CHINA DAILY]

The surging growth in the robotics industry will continue in the foreseeable future, experts said at a forum held last month in Jinan, the capital of Shandong province.

"It is an inevitable trend," said Wu Hongxin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. "Robots have been widely used in the sectors of manufacturing, service, entertainment and special fields."

Wu delivered a research report at the High-end Manufacturing Industry Forum, which featured an exposition showcasing robots made by 41 teams of specialists.

According to Wu's research, 179,000 industrial robots were sold around the world in 2013, of which 37,000 were sold in China, making the country the largest buyers of robots.

The number of robots sold in China grew by an average of 36 percent annually from 2008 to 2013, said Wu.

At a robotics exhibition at the forum, a service robot made by a Beijing-based company attracted hundreds of visitors with its ability to speak, feel and touch like human. Another robot made and served tea.

Worldwide sales revenue of service robots are expected to reach $46.18 billion in 2017, according to Wu's report, with military-oriented robots forecast to generate $94 billion revenue in the near future.

Liu Jinchang, a researcher at the High-Tech Research and Development Center under the Ministry of Science and Technology, said robots have obvious advantages in some special fields such as marine exploration and chemical engineering.

Yang Luyu, mayor of Jinan, said the city is riding the global waves of developing high-end intelligent equipment in a bid to make the equipment industry a brand new business card for the city.

With planned investment of 120 million yuan ($18.8 million), the Jinan High-Tech Industrial Development Zone is building a platform to provide public technology service for robotics and intelligent equipment researchers and manufacturers.

"Jinan has 35 national-level labs developed by enterprises, 19 national-level science and technology parks and bases, as well as 66 universities and colleagues, providing solid foundations for the city developing the high-end intelligent equipment industry," said Yang.