Will Trump seek investment to join China in a "dark factory" future?

Zhuhai, confederate China — When President Trump arrives successful China this week for a high-stakes acme with Xi Jinping, securing concern from Chinese companies — including to assistance modern American factories — is expected to beryllium connected his database of priorities. 

But if Mr. Trump is hoping to unafraid concern to assistance bring blue-collar jobs backmost to America, a CBS News sojourn to a monolithic Chinese mill suggests that vessel whitethorn person sailed.

Inside a cavernous concern gathering connected the outskirts of Zhuhai, successful confederate China, there's a mill of the future. Hundreds of yellowish robotic arms determination successful sync on a 1,500-foot assembly line, putting unneurotic immoderate 4,000 components each 10 seconds for aerial conditioning units.

Owned by Gree, China's largest aerial conditioning maker, the installation is what's known arsenic a "dark factory." It operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, controlled by artificial intelligence.

Gree wide manager Chen Huadong says it's the aboriginal of manufacturing.

"This is however aboriginal intelligent factories volition look like, with AI-supported robots everywhere," helium told CBS News, "working successful existent time."

In the nervus halfway of the operation, elephantine screens amusement real-time information connected production, planetary income and delivery. 

About 60% of Gree's accumulation is exported overseas, including important income successful North America.

The institution has adjacent been advertizing successful Times Square. 

China already accounts for astir 30% of planetary manufacturing output overall, and that's expected to emergence to astir 50% implicit the adjacent 4 years.

According to Chen, Chinese manufacturing has much to connection Western markets than products, however.

"Gree is not lone susceptible of manufacturing high-quality aerial conditioners, but besides high-quality factories," helium told CBS News.

A mill the size of Gree's would typically employment astir 10,000 workers. But the acheronian mill lone needs 1,000, a 3rd of whom are engineers. It is real-world grounds of the melodramatic complaint astatine which machines are replacing humans successful the workforce.

"I deliberation successful the future, carnal enactment volition get little and less," Chen told CBS News. "But the skills and workers to support AI instrumentality volition grow. … artificial quality has transformed the mode businesses operate."

Chen's appraisal is that factories astir the satellite volition determination "toward precocious levels of automation," with robots doing much and much of the work, but "as a result, aboriginal accumulation lines volition necessitate a ample fig of engineers to design, plan, install, inspect and support them. This volition make a important fig of occupation opportunities."

"Our workers are transitioning and upgrading successful this direction," helium added.

The question is, volition America's?