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CHONGQING, Dec. 23-- Some robots grab auto parts and install them precisely on the car body, while others hold up welding guns and perform the welding operations in showers of sparks. "Most of the part installing and welding work in the car assembly line is done by robots," said Liang Fenghua of the intelligent vehicle division of Chongqing Changan Automobile Co. Ltd. The smart manufacturing helps raise precision, cut labor costs by about 90 percent and increase work efficiency by 40 percent, Liang said. Like Changan, many manufacturers in Chongqing are using robots to replace labor. More than 300 companies have thus improved work efficiency by over 30 percent. The automaker in southwest China is also one of the country's first companies to invest in intelligent driving. "We have mass produced cars with intelligent driving functions like automatic parking and cruise," Liang said. China launched the reform and opening-up in 1978. Previously, its western regions had been relatively less developed with extensive economic growth and traditional industries relying heavily on labor and resources. But now the digital economy is spreading from the booming east to help move the value chain up in the west, at a time when China's economy faces the tough task of improving quality. "The west, where factors of production have obvious comparative advantage, has the largest growth potential in China," said Yi Xiaoguang, president of the Chongqing Institute of Comprehensive Economic Research. | 
