Inside Fuyao Glass Industry Group’s sprawling new plant in eastern China’s Anhui province, ranks of bright orange robotic arms and a fleet of automated carriers transport heavy, fragile panes of automotive glass through a production process that the company claims is 90 per cent automated.

The smart factory represents the technological blueprint for the Chinese manufacturing giant, which shot to fame as the subject of the 2019 Oscar-winning documentary American Factory. The company made waves again last week when chairman Cao Hui sat next to Tesla CEO Elon Musk at the US-China state banquet, joining a select group of Chinese tech elites including the chiefs of Lenovo, Xiaomi and ByteDance.

Located in Hefei city, the plant is a world away from the glitz of the diplomatic dinner. Yet it underscores how the manufacturer is betting on robotics and artificial intelligence to cement its role as a critical supplier to the world’s top carmakers, including Tesla.

The plant, which started construction in 2024 and began producing automotive glass just a year later, now serves as the model for Fuyao’s road map.

“Every time we build a new factory, we summarise and build upon our past experiences,” Huang Xianqian, vice-president of Fuyao, said during a media briefing on Tuesday. “This Anhui plant is superior to our older facilities in terms of automation and intelligence. Our next step is to take the lessons learned here and feed them back into our existing factories to continuously boost productivity.”

The plant’s 90 per cent automation rate meant it had reached full automation aside from one intermediate step, he said.

Founded in 1987, Fuyao has spent decades refining the production of automotive glass. This dedication has propelled it into the top echelon of the world’s auto glass makers, commanding an estimated 35 per cent of the global market and supplying industry heavyweights like General Motors, Ford and BMW.