Bloomberg China is churning out robots. Annual production of industrial robots surpassed 100,000 for the first time — and it only took 10 months. Shipments were up 67 percent through October compared with a year earlier, state media reported. And there’s more to come: full-year output will reach 120,000 units, according to Ministry of Industry and Information Technology forecasts. China ...

Bloomberg Japanese companies are planning to kick-start the lunar economy by backing a local startup’s mission to land on the moon by 2020. Tokyo-based Ispace Inc . said it raised $90 million from some of the country’s biggest businesses, including Japan Airlines Co. and television network Tokyo Broadcasting System Holdings Inc. The funds will be used to send a spacecraft ...

Bloomberg After a six year absence, BP Plc returned to the solar-energy business with a $200 million investment in a British company that develops and maintains photovoltaic farms in Europe. The move marks another step by the largest oil companies into renewable-energy technologies starting to disrupt the energy industry. BP’s rivals such as Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Total SA ...