China has overtaken Japan as the largest buyer of industrial robots, according to a trade report.

One in five robots sold globally in 2013 was purchased in China, as surging labor costs forced it to speed up productivity via automation, according to the International Federation of Robotics, an industry group based in Germany.

About 36,560 industrial robots were sold in China last year, up 60 percent from 2012, said the IFR report. Japan, which had long taken first place in purchases of industrial robots, accounted for 26,015 units in 2013, followed by 23,679 in the United States.