BEIJING, China—High-volume manufacturers in China are increasingly using robots to assemble everything from keyboards to home appliances.

GUANGZHOU, China—In an irony of China’s growing middle class, factory jobs go begging while many educated young workers are unemployed or underemployed. A national survey of urban residents showed that among people in their early 20s, those with a college degree were four times as likely to be unemployed as those with only an elementary school education.

BEIJING—Air pollution levels were literally off the charts here over the weekend, reportedly reducing visibility to about 100 yards in some areas and prompting some flight cancellations. Residents in several Chinese cities have been advised to stay indoors, and at least four deaths have been blamed on the smog.

SHENZHEN, China—China Labor Watch has discovered child labor at HTNS Shenzhen Co., an assembly plant that makes Samsung cell phones. This comes just two weeks after Samsung stated that it did not find any child workers while auditing the factory in September.

NINGBO CITY, China—Authorities in east China ordered a security crackdown Sunday after thousands of locals clashed with police during a protest at the construction of a chemical plant.

BEIJING—Chinese factories are automating at such a rate, that China may soon overtake Japan and South Korea as the world’s biggest market for robots.