China adheres to the principles of extensive consultation, joint contribution, and shared benefits, and promotes the high-quality development of the Belt and Road Initiative. Industrial robots are the core equipments of smart manufacturing activities, contributing to the acceleration of the formation of new productive forces. Based on the data of industrial robot imports and macroeconomic and institutional characteristics of various economies from 2010 to 2022, this paper uses difference-in-difference model to test the impact of the Belt and Road Initiative on the import of industrial robots in economies along the Route. The main findings indicate that the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative significantly promotes the imports of industrial robots in economies along the Route, and this positive effect is achieved through the comprehensive indicator in five approaches under the Initiative’s framework. In particular, the initiative plays a significant role in promoting the imports of industrial robots in economies with middle-to-low income level, or along the“21st Century Maritime Silk Road”. Moreover, the positive effect of the Initiative is not limited to the increase of industrial robot imports between the corresponding economies and China, but with a wider range of trading partners in the world such as the European Union. The above evidence demonstrates that the implementation of the Belt and Road Initiative in the field of smart manufacturing contributes to the achievement of the common goal of“shared development”among regional and global economies.