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China's affinity for robots has created a booming industry, but its companies aren't overtaking their global competitors, a senior partner at consulting firm McKinsey & Company told CNBC.

A decade ago, Chinese robotics firms met only 5 percent of the demand in their country, Karel Eloot told CNBC's "Street Signs" on Thursday. The industry has since developed and Chinese companies now provide about a third of industrial robots in the country.

"There's still a long way to go, especially when you think about the government's targets of 50 percent in 2020 and 70 percent in 2025," he said.

But Chinese robotics firms have an advantage in developing markets because they are similar to what China went through in the last decade, Eloot said. "For them, it's more natural to go there."

So far, the Made in China push has resulted in a growing Chinese robotics market.

Earlier this year, local media outlets reported that there were more than 6,500 robotics companies in China by the end of 2017. Sales of China's industrial robots that year was around $4.22 billion, a 24 percent increase from a year ago, while sales of service robots were up 28 percent compared to the prior year at $1.32 billion.

China in 2016 added around 87,000 industrial robots — slightly below Europe and the United States combined, the International Federation of Robotics said.

Chinese companies are also using more and more robots in their businesses as the Made in China 2025 campaign encourages automation and intelligent manufacturing. For example, iPhone assembler Foxconn deployed tens of thousands of "Foxbot" factory robots between 2012 and2016. The Taiwanese manufacturer said it plans to replace more of its workforce with robots over the next decade.