NANJING, April 28 (Xinhua) -- Humanoid robots racing alongside marathon runners, sprinting, competing in football matches, and even dueling in combat games -- scenes straight out of science fiction -- are becoming a reality in China.
Days after Beijing hosted the world's first half-marathon with humans and robots racing side by side, Wuxi, in east China's Jiangsu Province, held the country's first sports games for AI-powered robots last Friday. The Chinese capital also announced plans to host a world humanoid robot games later this year.
"Most robots are not designed for sports, but rather for industrial or everyday scenarios," said Guo Dahong, deputy general manager of the humanoid robot division at Miracle Automation Engineering Co., Ltd., whose team participated in the Wuxi event.
According to the organizer, the Chinese Institute of Electronics, the all-robot showdown in Wuxi attracted over 100 research teams and enterprises, featuring more than 150 diverse robotic competitors.
"Through running or other athletic challenges, we can test the structural stability of robots and refine their human-like capabilities," Guo said, noting that the ultimate goal is to ensure the robots can seamlessly integrate into human environments to take on repetitive, dangerous, or physically demanding tasks.
According to the Chinese Institute of Electronics, humanoid robots are poised to revolutionize nearly 20 fields, including automotive manufacturing, home services, aerospace, and emergency response. Robots could be used for welding, security patrols, firefighting and even space exploration.
Guo expects that industrial manufacturing, where robots can be customized for precision tasks, will be the first field to see large-scale adoption of humanoid robots. He also envisions their future expansion into the service sectors, though he acknowledged that the market is still in its infancy.
"The human living environment is far too complex, so safety must come first when deploying robots," Guo cautioned. "With technological barriers nearly nonexistent, the race now is about which company can innovate the fastest."
A recent industry report forecasts that China's humanoid robot market will reach 8.24 billion yuan (about 1.14 billion U.S. dollars) by 2025, accounting for half of the global market share. By 2030, the market could skyrocket to around 870 billion yuan.
Wang Yitao, an organizer of the robot combat competition at the Wuxi games, said that these companies are not actually vying for trophies. Instead, they aim to showcase cutting-edge products to gain greater exposure, expand applications and unlock new market opportunities.
"Some specialize in vision systems, while others focus on core components or algorithms. Events like this bring the entire supply chain together, opening up space for collaboration," Wang said. "China's dominance in the new energy industry owes much to its complete industrial ecosystem."
Chinese tech companies are gaining formidable momentum in robotics. Data shows that by 2024, China had 451,700 smart robotics firms, marking a staggering 206.7 percent increase from 2020.
During the Wuxi robot games, multiple industrial collaboration projects were inked with a local humanoid robot industrial park, including humanoid robot applications for subway security inspections and battery factory operations.
The Shanghai-based National and Local Co-Built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center predicts that by 2026, humanoid robots will enter mass production as general-purpose products, once annual sales hit the 100,000-unit threshold.
"If humanoid robots could handle chores or chat, I'd love to try one," said Sun Shangqin, a Wuxi resident. "My budget would be under 20,000 yuan."
However, many humanoid robots still fall short of the average consumer's price expectations. For instance, a household service robot on display at the Wuxi event -- a wheeled, bionic assistant for mobility-impaired users -- had a price tag of 700,000 yuan.
"Yet, the future is bright. As technology advances and costs further decline, and the right application scenarios emerge, humanoid robots will undoubtedly be widely adopted," said Xu Jing, associate professor at Tsinghua University. Enditem
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