Humanoids, or robots in the shape of humans, have come under the spotlight during the Spring Festival in China this year. - Photo: ST
BEIJING: “How do I get rich this year?” “Will my son’s career take off?”
These were questions that Chinese revellers at a recent Chinese New Year temple fair in Beijing asked a Cai Shen Ye (God of Wealth), who was stationed at a booth to dispense advice and lucky sayings.
This traditional deity was, however, no human in a costume, but a life-sized humanoid robot decked out in a red glittering robe, complete with blinking eyes and waving hands.
Other humanoid robots worked the crowd too, including two that performed Peking opera and two with the finger dexterity to play a piano and electric flute.
Humanoid robots, or robots in the shape of humans, have come under the spotlight during the Spring Festival in China this year, a timely occasion for the country to flex its advancement in artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.
At the annual Spring Festival Gala, broadcast on Chinese New Year Eve on Jan 28 by Chinese national broadcaster CCTV, one highlight was a troupe of 16 humanoid robots that performed a Yangge folk dance alongside human dancers.
Made by Hangzhou-based robotics company Unitree, the robots wowed audiences in China and overseas with their agility and synchronised dance moves, with netizens marvelling at how advanced they were.
This came just a day after a massive stock market sell-off in the US triggered by news of how Chinese AI start-up DeepSeek had developed an AI reasoning model that reportedly rivalled OpenAI’s model but at a fraction of the cost.
Robotics, along with AI, has been emphasised as one of China’s core industries since 2016 – a key piece of its broader strategy to outpace the US in AI and next-generation technologies in the race for global tech dominance.
Experts say humanoid robots serve as platforms to showcase advancements in AI, embodied intelligence, robotics engineering and advanced manufacturing – crucial areas in the science and technology race.
Around 2019, Chinese robotics firms such as Unitree and UBTech started gaining global attention with bipedal and quadrupedal robots, otherwise known as robot dogs.
In the last two to three years, rapid progress in AI models and robotics hardware has enabled even more sophisticated robots in China, with Chinese firms Xiaomi, EX-Robots and Astribot joining the race.
In December 2024, Shanghai-based robotics firm Agibot said it started mass-producing its general-purpose robot for commercial use in areas such as inventory shelving, generating buzz over a barely two-year-old start-up entering mass production earlier than Tesla’s 2026 target.
And in April 2025, humanoid robots from more than 20 Chinese robotics firms will race alongside humans – a world first – in a half-marathon in Beijing.
China’s humanoid robots are entering a phase of increased intelligence and versatility, having evolved from laboratory prototypes into tangible products, Chinese industry observer Hong Shaodun told state media outlet Global Times in December 2024.
Ling Vey-Sern, senior equity adviser at Swiss private bank UBP, said that compared with software AI models like ChatGPT, humanoid robots are much more complex and multi-disciplinary, making it an area that China is keen to beat the US in.
“Humanoids are more of an application of multiple core technologies like AI, and hardware such as sensors and actuators, rather than an advancement of a specific technology,” said Ling, who specialises in technology equities research.
Breakthroughs in AI technology, coupled with the falling prices of hardware components – an area where China may have an advantage as it manufactures its own – will allow for the rapid development of humanoid robots, he added.
There have been more Chinese humanoid robot patent filings than those from the US, and humanoid robot financing in China is also rising, which are indicators of the country’s keen interest and progress in this area, noted Ling.
As at July 2024, China held more than 190,000 effective robot-related patents, accounting for about two-thirds of the world’s total and ranking first in the number of patent applications and valid patents.
The value of the country’s humanoid robot market is projected to jump from 2.76 billion yuan (S$511 million) in 2024 to 75 billion yuan by 2029, accounting for 32.7 per cent of the world’s total, according to an industry report released at the First Chinese Humanoid Robot Industry Conference in April 2024.
The Chinese authorities have previously announced their aim to establish a preliminary innovation system for research and development for humanoid robots by 2025, with plans to have a secure, reliable industrial and supply chain system by 2027.
Globally, the humanoid robot market is poised for explosive growth.
Some experts have projected 2025 as a tipping point for humanoid robotics, although estimates of the potential global market value vary wildly.
Projections range from US$38 billion by 2035 in a Goldman Sachs report published in February 2024, to a staggering US$24 trillion in Ark Invest’s report in September.
Citi Global Insights, in a December report, forecast that 1.3 billion AI-powered robots could be deployed by 2035, and four billion by 2050.
So far, most of the humanoid robots deployed in the real world are for industrial use in warehousing, logistics and manufacturing, such as Tesla’s Optimus on its factory floor, and Shenzhen-based UBTech’s on Chinese electric vehicle manufacturer Nio’s production lines.
Some robots are put to other commercial uses such as serving as guides at exhibitions and events.
But future advancement in humanoid robotics could lead to consumer-facing uses such as eldercare, and more specialised applications such as in military and defence as well as space exploration.
Already, China has plans to use humanoid robots to tackle its mounting demographic challenges, as its population ages rapidly and the need for professional caregivers increases.
In January 2025, it set out a plan for developing humanoid robots that will provide elderly caregiving services such as emotional companionship, smart household chores and health tracking, making it one of the first few nations to do so.
During this year’s Spring Festival period, besides the AI temple fair and robot dancers on TV, there were other showcases of humanoid robots.
Beijing’s Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as E-Town, launched its first robot-themed park ahead of Chinese New Year, featuring tea-serving robots.
Shenzhen-based Astribot released online a video of its S1 humanoid robots writing the Chinese character “fu” (blessing) on red paper, spring-cleaning a home, cooking tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) and setting off fireworks.
At Beijing’s AI temple fair, a boy cheekily spoke gibberish to the Cai Shen Ye robot, to which it replied snarkily, “Child, can you speak the human language?”, drawing laughter from the crowd.
A staff member from EX-Robots, the Chinese firm that created the robot, told ST that the robot’s replies had become more sophisticated over the days as more and more people had asked it questions.
Elsewhere at the fair, a robot barista served up cups of coffee with intricate latte art of flowers and leaves.
First-year university student Wang Yuyao, 19, said that while he had seen versions of a robot barista preparing coffee, it was the first time he saw one with a robotic arm that could swivel delicately to create complex latte art.
“It shows how quickly our robotics and AI are advancing and the possibilities that are ahead of us,” he said.
“As someone whose major is related to semiconductor chips, I’m quite optimistic about my future.” - The Straits Times/ANN
