China Fosters Robotics as a Strategic Industry and Provides Support
'Consumer Festival' Held Ahead of World Robot Conference
Consumer Coupons Worth 290,000 Won Offered to Individual Buyers
China, which is fostering robotics as a national strategic industry and accelerating the commercialization of humanoid robots, has launched the world's first robot consumer festival. Yonhap News reported on August 4, citing Chinese media outlets such as Securities Times and Beijing News, that "the 1st Yizhuang Robot Consumer Festival is being held at the Beijing Yizhuang Economic and Technological Development Zone from August 2 to 17."
Humanoid robots are playing a soccer demonstration match at an exhibition hall in Beijing, China. Photo by EPA Yonhap News
The robot consumer festival is a side event held ahead of the World Robot Conference (WRC), which will take place from August 8 to 12, and is promoting consumption by even providing vouchers for the purchase of humanoid robots. In addition, visitors can directly see and purchase a variety of robots that can be used for industrial, medical, daily assistance, companion, educational, entertainment, health management, and elderly care purposes. In particular, visitors can experience robots that make food such as Jianbing (Chinese-style street toast), skewers, and coffee, as well as bartender robots, garbage collection robots, and Go-playing robots, at an advanced restaurant themed around smart robots.
During this festival, individual buyers are offered consumer coupons worth up to 1,500 yuan (approximately 290,000 won), while corporate buyers can receive coupons worth up to 250,000 yuan (approximately 48 million won). Through this initiative, China aims to boost domestic demand and promote the commercialization of humanoid robots.
This year's WRC, hosted by the China Electronics Society, marks its 10th edition. This year, over 200 domestic and international robot companies are exhibiting more than 1,500 types of robots, with around 100 new products being unveiled for the first time at the event. In addition, scientists in the robotics field, representatives of international organizations, and entrepreneurs will give keynote speeches and participate in panel discussions to introduce cutting-edge technology and industry trends, as well as application cases. Various competitions, including a youth robot design contest, will also take place.
China has been hosting various robot-related sports events, such as humanoid robot marathons, soccer tournaments, and combat competitions, to showcase its technological capabilities both domestically and internationally, and to encourage the general public to become familiar with using robots in daily life.
From September 14 to 17, the world's first comprehensive humanoid robot sports meet is scheduled to be held at the Beijing National Speed Skating Oval. The humanoid robot sports meet will feature 21 main competition events, including track and field, soccer, dance, material transport, and pharmaceutical sorting, as well as 5 additional events focused on entertainment, such as table tennis and basketball. Prior to the opening of the humanoid robot sports meet on July 15, an event was held in which a robot carried an "energy cube" in a relay, similar to the Olympic torch relay.
The commercialization of robots in China is progressing rapidly. According to China Securities Journal, Noetics Robotics, which built the 'N2' that placed second in the humanoid robot marathon, delivered 105 humanoid robots last month. This represents a 176% increase compared to the previous month. Zhang Zhewen, founder and CEO of Noetics Robotics, stated, "Within a month after the marathon, the number of purchase inquiries has reached 2,000 units, amounting to about 100 million yuan (approximately 19 billion won) in value."
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