{"id":482578,"date":"2026-02-18T08:07:07","date_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:07:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/482578\/"},"modified":"2026-02-18T08:07:07","modified_gmt":"2026-02-18T08:07:07","slug":"chinas-dancing-robots-how-worried-should-we-be-china","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/482578\/","title":{"rendered":"China\u2019s dancing robots: how worried should we be? | China"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dancing humanoid robots<\/a> took centre stage on Monday during the annual China Media Group\u2019s Spring Festival Gala, China\u2019s most-watched official television broadcast. They lunged and backflipped (landing on their knees), they spun around and jumped. Not one fell over.<\/p>\n

The display was impressive, but prompted some to wonder: if robots can now dance and perform martial arts, what else can they do?<\/p>\n

Experts have mixed opinions, with some saying the robots had limitations and that the display should be viewed through a lens of state propaganda.<\/p>\n

Developed by several Chinese robotics firms, the robots performed a range of intricate stunts, including kung fu, comedy sketches and choreographed dance moves alongside human performers.<\/p>\n

Clips<\/a> circulating<\/a> online quickly drew comparisons with last year\u2019s lunar new year broadcast, which also featured dancing robots but with noticeably simpler movements.<\/p>\n

The performance showed China\u2019s push to develop more advanced robots powered by improved AI capabilities. Photograph: CCTV Video News Agency\/Youtube<\/p>\n

Kyle Chan, an expert in China\u2019s technology development at Brookings Institution, a policy organisation in Washington DC, said Beijing uses these public robot performances to \u201cdazzle domestic and international audiences with China\u2019s technological prowess\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cUnlike AI models or industrial equipment, humanoid robots are highly visible examples of China\u2019s technological leadership that general audiences can see on their phones or televisions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Pointing to intensifying competition in the tech space between China and the US, Chan added: \u201cWhile China and the US are neck-and-neck on AI, humanoid robots are an area where China can claim to be ahead of the US, particularly in terms of scaling up production.\u201d<\/p>\n

Georg Stieler, the head of robotics and automation at the global technology consulting firm Stieler Technology and Marketing, also emphasised the symbolism of China\u2019s prime time broadcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat distinguishes the gala from comparable events elsewhere is the directness of the pipeline from industrial policy to prime-time spectacle,\u201d Stieler said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Comparing this year\u2019s performances with last year\u2019s \u2013 when viewers saw \u201cfundamentally a single choreographic mode\u201d with limited motions including walking, twisting and kicking \u2013 Stieler said one key signal of China\u2019s robot progress is \u201cthe ability to run large numbers of near-identical humanoids in synchronised motion with stable gaits and consistent joint behaviour\u201d.<\/p>\n

But Stieler also noted: \u201cStage performance does not equate to industrial robustness, yet.\u201d He said what the robots did was the result of being trained for a routine \u201chundreds or thousands of times \u2013 you could not just tell them to change direction or do something completely different\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese dance motions involve very little environmental perception and are essentially imitation learning plus a balance-keeping controller. That has little bearing on reliability in unstructured environments, a prerequisite for factory-grade deployment. Also the progress in dexterity is not as fast as in locomotion,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

The unveiling of China\u2019s latest generation of robots underscores the country\u2019s broader technological ambitions.<\/p>\n

By the end of 2024, China<\/a> had registered 451,700 smart robotics companies, with a total capital of 6.44tn yuan (approximately $932.16bn), according to state data<\/a>. Major government projects such as Made in China 2025 and the 14th Five-Year Plan, have made robotics and AI key Beijing priorities.<\/p>\n

Morgan Stanley projects that China\u2019s humanoid sales will more than double to 28,000 units in 2026; and Elon Musk has said he expects his biggest competitor to be Chinese companies as he pivots Tesla toward a focus on embodied AI and its flagship humanoid Optimus. \u201cPeople outside China underestimate China, but China is an ass-kicker next level,\u201d Musk said last month.<\/p>\n

Marina Zhang, a technology professor at the University of Technology Sydney, said that such a visible showcase likely hints at a new phase in China\u2019s manufacturing masterplan, \u201cwhere robotics becomes a linchpin in the shift from low-cost assembly to high-end, smart manufacturing\u201d.<\/p>\n

With Reuters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dancing humanoid robots took centre stage on Monday during the annual China Media Group\u2019s Spring Festival Gala, China\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":482579,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[62,276,277,49,48,61],"class_list":{"0":"post-482578","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-artificial-intelligence","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-artificialintelligence","11":"tag-ca","12":"tag-canada","13":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=482578"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/482578\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/482579"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=482578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=482578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=482578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}