Beijing became a global showcase for robotics in August 2026 as the 2026 World Robot Conference and the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games unfolded one after another, reflecting the theme of "human-robot symbiosis, demand-driven integration."
The World Robot Conference, held August 19-23 in Beijing's E-Town (Yizhuang), gathered more than 300 enterprises and over 3,000 exhibits, with 311 new products unveiled, including more than 150 making their global debut. Exhibits covered complete humanoid robots, dexterous hands, force sensors, joint modules and chips, marking the first large-scale independent presence of robotics component makers and signaling an accelerated division of labor across the industrial chain.
The 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games, held August 22-26 at the National Speed Skating Oval, attracted 666 teams and 2,056 humanoid robots from 16 countries across six continents, competing in 51 events totaling 1,301 matches. Team numbers grew 138% and robot numbers quadrupled from the first edition. In exhibition matches, a robot from Tianshui (Tianzhuo) team ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds, beating the 9.58-second human record, while the Tiangong Ultra humanoid robot cleared 2.8843 meters in the standing high jump, also surpassing human records.
MIIT Vice Minister Xin Guobin said intelligent robots are an important carrier for AI to move from the digital world into the physical world. Industry observers noted that this year's events shifted the focus from spectacular stunts to real applications in manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, agriculture, hotels and households, signaling that China's humanoid robot industry is entering a stage of scaled deployment.
Image: Unitree G1 humanoid robot. Source: Wikimedia Commons (CC0).
