China's robot show

China boosts investment in robotics. Photo: AFP .

At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) 2025, China not only announced an impressive number of AI models but also implicitly affirmed that the country is reshaping the world technology order with speed, scale and highly focused ambition. In the absence of US technology giants, Beijing has shown its leading role in this emerging field.

Along with its AI advancements, China has also been showcasing cutting-edge robotics. From acrobatic robot dogs to martial arts humanoids, the country’s robotics industry is showcasing technology, finance, and long-term vision. With its aging population and reshaping global supply chains, robotics has become a vital industrial strategy for the East Asian nation.

China "preemptively" dominates the market

At the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) held in Shanghai last week, China announced that it owns 1,509 AI models, accounting for more than 40% of the total 3,755 known models globally. This is a clear step forward in its ambition to become a leading AI power.

At the event, major Chinese technology corporations such as Tencent, SenseTime, Huawei and Alibaba all introduced new advances in the field of AI. Tencent launched the Hunyuan 3D World Model 1.0 with the ability to create detailed 3D environments, while SenseTime introduced the upgraded version SenseNova V6.5 with outstanding reinforcement learning efficiency.

China accounts for more than 40% of all known AI models globally. Photo: Fortune .

“AI is enabling the scalability of multimodal content production while cutting costs across text, image, audio and video platforms,” said UBS Securities analyst Wei Xiong, who said Chinese AI models are seeing early success in video creation.

One notable factor is the explosion of open-source AI models. According to the evaluation platform LMArena, China now has many of the world's leading open-source AI models. The development is supported by both the government and the private sector, allowing the community to modify and optimize the models.

In addition, Alibaba launched a multi-modal model for smart cockpit applications in collaboration with Qualcomm and Banma. Huawei introduced the 384 Ascend AI supernode system, a high-performance computing cluster, which is considered a domestic counterpart to Nvidia's NVL72 system.

In parallel, SenseTime launched a “computer shopping mall” initiative with more than 10 partners such as Huawei, Hygon, Cambricon and Biren to allow AI developers to freely combine and allocate resources like shopping at a supermarket.

New strategies in the robotics industry

Besides AI, robots were another highlight at WAIC 2025. Robots that could do somersaults, humanoid robots that played mahjong, peeled eggs, and even fought in martial arts attracted tens of thousands of attendees. According to some observers, this year's attendance could surpass 300,000, a record high since WAIC began in 2018.

Companies like Unitree, UBTech Robotics and Agibot showed off some impressive robots. Unitree showed off a low-cost humanoid robot that cost just $6,000 , while ByteDance shared a video of its Mini robot hanging clothes. The demonstrations showed the rapid pace of China's technological development.

China has made great strides in the field of robotics. Photo: Global Times .

“In the US, we have not seen any competitors that are truly cost-effective and reliable,” said Eric Wang, regional director of Deep Robotics. According to Citigroup, the global humanoid robot market could reach $7 trillion by 2050, and China is pushing to lead the race.

Behind the excitement are real concerns. Many robotics startups are under pressure to survive in an industry starved of capital and lacking in quality talent. Tim Wang, co-founder of Monolith Management, predicts many will disappear in the next five years, but that is necessary for the natural cleansing of the market.

China "preemptively" dominates the market

New strategies in the robotics industry

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