A machinist debugs humanoid robots at Zhongguancun International Innovation Center, venue for the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum (ZGC Forum) Annual Conference, in Beijing, capital of China, March 27, 2025. (Photo/Xinhua)
Under the theme of "New Quality Productivity and Global Science and Technology Cooperation," the 2025 Zhongguancun Forum, held from Thursday to Monday in capital city of Beijing, featured nearly 100 humanoid robots from top Chinese tech companies offering services such as greeting guests, conversing, and stage performing.
The event attracted experts and scholars from all over the world to jointly explore the vast possibilities of humanoid robots in the future.
"I have been paying attention to the development of artificial intelligence (AI) recently. I think robotics and AI are closely linked," Paolo Dario, chief scientist at the Italian National Competence Center for Robotics ARTES 4.0, told the Global Times.
He explained that machine learning can collect data, and AI makes it usable. The fusion of the two technologies has become a truly intelligent robot. In the past few years, the development of robots has been slow, and there has been incredible progress after the introduction of AI, "so I think the fusion of the two is successful and is developing rapidly," he said.
Improvements in perception and interaction technology enable robots to better understand and adapt to the environment.
With the help of advanced sensors such as high-resolution cameras, lidar, and tactile sensors, humanoid robots can perceive the world around them in real time. AI algorithms help process the data, enabling natural communication with humans.
In manufacturing, humanoid robots can effectively improve production efficiency and flexibility through precise trajectory planning and motion control capability. Through the application of algorithm processing technology and big data, the development of humanoid robots has achieved significant efficiency improvement, Kim JongMoon, chief representative of Korea Innovation Center in China (KIC China) told the Global Times in a recent interview.
"If robots are to become part of daily life, we need to integrate and upgrade humanoid robots through AI," said Lee DongJun, professor from Seoul National University Future Mobile Technology Center.
Today's intelligent robots can carry out sophisticated tasks. For example, a robotic arm can accurately grasp a smooth plate and put it in a designated position. Although it looks simple, it is difficult for machine operation, but now it has been realized, he noted.
Localization of the robotics industry
The rapid advancement of AI has unlocked significant potential for the humanoid robot market.
China has issued guidelines for the development of humanoid robots with strategic plans set for 2025 and 2027. The guidance, issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), aims to establish a preliminary innovation system for humanoid robots by 2025, and achieve breakthroughs in key technologies like the "brain, cerebellum and limbs" of robots.
"As the editor-in-chief of an international scientific journal, I receive papers from all over the world every day. The number of papers submitted by Chinese researchers is increasing dramatically, and the quality is improving significantly too," said Dario. He added that he has cooperated with China since 1983 and witnessed China's "impressive" progress in robotics and related fields.
"I have seen China's continuous improvement in the quality of scientific and technological results in the past few years. I believe that China is currently one of the world-class leaders in the field of robotics, with my understanding of AI robots," he added.
China's Deepseek has gained worldwide popularity, and China's AI technology has reached the world's leading level and has strong competitiveness, said Lee Jinsoo, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea.
Looking at China's robotics industry and government policies, he said that South Korea can learn a lot from it. The dancing robots at the Chinese Spring Festival Gala brought great shock and repercussions to the world, he said.
In recent years, China's robotics industry has emerged as a global technology leader. From manufacturing to services, healthcare to home applications, Chinese robots have made notable progress. In industrial manufacturing, robots now operate efficiently on production lines in sectors like automotive and electronics, and accurately complete complex tasks such as welding and assembly, greatly improving production efficiency and product quality. In the service industry, food delivery robots, welcoming robots, and surgical assistance robots also did impressively well.
Kim from KIC China told the Global Times he agrees with the rise of China's robot technology. He said that China currently has a very complete robot industry supply chain and talent pool, as well as the world's largest application market and a good policy environment. Against this background, China's robot development potential and innovation capabilities are massive.
International cooperation
Dario expressed optimism about future China-Italy cooperation in robotics. In his view, Italy has a unique unity in cooperation with China. Italy is the seventh largest industrial country in the world and is very strong in robotics technology and information science.
"I believe this is a good entry point for cooperation between China and Italy," he said, adding that the two countries can have in-depth discussions on different disciplines, cultures, and a better understanding of user needs.
Because making an intelligent robot requires very cautious technology and precise design, China and Italy both have the ability of this cutting-edge technology, so I am very optimistic and look forward to the cooperation between China and Italy in the field of robotics, he said.
Despite growing international cooperation in humanoid robotics, major challenges remain. Key issues include improving robot safety, reliability in complex environments, and advancing intelligence levels to meet diverse demands.
Kim from KIC China stressed the need to improve the hardware performance and the maturity and further optimization of core hardware technology, and the integration method of AI large models needs to be improved.
The support of government policies and the capital support from relevant industries and the cultivation of technical talents are also important, he said.
Kim expressed optimism about future China-South Korea cooperation in robotics. He believes that although the robot industry chain is relatively complex, it is mainly composed of basic fields, computing fields and application fields. The cooperation between China and South Korea can start from one specific area of the robot industry chain.
