Chinese robotic developers unveiled the country's first training dataset for embodied intelligent robots in recent days, advancing the robots' abilities to learn from various environments and perform complex tasks.
The training dataset was jointly released by the National-Local Co-built Humanoid Robot Innovation Center and the School of Computer Science at Peking University.
At Beijing's innovation center, robotic engineers use a hands-on approach to train embodied AI robots, employing remote control devices and motion-capture suits to teach them human-like movements and actions through interactive sessions.
The related data is then collected in real-time and used for further improvement and research.
Additionally, the center has built simulated environments that mimic real-world settings, such as retail stores, factories, and homes, to provide the robots with realistic training experiences.
The dataset contains data from 279 different task scenarios, involving different types of robots, like single-arm, two-arm, and humanoid robots. The dataset also records various robotic skills that can be applied widely.
It is the first universal dataset for embodied intelligent robots in China, and has been validated through model testing.
"The innovation center keeps collecting data on complex, long-term tasks. So far, we have hundreds of thousands of high-quality data records, mostly from real robot testing, along with some data from simulations and remote operations. In the future, the center plans to gradually release the dataset, covering more robots and the tasks they perform," said Wei Jiaxing, a staff member at the innovation center.
The quality of the dataset and its scale of application are key to training smarter robots, according to experts. Along with the dataset, evaluation standards have also been released, providing clearer guidelines on the requirements and quality of the robotic data.
China unveils groundbreaking training dataset for embodied AI robots
China will continuously build a robust domestic market to bolster its economy and counter external challenges in accordance with the requirements and arrangement from the annual Central Economic Work Conference, which put domestic demand at the forefront of eight key tasks for next year's economic work, according to experts.
The tone-setting conference was held in Beijing from Wednesday to Thursday in which the Chinese leadership decided priorities for the economic work in 2026.
Over the past four years, domestic demand has contributed an average of 86.4 percent to China's economic growth, according to the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China's top economic planner.
"The top priority is to expand domestic demand as the key reason for this is that our demand is relatively weak. The first step here is figuring out how to increase consumption," said Chen Binkai, vice president of Central University of Finance and Economics.
Consumption has continued to play a leading role in the country's economic growth this year. In the first three quarters, final consumption expenditure contributed 53.5 percent to economic growth, an increase of 9 percentage points compared to the whole of last year.
The annual Central Economic Work Conference proposed that in 2026, a special campaign to boost consumption will be implemented in depth, the supply of high-quality goods and services will be expanded, policies on new and emerging industries will be optimized, unreasonable restrictions in the consumption field will be eliminated, and the potential of service consumption will be unleashed.
"Previously, much of the consumption we have encouraged is for manufactured goods. However, the growth rate of our service sector is not as ideal as that of the manufacturing sector. Therefore, increasing some investment to encourage consumption in the service sector may play a better role in stabilizing growth and expanding domestic demand," said Huang Qunhui, a researcher of the Institute of Economics under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.
Experts said that income is the primary factor determining consumption, and only by increasing residents' disposable income, can their consumption capacity be improved.
They also said that the conference, while emphasizing the promotion of consumption, also clearly pointed out the need to formulate and implement a plan to increase the income of urban and rural residents.
"The Third Plenary Session [of the 20th CPC Central Committee] mentioned the need to increase the proportion of residents' income, specifically the proportion of labor compensation within that income. The Fourth Plenary Session [of the 20th CPC Central Committee] further proposed implementing a specific income-increasing plan for urban and rural residents. Of course, consumption is not solely an income issue. We need to strengthen basic public services and improve our social security fund. If these issues are further improved and optimized, and residents have higher incomes, they will be more willing to spend more on consumption, especially on development-oriented consumption," said Huang.
Expanding domestic demand remains top priority for China's economic work in 2026: experts
