China has taken a major step forward in humanoid robotics with the establishment of a "big factory" for the design and assembly of the humanoid robots, said a national political advisor on Tuesday.
Qiao Hong, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and also director of National Key Laboratory of Multimodal Artificial Intelligence Systems, made the statement during a group interview before the third session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body, opened at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.
China's robotics technology has rapidly developed, significantly narrowing the gap with international advanced levels, with installation of industrial robots having accounted for more than half of the global total in the past three years, Qiao said.
Humanoid robots, shaped like humans or human-like, have numerous degrees of freedom, allowing them to directly use human's tools. This means they could potentially replace human beings in various tasks in sectors of industry, agriculture and service. It is highly possible for them to affect human being's production methods and lifestyle in the near future.
"Notably, we have built a 'big factory' for the design and assembly of the humanoid robots as a core technological foundation. This foundation uses intelligent algorithms to address hardware limitations, integrating brain-inspired intelligence, neuroscience, and AI technologies to form a strong barrier. The versatile factory can rapidly produce low-cost, high-performance robotic systems to serve our country's industrial and agricultural sectors," said Qiao.
Qiao also shared her thoughts on the further development of the robotic systems and the key challenges for scientists and entrepreneurs in this regard.
"Our robotic systems will be deployed on larger, more significant national platforms. These platforms must consider not only the scalability of the systems but also their reliability, stability, versatility, intelligence, and most importantly, safety. This is not only a market demand but also a shared dream and challenge for our scientists and entrepreneurs. Correspondingly, integrating the generalization of artificial intelligence, the stability and reliability of automation, the systematization of robotics, and advanced technologies like brain-inspired intelligent materials has become a shared dream and common challenge for scientists and entrepreneurs in this field," said Qiao.
China advances humanoid robotics with groundbreaking big factory establishment: CPPCC member
Officials and business leaders from both China and the United States gathered in Berkeley, California on Friday to discuss the future of trade and investment between China and the San Francisco Bay Area, with many hoping to overcome the recent strain brought by the Trump administration's tariffs.
The China Council for the Promotion of International Trade hosted a business breakfast exchange meeting on Friday morning, with the council's chairman Ren Hongbin sending out a clear message of the vast economic potential which is there to be tapped into.
"The Chinese economy is very much innovation driven. And the strategic emerging industries, such as new energy, new materials, low carbon, aerospace, bio-pharmacy and the low-altitude economy, will generate a trillion-yuan level or even larger markets. So, I think that will provide enormous opportunities and room for China and U.S. companies to cooperate," said Ren.
He further stressed the China International Supply Chain Expo in Beijing as an example of an event where San Francisco Bay Area companies like NVIDIA and Apple were active participants and direct beneficiaries.
Meanwhile, Chinese Consul General in San Francisco Zhang Jianmin said that against the backdrop of a global economic slowdown, greater cooperation in the innovation sector is now more important than ever.
"The [San Francisco] Bay Area is home to many of the world's top tech companies and offers a sound innovation ecosystem. China has a super big market, rich application scenarios and a complete industrial supporting system. There exists tremendous potential for both sides to have more mutually beneficial cooperation by tapping into their complementary strengths," said Zhang.
Attendees did voice concerns over how the Trump administration's tariffs are impacting business.
With China accounting for nearly 30 percent of the Port of Oakland's total trade volume, the port's executive director Kristi McKenney stressed the need for greater stability and certainty.
"The tariffs in many cases were never actually implemented or were changed before they were implemented. So those linkages are a bit more challenging. I think the bigger issue will be certainty in the economy. And if there's lack of certainty, if we see economic difficulty, then you're going to see job losses," said McKenney.
Oakland's Mayor Barbara Lee said that it is very much business as usual, despite the recent difficulties.
"While we understand the challenges of tariffs, the exports and imports are still continuing, and our port is still a large containerized port doing business with China. And we're going to strengthen that relationship. We may have our differences on issues, on policies, but we here in Oakland understand that we're a global city and we believe the trade brings friendships, brings understanding, and also brings economic benefits to both countries," she said.
Chinese, US officials, business leaders meet in California to deepen mutual understanding
