Hangzhou-based Unitree, seen as a competitor to Tesla's Optimus, won multiple medals. Beijing-based X-Humanoid and Hong Kong-listed Shenzhen firm UBTECH also impressed. The Chinese government has targeted humanoid robots as a key future industry for the economy and Beijing has plans to build a world-class industry of humanoid robots by 2027.

From Friday to Sunday, human handlers from 16 countries put about 500 bipedal robots through various motions to showcase the promise and limits of embodied artificial intelligence at what was billed as the first-ever World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.

The games were meant to show off China’s latest robotics breakthroughs and highlight how humanoid machines could one day be used in real-world scenarios. It’s all part of the country’s broader push to win the global robotics race.