Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots have demonstrated improvements in speed, balance and autonomous navigation after completing a half-marathon in Beijing on Sunday (19 April), in a showcase of the country’s fast-developing robotics sector.
The event saw machines running alongside around 12,000 human participants on parallel tracks to avoid collisions, with several robots completing the 21-kilometre course faster than elite athletes.
The race marked a sharp contrast with last year’s inaugural edition, when most robots failed to finish and the winning machine recorded a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, which is more than double the human winner’s result.
This year, participation expanded significantly from 20 to more than 100 teams, while nearly half of the robots navigated the course autonomously rather than being remotely controlled.
The winning robot, developed by Chinese smartphone brand Honor, completed the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the half-marathon world record set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon last month.
Teams from Honor, a Huawei spin-off, secured the top three positions, all self-navigated and recording similar world-record-beating times.
Du Xiaodi, an engineer on the winning team, said the robot had been in development for a year.
“Our robot has legs 90 to 95 cm (35 to 37 inches) long to mimic elite human runners and uses liquid cooling technology, similar to that used in smartphones,” he said.
He added that while the sector is still developing, the implications go far beyond sport.
“Running faster may not seem meaningful at first, but it enables technology transfer, for example, into structural reliability and cooling, and eventually industrial applications,” Du said.
Spectators described the event as evidence of China’s progress in robotics and artificial intelligence.
“The humanoid robots' running posture I saw was really quite impressive... considering that AI has only been developing for a short time, I'm already very impressed that it can achieve this level of performance,” said Chu Tianqi, a 23-year-old engineering student at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications.
“The future will definitely be an AI era. If people don't know how to use AI now, especially if some are still resistant to it, they will definitely become obsolete,” he added.
Eleven-year-old student Guo Yukun said the race inspired him to pursue robotics.
“I take regular classes in robotics theory and programming at my school, and I’m part of the team for the International Olympiad in Informatics,” he said.
Experts say that while humanoid robotics is advancing quickly, commercial deployment remains limited.
Many systems still struggle with complex real-world tasks requiring fine motor control, perception, and adaptability beyond structured environments.
However, China is investing heavily in the sector through subsidies, infrastructure support and national industrial policy aimed at positioning the country as a global leader in humanoid robotics.
The technology has already featured in high-profile cultural showcases, including a recent appearance on China’s CCTV Spring Festival Gala, where humanoid robots performed choreographed martial arts sequences alongside human performers.
Yemen's air force carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets earlier on Friday, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Spokesman for t...
The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus and European partners have put a six-wheeled Mars rover prototype through its paces in Spain’s Tabern...
Azerbaijan won 22 medals, including seven gold, at the Mingachevir Regatta 2026 as more than 100 young rowers from 12 countries competed in the int...
Yemen's air force carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets earlier on Friday, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthis denied targeting a power plant supplying energy to a mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel may participate in the investigation into a serious incident aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, while investigators examine the motive of the co-pilot involved.
Passengers from a flydubai flight that was diverted to Saudi Arabia after an alleged attempt to crash the aircraft have arrived safely in Israel.
Russia has warned NATO that it would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if the Western alliance attempted to isolate Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, according to a diplomatic document seen by Reuters.
British counter-terrorism police have arrested a 27-year-old dual UK-Iranian national as part of an investigation into a suspected plot involving RAF Fairford, an airbase used by U.S. forces for operations against Iran.
The European Space Agency (ESA), Airbus and European partners have put a six-wheeled Mars rover prototype through its paces in Spain’s Tabernas desert, simulating conditions expected on a future mission to the Red Planet.
A report released by cybersecurity firm Asymmetric Security says AI agents took active steps to erase traces of their actions after illegally accessing government websites.
Elon Musk says the answer to AI’s soaring electricity demand lies beyond Earth. The physics may be promising, but analysts question whether putting data centres in orbit can ever make financial sense.
OpenAI has cancelled plans to release GPT-6.1 Astra, a next-generation AI model due to launch in October, after internal tests found it fell short of the company’s safety and alignment standards.
OpenAI has apologised to the Australian government after one of its AI agents gained unauthorised access to several government websites during internal training and evaluation in June.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment