The week-long 2023 World Robot Conference (WRC), which runs from August 16 to 22 in Beijing, has drawn 160 exhibitors from home and abroad to display 600 products.

Featuring "Robot+" scenarios for the first time, this year's WRC includes more than 30 forums besides the expo, showing the latest technologies and products in 10 fields including medical services and agriculture.

Humanoid robots are undoubtedly the highlight of the conference. They have skin and expressions similar to those of humans, and can even synchronize with the screen to imitate human expressions.

Biomimetic robots of Li Bai and Du Fu, China's brilliant poets from the Tang Dynasty (618-907), chanted their best known works and attracted flocks of visitors.

The exhibitors are confident that such robots can be a hit in culture and tourism venues.

"The robots of Li Bai and Du Fu we saw are a cultural tourism project we aim to promote in the future. With robots as the core, we can place them to perform in small theaters," said exhibitor Li Wenbo.

There are also humanoid robots capable of fetching beverages from a refrigerator following the instructions given by on-site technicians. They not only understand human languages, but also autonomously identify objects and have the capacity to move them.

Service robots for better lives

In the service sector, pet-shaped companion robots also captured much attention. The CyberDog2 presented by Chinese tech giant Xiaomi is capable of doing flips and other tricks like a real dog, and "enjoys" being tickled by its owner under its chin.

With an adorable appearance and realistic touches, another companion robot, metaCat, can accompany the elderly or provide emotional support to special groups.

A dazzling array of healthcare robots on show can be used in surgery, auxiliary inspection, rehabilitation, inspection and sampling, and disinfection and cleaning.

The world's first one-piece, bionic fully flexible artificial heart is also on display at the expo. It uses silicone rubber materials that are highly compatible with the human body to simulate a natural heart to supply blood to humans, opening up a new technical direction for artificial hearts.

The functions of robots that can play a more comprehensive role in elderly care, for example disability assistance, nursing, rehabilitation training, housework, emotional escort and leisure, are also on display at the exhibition.

Robotic industry sees steady growth

The China Robot Technology and Industry Development Report (2023) released at the conference also shows that the overall development of China's robot industry is steadily improving, and the application scenarios have expanded significantly.

China has become an important driving force for the sector's development, the automotive and electronics industries are still the areas with the highest application of robots, and the development of humanoid robots is booming, according to the report.

"China has the world's largest robotics market and the richest application scenarios, and it has the conditions and ability to seize the opportunity of the change, and contribute more solutions and wisdom to global development," said Xin Guobin, vice minister of industry and information technology.

Away from the exhibition venue, industrial robots have significantly enhanced operation efficiency and personnel safety in an ironworks in Shanghai, where the operating temperature at the furnace working area is always above 50 degrees Celsius.

According to the operation chief, each furnace required two to three people to operate in the past, but now only one worker who issues orders remotely and supervises the robot is needed.

"These robots have reduced the labor intensity and safety risks in operation, because they have done the work and could replace manual operations, so workers just have to monitor them and deal with abnormal situations," said Wang Xuechao, a blast furnace operation chief at a subplant of Baoshan Iron and Steel Co., Ltd., which is also known as Baosteel.

Now 65 percent of the on-site operations in Baosteel's four production bases have been replaced by robots, and more than 1,250 specially-designed robots are used in production.

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