2025 Sci-Tech Innovation Gala highlights China's innovation strength

The 2025 China Sci-Tech Innovation Gala, produced by China Media Group (CMG) in collaboration with Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, will air on the CCTV-1 channel at 8 p.m. on Friday, with a rebroadcast on CCTV-10 channel at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Designed as a grand annual stage for new quality productive forces, the gala brings together leading scientists, academicians, industry pioneers and artists, placing science at center stage through an imaginative fusion of technology and art.

The opening show features a striking "technology parade," assembling cutting-edge innovations across space, air, water and land. One of the highlights is a 10,000-drone aerial performance, where the night sky becomes a canvas. Swarms of drones rise like constellations, forming images of major national scientific achievements and offering audiences a sense of scale and power through technology.

The gala also showcases China's rapidly expanding low-altitude economy, whose market size is expected to reach 1.5 trillion yuan (about $214 billion) in 2025. CMG helicopters, various eVTOL aircraft and large-scale drone formations appear together, alongside a bio-inspired ornithopter robot nicknamed "phoenix in flight." Capable of flying freely at altitudes of up to 5,000 meters, the robot highlights China's advances in biomimetic technology.

Set on the shores of Swan Lake in Hefei, the main stage extends onto the water, where intelligent unmanned surface vessels perform coordinated maneuvers. Beyond the stage, these vessels play key roles in marine surveying, rescue operations and maritime patrols, representing China's push toward smarter ocean technologies.

At the gala, humanoid robots appear in groups, performing alongside humans in diverse roles. Some play the piano with human musicians, others portray characters from Kunqu Opera and Peking Opera, while "robot butlers" demonstrate household organization skills – showcasing their potential to serve everyday life in future household settings.

Through the integration of science and artistic expression, the gala explores the limits of technological imagination and presentation. With China's new energy vehicle exports remaining the world's largest in 2025, the show also brings automobiles onto the stage – combining power, speed and technology in choreographed performances.

As 2026 begins, the gala connects with major national projects and mega-engineering achievements across China and around the world, using the language of technology to send New Year greetings and to celebrate a future shaped by innovation.