New Delhi, Feb. 19 -- The Spring Festival Gala is a showcase both of China's cultural riches and its technological might. The four-hour state television programme, staged in Beijing on the eve of each Lunar New Year, often features goose-stepping phalanxes of singing soldiers. On February 16th the centrepiece was a troupe of sword-brandishing humanoid robots performing an elaborate martial-arts routine. It was one of four humanoid-embellished acts that wowed viewers around the world.

China's humanoid robotics industry is bustling. More than 14,500 automatons were delivered last year worldwide, up from around 3,000 in 2024, according to company reports and estimates from Omdia, a research firm. Nearly all came from China (see chart). The ...