But even before this month, China has been turning to high-profile events to showcase its tech, including a robot half-marathon and dancing humanoid robots during its Lunar New Year’s Eve TV gala, watched by hundreds of millions of people, according to The New York Times.

Unitree Robotics brought the spotlight-grabbing machines at Beijing’s set piece robots competition on Friday, burnishing its reputation as a national champion for China’s ambitions in developing AI and humanoids.

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.