In a dazzling display of technological progress, China’s 2025 Spring Festival Gala featured an impressive performance by a troupe of 16 humanoid robots. The state-organized event, which took place in Beijing ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations, aimed to showcase the country’s advancements in the field of robotics.
The robotic dancers, developed by Hangzhou-based company Unitree, took to the stage alongside their human counterparts, wearing festive red jackets. The sleek, black robots, measuring nearly six feet tall, demonstrated remarkable agility and precision as they performed a traditional Chinese folk dance routine. Perfectly synchronized with the rhythm of the music, the robots twirled red handkerchiefs, tossing them into the air and catching them with ease, much to the delight of the audience.
This mesmerizing performance comes at a time when humanoid robots are increasingly becoming a focal point for tech giants worldwide. Industry leaders such as Elon Musk, with his Tesla Optimus robots, and Nvidia’s CEO Jensen Huang, have expressed their commitment to developing advanced humanoid robots. China, too, has set ambitious goals to mass-produce sophisticated humanoid robots by 2025, as outlined in a document released by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in 2023.
Unitree, the company behind the robots featured at the Spring Festival Gala, has also garnered attention for its other robotic creations. In addition to the H1 humanoid robots, the company has developed smaller models like the G1, which was showcased at CES 2025. Unitree’s four-legged, dog-like robots have also made headlines, particularly after being seen in footage of a joint military training exercise between China and Cambodia in 2024. These remote-controlled robots, capable of being mounted with machine guns, demonstrated their ability to navigate obstacles and perform jumps.
As China continues to push the boundaries of robotics, the Spring Festival Gala performance serves as a testament to the country’s growing capabilities in this field. With the rapid advancements in humanoid robot technology, it is clear that these machines are poised to play an increasingly significant role in various aspects of our lives in the near future. From entertainment to military applications, the potential for humanoid robots seems limitless, and China appears determined to be at the forefront of this technological revolution.