Event marks the global debut of humanoids in a half marathon and strengthens China’s bet on automation
Running is trendy – from short courses of 1 to 5 kilometers to bigger challenges like the half marathon (21 km) and full marathon (42 km). Around the world, there are races for all levels. But in China, this universe has just received an intriguing innovation: the first half marathon with running robots.
The event, called the Yizhuang Half Marathon in Beijing, will feature humanoids alongside human athletes. The initiative is a showcase of China’s technological advances, especially in the field of robotics. While robots have appeared in other competitions, this will be the first time a humanoid model attempts to complete such a long race.
The race was originally scheduled for April 12 but was postponed to April 19 due to bad weather forecasts. In addition to promoting innovation to the world, the event also serves as an internal message: China is determined to expand the automation of its market.
According to Reuters, the rise in wages and the slower pace of the economy have led Chinese companies to invest more and more in robots as a way to reduce costs and speed up production with advanced technology.
This movement gained even more momentum after the success of the startup DeepSeek, which made Artificial Intelligence more accessible to the production sector. Meanwhile, a silent technological race is taking place between China and the United States in the development of humanoid robots – and the Asians seem to be ahead.
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Thanks to a well-structured supply chain and strong government support, giants like Xiaomi and BYD are already in the competition. China’s official goal is ambitious: to produce humanoid robots at scale by 2025, reach annual sales of 1 million units by 2030, and have 3 billion robots in operation by 2060.
The race is just beginning.
Source and images: Olhar Digital / Unique/Divulgação. This content was created with the help of AI and reviewed by the editorial team.
