Digitization and smart tech leads to boost in business productivity

At the recently concluded China Beijing International High-Tech Expo, the host city flexed its innovation muscles especially in the sphere of developing new quality productive forces.

A tall humanoid robot named Huitong was a major attraction at the event, demonstrating its "athletic prowess" to the visitors. One of the highest and farthest jumping motor-driven humanoid robots in the world, Huitong, in its seventh iteration, can walk, run, jump, fall, roll and climb.

"Our core technologies include small yet exquisite core components combined with a unique balance control algorithm. The integration of hardware and software allows us to achieve greater torque in a more compact size," said She Haotian, general manager of HariBIT, a Beijing-headquartered company specializing in the research and development of humanoid robots and their components.

Wang Hao, director of the Institute of Industrial Policies at the China Center for Information Industry Development, told Xinhua News Agency: "Robots, especially humanoid robots, are the culmination of advanced technologies such as new materials, precision manufacturing and artificial intelligence. They reflect a nation's overall strength in technological innovation and stand as significant integrated innovations following computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles."

As a new frontier and a barometer of future industries, it is set to become the high ground for technological competition and an engine for economic development, he added.

Congruence

Beijing's efforts to promote high-quality development is congruous with the Resolution on the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Deepening Reform Comprehensively to Advance Chinese Modernization, adopted on July 18.

The resolution noted that high-quality development is a primary task in building China into a modern socialist country in all respects. To this end, it is essential to apply the new development philosophy to steer reform, ground efforts in the new stage of development, deepen supply-side structural reform, improve incentive mechanisms for promoting high-quality development, and strive to create new growth drivers and strengths.

The strategic industries listed in the resolution, including next-generation information technology, AI, aviation and aerospace, new energy, new materials, high-end equipment, biopharmaceuticals and quantum technology, are also the key sectors that Beijing is going all-out to develop.

Beijing is at the forefront nationally in developing the embodied intelligence industry, which combines the two sectors of AI and robots, and features intensive use of frontier technologies.

With a series of encouragement policies rolled out, and a wealth of research expertise and industrial prowess, the city has fostered and attracted a considerable number of industry-leading companies, startup businesses with great growth potential and research institutions into this field.

Magnet for startups

Among them is a humanoid robot innovation center established at the end of 2023 at the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, aka Beijing E-Town.

The center, founded by industry-leading companies including Xiaomi and UBTech, is dedicated to the research and development of core technologies that are of concern to the industry, said Xiong Youjun, general manager of the center.

In late April, the center revealed its independently developed general-purpose humanoid robot called Tien Kung as a technological research platform. The platform features the rapid installation of flexible sensors and actuators, support for high computational capabilities within the system, and an open-source and open-architecture design.

"The center is expected to foster the agglomeration of the robotics industry, step up the supply capabilities and commercialization of humanoid robot technologies and drive the intelligent upgrading of industries, such as automotive manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals, thus advancing the development of new quality productive forces," Ma Ning, an official from Beijing E-Town, told Beijing Daily.

Currently, Beijing E-Town has amassed some 110 robotics companies, establishing a comprehensive industry chain that encompasses core components, complete machines and applications.

Data show that fixed asset investment in Beijing's core digital economy industries grew by 32.5 percent year-on-year during the first half of this year. Notably, the manufacturing of digital products saw a jump of 69.6 percent.

The push for digitization and intelligent transformation has significantly boosted business productivity in the city, with large-scale manufacturing enterprises that employ robots witnessing more than a 10 percent year-on-year increase in per capita output.

New energy vehicles are also a key sector that local authorities have put emphasis on. Attracted by Beijing's policy support, a complete industry chain and robust market demand, NEV startup Li Auto has invested to establish 51 labs, or 57 percent of the company's total research platforms, as well as manufacturing facilities, in the city.

Its investment has paid off. By the end of the first half, the company has been granted an accumulative 3,845 patents, covering such areas as extended-range electric vehicles, high-voltage pure electric vehicles, smart space and pilot assistance.

Liao Mengjun, senior director of R&D operations at the company, said Beijing is home to many top-tier research institutions and universities, offering rich innovation resources and talent support for the industry. Also, the city's marked progress in the research and application of cutting-edge technologies such as intelligent connected vehicles also provides a sound R&D environment for companies like Li Auto to pursue technological advancements and product innovations.