China dominates the market for electric vehicles. Now it's chasing Tesla in the race to build battery-powered humanoids expected to replace human workers building EVs on assembly lines.
At the World Robot Conference this week in Beijing, over two dozen Chinese companies showed off humanoid robots designed to work in factories and warehouses, with even more displaying the made-in-China precision parts needed to build them.
China's push into the emerging industry draws from the formula behind its initial EV drive more than a decade ago: government support, ruthless price competition from a wide field of new entrants and a deep supply chain.