Beijing, the permanent host city of the World Robot Conference, will concentrate on developing its robotics industry by positioning it as a flagship for fostering new quality productive forces, said an official during the World Robot Conference 2024.
The World Robot Conference 2024 took place in Beijing from Wednesday to Sunday. During the event, 169 leading global enterprises showcased over 600 innovative products, with more than 60 new items making their debut.
More than 7,000 teams from over 10 countries took part in the event's competitions.
Hailed as the pearl atop the crown of manufacturing, the robotics industry stands as a crucial indicator of a country's technological innovation level and capabilities in high-end manufacturing.
"The flourishing growth of the intelligent technology industry, characterized by robotics technology, has emerged as a pivotal symbol of technological innovation in the modern era," said Liang Liang, deputy secretary-general with the Chinese Institute of Electronics.
Over the past decade since the conference was launched, it has welcomed more than one million visitors, emerging as a grand event for showcasing innovations, driving industry development, and fostering international cooperation in the realm of robotics.
In 2023, Beijing's robotics industry generated over 20 billion yuan (around 2.8 billion U.S. dollars).
"In the next phase, capitalizing on the opportunities brought by the new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, Beijing will focus on the development of smart robots, strengthen the integration of innovation, industry, capital, and talent chains to make the robotics industry a flagship for fostering new quality productive forces in China," said Jiang Guangzhi, director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology.
China's leadership has called for the rapid development of new quality productive forces, referring to innovative and advanced productivity freed from traditional economic growth modes and productivity development paths.
Robotics to become Beijing's flagship industry for fostering modern innovation: official
The 11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opened in Beijing on Friday morning with hotspots around the world and security cooperation taking the center stage.
The opening ceremony was attended by more than 600 official representatives from over 100 countries and international organizations, including nearly 300 heads of official delegations and officials from various countries. The forum is held with the theme of "Promoting Peace for a shared future".
China's Defense Minister Dong Jun attended the opening ceremony and delivered a keynote speech. He first read out a congratulatory letter from President Xi Jinping to the forum. Then, he mentioned in his speech the current hot issues including the Ukrainian crisis and the ongoing Palestine-Israel conflict.
Dong said "there is no winner in a war and a conflict, and there is no way out if we just confront each other." He also stressed that promoting peace talks is the only way out, and the fundamental way out.
Two plenary sessions were held after the opening ceremony. At the first session, participants exchanged views on "security cooperation and prosperity and stability in the Asia-Pacific region", and official representatives from Vietnam, Singapore, Pakistan, Fiji, Russia and Malaysia spoke at the meeting.
The theme of the second plenary session was "multipolarization and the direction of international order", and defense ministers or military generals from six countries including Cambodia, Tanzania, Cameroon and Iran delivered speeches.
The topics all focus on security hotspots. Participants include not only developing and developed countries, but also representatives, experts and scholars from the closely-watched countries such as the United States, Russia, and Ukraine.
In interviews, many participants said that the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is committed to promoting dialog, exchanges and cooperation among defense agencies, militaries and international organizations of various countries, and is playing an active role in promoting regional security and stability and maintaining world peace and development.
The ongoing Beijing Xiangshan Forum, which runs until Saturday, will also hold eight parallel group sessions, focusing on themes such as the correct way for China and the United States to get along, European security trends and Middle East peace vision. This year, a new session on outer space security has been set up for participants to jointly discuss issues on outer space security governance.
Initiated in 2006, the Beijing Xiangshan Forum is a high-level security and defense forum in the Asia-Pacific with significant international influence.
11th Beijing Xiangshan Forum opens with focus on hotspots, security cooperation
