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Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

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      China

      China

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      2025-01-29 16:57 Last Updated At:22:57

      Cutting-edge technologies that include artificial intelligence (AI) have shored up a standout synchronized dancing performance offered by humans and humanoid robots together on the stage of the grand Spring Festival Gala on the eve of the Chinese New Year in Beijing.

      A team of robot dancers took to the stage alongside their human counterparts for a fun performance featuring the Chinese folk dance Yangge during the 2025 Spring Festival Gala on Tuesday evening, leaving the audience utterly amazed.

      The robots also impressively performed the "handkerchief spin" - a signature move in Yangge which typically requires great skill and practice.

      Choreographed by Zhang Peng and Li Mengyu - who also directed the gala at last year's Kashgar sub-venue - the performance brought together dancers from diverse ethnic groups, including Kazakh, Hui, Tujia and Buyi, to present a unique blend of tradition and innovation.

      The AI software captures every movement of the dancers, transforming them into instructions fine-tuned by the engineers.

      Thanks to the large models used in training, the robots' learning efficiency was vastly improved.

      It was already the second time for a robot team to make appearance on the Spring Festival Gala stage.

      From the four-legged robotic ox on the stage of the Spring Festival Gala in 2021 to this year's bipedal humanoid robots, technological advances have driven the creative possibilities.

      "Four legs help maintain stability on the ground easily. But when it comes to only two legs, the robot can't maintain stability with just one foot on the ground. The key is to ensure the robot's fluency and stability throughout the entire dance movement," said Zhang Yangguang, an engineer at Unitree Robotics which produces the robots.

      Since debuting its first bipedal humanoid robots in 2023, the team has tackled significant technical challenges, such as robots' ability to move autonomously across complex terrain.

      For the Yangge dance this year, the robot team programmed more than 130 dance moves, testing the robots' reliability as each of the 19 joints in the humanoid robots was required to perform large and precise movements.

      From a mere concept to reality, these humanoid robots have bridged the gap between technology and art on the grand stage of the Spring Festival Gala.

      "Regarding artistic creation, I think what is essential is to keep art in pace with the times. We need to continuously develop the excellent connotations of our traditional culture. In the past, we incorporated sound and light technology and multimedia in dance at theaters, and now we are merging it with cutting-edge technologies and robots. It's an entirely new challenge," said Zhang Peng, vice dean of the Dance School at Xinjiang Arts University.

      The Spring Festival Gala is a Chinese New Year special produced by China Media Group (CMG). It is broadcast annually on the eve of the Chinese New Year on its flagship CCTV-1 and internationally through the China Global Television Network. The gala has the largest audience of any entertainment show in the world, and is recognized by the Guinness World Records as the world's most watched television program.

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

      Dancing robots featuring cutting-edge techs wow audience at Spring Festival Gala

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      Xi's speech inspires entrepreneurs to break new ground for private economy

      2025-02-18 23:03 Last Updated At:02-19 01:17

      The speech by Chinese President Xi Jinping at a symposium on private enterprises in Beijing on Monday has inspired entrepreneurs to pursue high-quality development and break new ground for the private economy.

      Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, said China's private economy has grown considerably in size and accounts for a large proportion of the whole economy, laying a solid foundation for promoting its high-quality development.

      The continuous improvement of the socialist market economy and the system of socialist rule of law with Chinese characteristics will provide a stronger guarantee for the development of the private economy, Xi said.

      "The meeting convened by the general secretary has given us a boost and greater confidence to continue our development. We will follow the course for Chinese modernization charted by the general secretary, focus on the goal of high-quality development and work unremittingly to create our new glory," said Xu Guanju, chairman of leading chemicals manufacturer Transfar Group.

      "Primarily, I think the symposium strengthened our confidence in the development of the private economy. We must follow the general secretary's requirements, stick to developing our industry, focus on our core business without distractions, and serve our country with the industry to realize the dream of building China into a great country," said Wang Chuanfu, chairman and CEO of automaker BYD.

      With regard to the difficulties and challenges facing the private sector, Xi encouraged the entrepreneurs to stay committed to development, firm up confidence in growth, and maintain the spirit of striving to win.

      The private sector enjoys broad prospects and great potential on the new journey in the new era, Xi said, adding that it is a prime time for private enterprises and entrepreneurs to give full play to their capabilities.

      "I'm very excited and inspired. I deeply feel the support and care of the general secretary and the Party Central Committee for private enterprises and entrepreneurs. We must be determined to apply the latest technologies such as AI into our terminal products to enhance the global influence of Chinese products," said Lei Jun, chairman of tech giant Xiaomi.

      "All the entrepreneurs present [at the symposium] felt the encouragement from the general secretary, which gave us a clear idea of ​​the future direction of our enterprises, allowing us to work hard to make our businesses better without any misgivings. We can make products really useful for everyone and advance the development of our products with new scientific and technological innovations," said Wang Xingxing, CEO of Unitree Robotics.

      "In his important speech, the general secretary repeatedly encouraged enterprises and pointed out the direction of policy support. For example, he emphasized that we should focus on the main business, pursue innovative development, and pool efforts of the country and the society. This is the direction that promises prosperous industry and great opportunities. We should dare to take a step forward and take real action in challenging areas," said Gao Yuejing, chairwoman of Sunresin New Materials.

      The entrepreneurs said they will continue to improve the quality, efficiency and core competitiveness of their businesses, strive to promote scientific and technological innovation, cultivate new quality productive forces, and make new and greater contributions to economic and social development.

      Xi's emphasis on concrete policies and measures to promote the development of the private sector in his speech has resonated with officials from relevant departments.

      Zheng Bei, deputy director of the National Reform and Development Commission (NDRC), said the NDRC will take resolute actions to remove obstacles to market access and introduce a new negative list for market access as soon as possible, while promoting fair opening of competitive infrastructure fields and major national scientific research infrastructure to private enterprises.

      The commission will be committed to protecting the legitimate rights and interests of private enterprises and entrepreneurs in accordance with the law, he said.

      Vice Minister of Industry and Information Technology Shan Zhongde said his ministry will support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that apply special, sophisticated techniques to produce unique and novel products to participate in national scientific research projects.

      Shan said the ministry will continue to launch special campaigns to empower SMEs with digital technologies, establish a national service network for them, and guide them to embark on the path of high-quality development.

      Xi's speech inspires entrepreneurs to break new ground for private economy

      Xi's speech inspires entrepreneurs to break new ground for private economy

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