A concept picture of AI city File photo: VCG

The annual production of humanoid robots in China is expected to reach 100,000 units this year, and humanoid robots have been increasingly making their way into factories and workshops. 

Meanwhile, as manufacturing has become the primary "battlefield" for artificial intelligence (AI)-empowered applications, the adoption rate of AI among China's large-scale industrial enterprises has surpassed 30 percent, Gan Xiaobin, an official from China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), said at a press briefing in Shanghai on Tuesday.

Taking account of the strong momentum in AI-powered smart terminals, it is expected that the sales of AI smartphones and AI personal computers would surpass non-AI phones and computers for the first time in 2026, Wang Ruomeng, an official of China's National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), the country's top economic planner, said at the press briefing. 

According to Wang, China's annual shipments of AI-powered smart terminals, including AI smartphones and AI PCs, exceeded 100 million units last year. 

Wang also took note of the vigorous development of new products and new business models driven by AI innovations. For example, China's native AI agents have seen over 20 million monthly visits, with daily token processing reaching trillions of times, marking a significant rise from last year.
 
Chinese officials announced at the press briefing that China will host the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai from July 17-20. 

This year, dozens of countries and international organizations are expected to send high-level representatives to attend the conference. And during the High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance, global participants will engage in in-depth discussions and exchange views on cutting-edge AI tech development and smarter governance.

The event, themed "intelligent partners, co-creating the future," will consist of  six major parts, including forums and conferences, exhibitions and displays, awards and competitions, application experiences, innovation incubation, and talent recruitment.

To date, the conference has helped facilitate implementation of 57 major application scenarios, with a total of 16.2 billion yuan in intended cooperation agreements reached.

Tang Wenkan, director of the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, said at the press briefing that multiple homegrown innovative AI products will debut at the conference, including the industry's largest-scale super node, the Huawei Atlas 950 physical unit, industry-leading MiniMax M3 multimodal large model, the Jieyue Agent Operating System, near-memory computing 3D chips, the world's first AI Agent smartphone, as well as humanoid robots, AI dexterous hands, and other innovative gadgets. 

Global Times