Humanoid robots were the undisputed stars at the ongoing World Robot Conference, which opened Friday in Beijing's E-town, the city's innovation hub.

The five-day event, themed "Making Robots Smarter, Making Embodied Agents More Intelligent," featured forums, exhibitions, competitions and networking, with more than 200 robotics firms showcasing new products.

At the main forum on Aug. 11, academics and industry executives said the humanoid sector is nearing a breakthrough amid faster mass production, rapid technological advances and falling costs. Panels focused on use cases across industries and the technologies behind them.

The forum opened with a demonstration by the Tiangong robot, fresh from recently winning a robot marathon. The robot, introduced by Xiong Youjun, general manager of China's National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center, walked onto the stage before breaking into a run, prompting cheers from the crowd.

Xiong said the rapid progress is not limited to a single platform. He cited a Morgan Stanley report projecting the global humanoid robot market could exceed $5 trillion by 2050, with more than 1 billion units in use.

He added that the industry is already on a healthy development path, driven by market demand and technological advances.

Jiang Lei, chief scientist at China's National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center, echoed that view. "My biggest takeaway from this conference is that almost everyone has moved from doubt to certainty that humanoid robots are the future," Jiang said. "Many are even calling this year the first year of humanoid robot mass production."

Outside the forums, humanoid robots drew crowds at exhibits and competitions. Demonstrations ranged from sports and combat routines to domestic tasks such as cooking, as well as commercial and industrial work like precision grasping and materials handling.

The 2025 World Robot Conference is co-hosted by the Chinese Institute of Electronics and the World Robot Cooperation Organization.