A young inventor tinkers with a robot at a competition and robot exhibition in Tianjin. (Photo : www.english.cntv.cn)
China is set to host the World Robot Conference 2015, which will be held in Beijing from Nov. 23-25, 2015. The event aims to focus on collaborative innovation and the building of an intelligent society, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
The event will be held jointly by China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) and the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Wang Chunfa, a senior CAST official, said during the press briefing on June 5, Friday, that the event will feature an exhibition, a forum and an international robot competition for teenagers.
According to the organizer's website, the robot competition will be called "World Adolescent Robot Contest 2015" (WARC 2015), organized by the Children and Youth Science Center of CAST.
Teams from China and other countries are expected to compete in two competition categories: WRO (World Robot Olympiad) Regular Category (open to international teams) and VEX Robotics Competition (open to teams from Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan).
According to Wang, speakers from China, Germany, the United States and Japan will deliver reports on such topics that include robot research and technology development.
Wang said an exhibit will be held featuring latest products, while research findings will also be showcased during the three-day event.
The number of industrial robots sold in China reached 57,000 last year, as Vice Minister Mao Weiming revealed, which marked an increase of 55 percent on a year-on-year basis and one-quarter of global sales.
Mao said that the government is drafting a plan to boost China's robot research, development and application in key manufacturing fields, as he noted the country's inadequate capacity to produce high-end robots independently.
Some 40,000 people are estimated to take part in the conference, the organizers said.
