(Yicai) April 16 -- Overseas buyers have shown great interest in the Chinese robots and their key components showcased on the first day of this year’s spring leg of the bi-annual China Import and Export Fair, better known as the Canton Fair.

Dobot Robotics’ ice cream-making robot demonstration attracted the attention of many foreign buyers at the Canton Fair yesterday. A staffer told Yicai that the product has already been exported to several countries.

Phybot brought to the Canton Fair a bipedal humanoid robot capable of autonomously playing badminton with humans. Its high-dynamic interaction abilities, rapid movement, visual tracking, and racket swinging to hit the shuttlecock stood out.

The joints, body, and motion of the 135-centimeter-tall robot are all developed in-house, a Phybot employee told Yicai. Playing badminton is just one of its application scenarios, he noted, adding that after undergoing reinforcement learning, the robot can also be utilized in service scenarios, such as tidying up tables, serving tea, and providing guided tours.

The robot’s mass production began in February, and Phybot’s main focus now is on expanding its domestic market share, even though a small batch has already been exported, the staffer pointed out. At the Canton Fair, the company has received inquiries from buyers from Europe, the United States, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia, and South America.

ChangingTek Robotics Technology Suzhou showcased its dexterous robotic hand, which can be applied in various fields, such as aerospace, smart manufacturing, laboratory automation, new retail, and service robots, at the Canton Fair. It is priced from CNY20,000 (USD2,935).

The dexterous robotic hand is in high demand, and the company is expanding production capacity to meet customer needs, Zeng Jungen, sales director at ChangingTek Robotics, told Yicai. While the primary focus is on the domestic market, the firm has also established contact with clients from Japan, South Korea, Europe, and the US, he noted.

Ti5 Robot’s main clients for robot joints and body manufacturing are Chinese, Duan Chenghong, the company’s business head, told Yicai. Due to the products’ relatively high cost, overseas buyers attending the Canton Fair have mostly taken an observational and informational approach, he pointed out.

Duan believes that the technology for humanoid robots still needs further improvement, and costs must decrease before there is an opportunity for true large-scale implementation.

However, Yicai learned that the prices of humanoid robots have significantly decreased in the past year. Most humanoid robots on display at this spring edition of the Canton Fair are priced at around CNY500,000 (USD73,340), with the lowest models being on sale for between CNY200,000 and CNY300,000. In comparison, those showcased at last year’s spring leg cost between CNY700,000 and CNY800,000.

China’s exports of intelligent bionic robots reached 3,140 units in the first two months of this year, generating an export value of USD16.5 million, according to data from the China Chamber of Commerce for Import and Export of Machinery and Electronic Products.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione