Shanghai: Humanoid robots are emerging as a new form of Lunar New Year entertainment in China, as manufacturers showcase their song-and-dance abilities to captivate the public while also appealing to potential customers, investors, and government officials.
Shanghai-based robotics start-up Agibot live-streamed an almost hour-long variety show featuring its humanoid robots dancing, performing acrobatics and magic tricks, lip-syncing ballads, and acting in comedy sketches.
Additional Agibot robots appeared seated in an audience section, waving during the show. The company billed the event as ‘the world’s first robot-powered gala.’ The live stream attracted an estimated 1.4 million viewers on the Chinese short-video platform Douyin, although Agibot said that it did not yet have figures for total viewership across all platforms.
The show was also streamed on RedNote, Sina Weibo, TikTok, and Douyin, and broadcast on Chinese-language television channels HTTV and iCiTi TV. In total, more than 200 robots were used in the production.
The event took place a week before China Central Television’s (CCTV) annual Spring Festival gala, a highly watched national broadcast that has become an increasingly important, if unconventional, stage for Chinese robot makers to demonstrate their technological progress.
During the 2025 CCTV Spring Festival gala, a group of 16 full-size humanoid robots developed by Hangzhou-based Unitree performed alongside human dancers, drawing widespread admiration from millions of viewers.
Less than three weeks later, Unitree’s founder was invited to attend a high-profile symposium chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping. Since then, Unitree has been preparing for a potential initial public offering. This year’s CCTV gala is expected to feature humanoid robots from four start-ups: Unitree, Galbot, Noetix, and MagicLab, according to the companies and the broadcaster.
Commenting on the growing role of robots in cultural events, photographer and writer Ma Hongyun, who has 4.8 million followers on Weibo, stated in a post that when robots begin to understand the Lunar New Year and develop a sense of humour, advances in human–computer interaction may arrive sooner than expected.
Agibot says its humanoid robots are designed for a wide range of applications, including education, entertainment, and factory work, and the company plans to pursue an initial public offering in Hong Kong.
However, state-run Securities Times reported that Agibot chose to opt out of participating in the CCTV gala this year in order to concentrate spending on research and development.
Agibot has previously demonstrated two of its humanoid robots to President Xi Jinping during a visit in April last year. Meanwhile, competition in the global humanoid robotics sector is intensifying.
Elon Musk, whose company Tesla has shifted focus toward artificial intelligence and the Optimus humanoid robot, has said that the only significant competitive threat he faces in robotics comes from Chinese firms. Like his Chinese rivals, Musk has also relied on promotional stunts, including showcasing human-directed robots working as bartenders at an event in 2024.
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