China’s dancing robots are a wake-up call for Australia on policy and productivity

中国国家电视台通过人形机器人展示功夫和幽默节目迎接马年，强调科技雄心。此次展演为即将召开的“两会”奠定了基础，涉及未来五年计划和AI产业发展。

Chinese state television rang in the Year of the Horse with humanoid robots doing kung fu, comedy sketches and mass choreography. They made complex martial arts choreography look easy. Social media was flooded with memes about “machines replacing humans”.

But the show was more than theatre. It was a prime-time industrial signal.

Beijing has long used the annual Chinese new year gala to showcase its technological ambitions, with previous shows highlighting drones, robotics and the space program.

This year, the gala put robots front and centre as part of an “AI plus” push.

The timing was important too. China’s “Two Sessions”, the annual parliamentary and advisory meetings, are due in early March. At the meetings, China is expected to approve the 15th five-year plan (2026–30), a policy blueprint that sets strategic targets and steers funding and policy support.

The display also raised some urgent questions for China’s trading partners, including Australian policymakers.

The Chinese government sees robotics and embodied intelligence as tools to help offset an ageing population and build “new quality productive forces” — its term for productivity gains driven by AI.

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