Ma'anshan Hosts Humanoid Robot and Embodied Intelligence Real-World Training Challenge, with 5 Major Scenarios and 13 Competition Events

On November 2, a press conference for the Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence Real-World Training Challenge was held in Beijing, where the overall event arrangements and competition plan were released, and a team assembly call was issued. Yi Maolin, Member of the Standing Committee of the Ma'anshan Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor; Liang Liang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Institute of Electronics; Wu Bin, Secretary-General of the Ma'anshan Municipal Government; and Teng Qing, Director of the Ma'anshan Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, attended the press conference.

Liang Liang, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, speaks

Liang Liang said that humanoid robot and embodied intelligence technologies are accelerating their evolution, and the industry is entering an important window period of large-scale application. The industry's development is gradually shifting from focusing on technology and the supply side to "targeting scenarios and solving problems." The industry's focus has shifted from "jumping on stage and running on the field" to "working in factories and being used in supermarkets." Amid accelerating mass production and deployment, how to enable robots to understand real environments and complete real tasks more safely and reliably has become an important issue in promoting the coordinated development of technology and industry. To implement the national deployment for the innovative development of the humanoid robot and embodied intelligence industry and respond to the 2026 Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence Real-World Training Special Action jointly carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council, the Ma'anshan Municipal People's Government, the Chinese Institute of Electronics, and the World Robot Cooperation Organization jointly host the Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence Real-World Training Challenge. This challenge adheres to application-driven principles, is based on the current development characteristics of the industry, comprehensively considers technical capabilities, scenario conditions, and actual needs, and sets up 13 competition events around five major scenarios: "embodied intelligence + logistics, manufacturing, service, security, and culture and sports." It moves the "examination room" into production and living scenarios such as Ma'anshan manufacturing enterprises, logistics companies, hotels, communities, and supermarkets. Through real tasks, real environments, and real working conditions, it tests the maturity of technologies and products, accumulates high-quality real-machine data and industry deployment experience, promotes the effective alignment of innovative achievements with application needs, and "promotes research through competition, promotes production through competition, and promotes application through competition," injecting new momentum into the high-quality development of the humanoid robot and embodied intelligence industry.

Yi Maolin, Member of the Standing Committee of the Ma'anshan Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor, speaks

Yi Maolin said that Ma'anshan has an industrial cluster that has begun to take shape, with more than 100 enterprises in the city's artificial intelligence and robot industry chains. It has been approved to build the Anhui Province Artificial Intelligence Visual Large Model Future Industry Pilot Zone and strives to build the artificial intelligence and robot industries into a 10-billion-yuan-level strategic industrial cluster during the "15th Five-Year Plan" period. It has a strong and efficient computing power foundation, has built the Ma'anshan Embodied Robot Innovation Center, has formed a high-quality real-machine data supply capacity of 500,000 hours per year, has brought more than 1,600P of computing power online, and has built a high-quality computing power supply system. It has rich and diverse application scenarios and has sorted out more than 190 robot application demonstration scenarios with promotion value, covering seven fields including industrial manufacturing, logistics and distribution, life services, and public security. On this basis, Ma'anshan will focus on "real-world training" and organize this challenge well from four aspects: adhere to demand orientation, go deep into key industrial enterprises, logistics parks, supermarkets, and hotels to collect frontline needs, and make competition events connect with actual difficulties in production and life; adhere to practical testing, open real operating environments such as production workshops, hotel rooms, and supermarket shelves, not be afraid of "embarrassment" or "mistakes," and provide real-world verification conditions for participating robots; adhere to distinctive integration, integrate the characteristics of the steel industry, tug-of-war sports culture, and the cultural heritage of the poetry city into the event, and showcase the city's characteristics of the integration of technology, industry, and culture; adhere to achievement transformation, simultaneously carry out industrial exchanges, release scenario lists, and match supply and demand, provide computing power support, scenario opening, industrial support, and other services for outstanding teams and enterprises implementing projects, and promote the implementation and development of event achievements in Ma'anshan.

Wu Bin, Secretary-General of the Ma'anshan Municipal Government, speaks

Wu Bin said that the Ma'anshan Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government are coordinating forces from all sides to advance event preparations. First, build an efficient and coordinated organizational system, establish an organizing committee, establish a cross-departmental collaborative linkage mechanism, and the organizing committee and various working groups have entered substantive operation. Second, create a professional and standardized competition environment, do a good job in support work at express logistics centers, residential communities, hotels, and other places involved in the test events, provide a stable and reliable real-world testing environment, accelerate the implementation of the renovation of the Ma'anshan Sports and Convention Center venues, scientifically divide functional areas such as the competition area, spectator area, and debugging area, and ensure that competition requirements and spectator needs are met. Third, provide meticulous and considerate logistics services, open dedicated transportation shuttle lines, provide "point-to-point" pickup services for participating teams; form a volunteer service team composed of college student volunteers and professional service personnel to provide guidance and consulting services for participating teams and spectators; formulate complete security plans and emergency plans to make every effort to maintain safety and stability during the event. Fourth, create a strong and enthusiastic event atmosphere, organize media interview activities, invite media to go deep into the frontline of the competition venue, and experience up close the charm of humanoid robot and embodied intelligence technologies and the vitality of Ma'anshan's industrial development.

Teng Qing, Director of the Ma'anshan Municipal Bureau of Industry and Information Technology, speaks

Teng Qing stated that Ma'anshan City adheres to promoting high-quality development of the manufacturing industry through digital and intelligent empowerment. The digital transformation rate of industrial enterprises above designated size in the city has reached 99%, and the numerical control rate of key processes has reached 75%; a total of 2 national-level intelligent manufacturing demonstration factories, 6 excellent scenarios, and 7 national-level 5G factories have been built. Production lines in key industries such as steel and equipment manufacturing have completed digital interface transformation, which can provide real working conditions for technical verification and algorithm iteration for embodied intelligence teams. Next, Ma'anshan will closely follow the main line of "events as a platform, industry development, and talent rootedness." First, open up all-domain scenarios and create a "real-world examination room," further releasing high-value scenarios such as steel smelting, auto parts assembly, and warehousing and logistics, and promoting the formation of a closed loop of "scenario-driven—data accumulation—product optimization." Second, strengthen chain-based investment attraction and cultivate industrial clusters, introduce enterprises in key links such as embodied intelligence body manufacturing, core components, and vertical large models, reduce the landing costs of startups, and promote the formation of a complete ecosystem from R&D and design to complete machine manufacturing. Third, cultivate a fertile ground for talent and stimulate innovation vitality, deepen cooperation with universities and research institutes, jointly build embodied intelligence joint laboratories and pilot testing bases, and enable embodied intelligence in Ma'anshan to move from "concept verification" to "normal operation."

The Humanoid Robot and Embodied Intelligence Real-Scenario Training Challenge is jointly hosted by the Ma'anshan Municipal People's Government, the Chinese Institute of Electronics, and the World Robot Cooperation Organization, and adopts a two-stage competition system of "test competition + challenge competition." The test competition is scheduled to be held from November 16 to December 3, 2026. The relevant events will enter local industrial manufacturing enterprises, logistics enterprises, hotels, supermarkets, and communities in Ma'anshan to carry out real-scenario test competitions in real working environments. The challenge competition is scheduled to be held from December 4 to 6, 2026 at the Ma'anshan Sports and Convention Center. At the same time, activities such as the "Deep Journey" of AI Empowering New Industrialization (Ma'anshan Station) and the enterprise symposium of the MIIT Humanoid Robot and Embodied Intelligence Standardization Technical Committee will also be held to promote technical exchanges, supply-demand matching, and industrial collaboration.

This competition sets up 13 events around 5 major scenarios: "embodied intelligence + logistics, manufacturing, service, safety, and culture and sports." The "embodied intelligence + logistics" scenario sets up two events: the logistics sorting challenge and the express delivery challenge. Through tasks such as package recognition and grasping, sorting and placement, and autonomous navigation, it tests the robots' continuous operation capabilities in complex warehousing and community environments. The "embodied intelligence + manufacturing" scenario sets up three events: the material handling and loading/unloading challenge, the precision assembly challenge, and the tug-of-war and load-bearing challenge. Around tasks such as production loading and unloading, 3C product assembly, and load-bearing transportation, it focuses on examining the robots' mobile and operational coordination, millimeter-level precision insertion, flexible force control, and load operation capabilities. The "embodied intelligence + service" scenario sets up three events: the hotel cleaning challenge, the hotel object folding challenge, and the supermarket restocking challenge. Around tasks such as guest room cleaning, linen folding, and product shelving, it tests the robots' multi-task planning, flexible object manipulation, and fine operation capabilities in unstructured environments. The "embodied intelligence + safety" scenario sets up the emergency rescue challenge. Through tasks such as crossing broken bridges, breaking out of ruins, pipe gallery inspection, and wading through water to remove dangers, it tests the robots' environmental perception, obstacle-crossing, and autonomous task-switching capabilities under complex conditions. The "embodied intelligence + culture and sports" scenario sets up four events: the table tennis human-machine challenge, the badminton human-machine challenge, the mixed martial arts challenge, and the poetry creation challenge. In sports competition, human-machine interaction, and cultural expression, it demonstrates the robots' real-time decision-making, motion control, and multimodal interaction capabilities.

Registration for the Humanoid Robot and Embodied Intelligence Real-Scenario Training Challenge has officially opened, with registration closing on November 27, 2026. Enterprises, universities, research institutes, and other units in the field of humanoid robots and embodied intelligence may form teams on their own or jointly to participate. The competition will also provide participating teams with opportunities for technical and cooperation matching.

Real-scenario training promotes application implementation, and promoting industry through competition empowers industrial development. The competition will gather innovative forces from all parties in the industrial chain, deepen the connection between technological R&D and application needs, allow more new technologies to undergo real testing in Ma'anshan, and promote more outstanding achievements to enter broader application markets.