China opens the “robot mall”, its first shopping center for robots

China opened its first large -scale shopping center entirely dedicated to robots on Friday, as part of a wider thrust to bring robotics of research laboratories in people’s houses.

The four -story Mall robot, located in the district of the high -tech city in Beijing, has more than 100 robots of more than 40 brands, including Chinese companies like Ubtech Robotics and Unitree Robotics. The store works like a car dealer, but for robots. He follows the common “4S” model in China, offering sales, services, spare parts and surveys or opportunities to customers to provide comments in a single place.

“If robots have to enter thousands of households, it is not enough to rely only on robotics companies,” Wang Yifan, director of the shopping center, in Reuters.

The robots of the new shopping center start at 2,000 yuan ($ 278) and go up to several million yuan. A speaking humanoid replica of Albert Einstein goes for 700,000 yuan ($ 97,473).

The shopping center also includes a themed restaurant where robot servers serve dishes and drinks prepared by robot chefs. Visitors can also watch robots play football or Chinese chess, interact with robot dogs or meet animatronic versions of historical figures like Isaac Newton, the Emperor Qin Shi Huang and the famous Chinese poet Li Bai.

The opening of the Mall robot coincides with two major conferences in robotics in the city this month.

Friday was also the first day of the World Robot 2025 conference, which takes place until August 12. During the conference, nearly 500 experts from more than 20 countries will meet to discuss the latest robotics trends. About 200 robotics companies will also be present to present their latest research and development breakthroughs in more than 1,500 exhibitions.

A few days later, Beijing will host the World 2025 humanoid robot games, which take place from August 14 to 17. Humanoid robots will compete in a series of 21 events, testing their skills in all, from athletics, football and dance to the manipulation of materials, drug sorting and other challenges based on performances and scenarios. Until now, more than 100 teams have registered to compete.

All of this is part of China’s wider thrust to win the world race in robotics. The country pays tons of resources in the sector, including more than $ 20 billion in grants in the past year only. According to Reuters, Beijing has planned a fund of a Yuan Billion ($ 137 billion) to help support AI and robotics startups. Some American robotics companies, including Tesla and Boston Dynamics, have already called on legislators to develop a national strategy that can compete with that of China.