Robots almost like human

A robot shorter than half a meter will cost tens of thousands of yuan to produce, not to mention how high the retail price will be. Besides, most humanoid robots do not allow users to program them.

"I thought at that time, if I can conquer these two bottlenecks, the market will be huge for me," he said.

It was not easy. Zhou spent all his money and his family and friends refused to lend him any more. But Zhou and his team successfully developed their own core component part: the Servo, the cost of which is only one-tenth of that of Japanese robots.

Zhou further lowered the cost by using cheaper chips that are good enough to guarantee quality. And Ubtech created a programming software that allows even middle school students to create their own movement orders.

Once he had figured out those two issues, Ubtech grew quickly.

Ubtech now is worth $200 million, and soon the second generation of Alpha will be released.

The first generation can move, walk, sing and dance, and the second generation can talk with people. Meanwhile, the company is developing a 160-centimeter tall robot that can talk and play chess with people.

"It will feel just like a real person," Zhou said.

Like Siasun, Ubtech also focuses on research and development. About 70 percent of the company's employees are on the R&D team, including talents from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Tsinghua University.

Statistics from the International Federation of Robotics shows that China's demand for industrial robots is growing at a speed of above 25 percent per year.

According to McKinsey, by 2025, advanced robots will generate $1.7 trillion to $4.5 trillion in fields including manufacturing, medicine and services.

Qu says the government should support private enterprises in developing the robotics industry. "I think our government should build an open platform to use talent, capital and other resources not only from home but also from abroad. Then we can grow up in a short time just like E-business in China" Qu says.

"The robotics industry is important for almost every developed country. They have all decided to develop robotics as a national strategy. It is a comprehensive technology that will promote the development of many relevant technologies such as materials, big data, sensor technology and so on. It's key to the future of our manufacturing industries," Qu says, "and it will also be very crucial for future civil life and military affairs".

"Robotics is a good development opportunity for China. We should make good use of it," he says.