Robots made coffee, danced and patrolled exhibition halls at this year's World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, which concluded on Nov 5 in the canal town of Wuzhen in eastern China. But behind the spectacle, companies including Unitree Robotics, AgiBot and UBTECH used the "Light of Internet" Expo to signal a shift from demonstrations toward practical deployment.
Evan Kail, an American content creator visiting the expo, paused in front of Unitree's GD01, a robot designed for emergency-response scenarios. Kail said the machine captured the pace of China's robotics progress: a few years ago Unitree robots were known for dancing in televised galas, while machines such as the GD01 now point to disaster response and search-and-rescue work. "The leaps of technology in China are very impressive," Kail said. "As climate change gets worse and worse, robots like this can make a difference if they are used to save lives."
The expo made clear that the machine is only part of the equation. Robots operating in crowded streets, disaster zones or industrial sites also need networks capable of carrying large amounts of data, responding almost instantly and supporting AI decisions close to where they are needed.
At China Mobile's booth, a display highlighted traffic-management robots deployed in Hangzhou, the eastern Chinese city that hosted the 2023 Asian Games. Earlier this year, during a peak holiday travel period, Hangzhou deployed 15 robots at major intersections in tourist areas and downtown districts as part of the Hangzhou Police Smart Mobility program. They can answer questions, guide pedestrians and vehicles, and warn people about traffic violations. The system uses 5G and 5G-Advanced connections and typically supports one camera per robot; future versions are expected to carry as many as six cameras and operate more independently within defined areas.
That will require latency below 10 milliseconds, uplink speeds above 100 Mbps and positioning accurate to within centimeters — demands shaping the development of 6G. The next generation of mobile technology is still years from commercial deployment, but industry plans include combining communications with sensing, edge computing and satellite connectivity. "With 6G, networks will effectively gain radar-like eyes — the ability to sense and understand their surroundings — while AI will give them a brain," said Liang Zeshuai, a network optimization engineer at China Mobile Zhejiang.
The implications extend beyond faster downloads. A base station equipped with radar-like sensing could detect a nearby drone, identify obstacles around a blind corner or give an autonomous machine a more detailed picture of its surroundings, while edge computing would process AI tasks closer to the user. Satellite connectivity could add resilience when typhoons, earthquakes or other disasters damage ground infrastructure; China Mobile has launched a direct-to-handset service using the Tiantong and BeiDou satellite systems.
5G-Advanced has already been widely rolled out across China. In Wuzhen, a "super uplink" network with upload speeds of up to 1,000 Mbps covered the conference venue for the first time, with robot dogs patrolling the area and transmitting 4K video and location data in real time.
The same combination of connectivity, computing and AI is moving into industries where gains are less visible but potentially more consequential. China Mobile and Sinopharm have developed an AI-enabled cold-chain logistics platform that has reduced delivery costs by 65% and cut delivery times by 70%, designed to manage temperature-sensitive products where delays or poor monitoring can lead to waste. At Ningbo-Zhoushan Port, China Mobile has built what it describes as the world's largest 5G private network for port operations, supporting real-time coordination among cranes, vehicles, cameras and control systems.
The company is also applying AI and connected systems to public safety and emergency management, including flood-control planning and drone inspections of buildings, aiming to identify risks before they become crises.
At Wuzhen, the robots remained the most visible attraction. Yet the more consequential story was happening behind them — in the networks, computing systems and satellite links that could determine how quickly AI moves from a trade-show novelty into a tool for cities, industries and, potentially, lifesaving work. Announcements from the summit were distributed via Media OutReach Newswire.
