Robot rentals surge from Spring Festival Gala to boost culture, tourism, education, healthcare services  Global Times

Orders for robots have seen a significant increase in China, a phenomenon observed shortly after the country's annual Spring Festival Gala.

Chinese tech companies are vying for significant exposure and brand recognition during the annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala. They leverage the massive viewership of the state-run broadcaster's variety show for marketing.

The Chinese Spring Festival Gala, broadcast annually on the eve of the Lunar New Year, showcased China's cultural richness and technological might, with 'Chinese humanoids' particularly impressing global audiences.

The 2026 Spring Festival Gala, one of the world’s most-watched television events, featured a dazzling array of humanoid robots. They performed martial arts, executed intricate sword dances and even took part in a comedy skit alongside human celebrities. While parts of the world still view humanoid robots with a mixture of fear and suspicion, as potential job-stealers or sci-fi villains, China is increasingly embracing them as partners in work, entertainment and daily life. Amid the escalating...

On a day typically considered one of the happiest on the calendar for Chinese workers – the eve of Chinese New Year, when families gather for dinner in the midst of an extended public holiday – the annual Spring Festival Gala, the world’s most-watched television programme, left some in the viewing audience with a sense of profound disillusionment. As a troupe of humanoid robots break-danced, flipped, swung swords and performed comedy sketches at the gala, domestic AI brands occupied the show’...