The finals for the third China Chuangyu Entrepreneurship and Innovation Competition concluded in Beijing on Aug 11.

Mechanical mutts meander through the crowd as robot bats flutter over the heads of awed attendees, many of whom watch a fully-automated rock band kick out the jams or a full-size android Yao Ming shoot hoops. This was the scene at last week's 2018 World Robot Conference in Beijing.

Back in 1992, the land now occupied by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, also known as Beijing E-Town, was one of the capital's agricultural areas. Nowadays, however, it has evolved into an important and dynamic national high-tech cluster, home to about 80 Fortune Global 500 companies.

Softly whirring robotic arms five meters tall lifts up a car weighing nearly two tons and moves it around in the air, as a crowd of visitors below hold up their phones to record and take pictures.

2018 World Robot Conference (WRC 2018), running until Aug 19, is themed around “Creating Intelligent Momentum for a New Era of Openness and Shared Benefits” and consists of four major sections: forums, expositions, competitions, and control systems.

A life-size robot that looks like Chinese basketball star Yao Ming shot during the 2018 World Robot Conference in Beijing, Aug 15, 2018.