The 100-metre sprint was won by a machine with a time of 21.50 seconds. It was one of many events at the games, which saw 280 competing teams from 16 countries.

But even before this month, China has been turning to high-profile events to showcase its tech, including a robot half-marathon and dancing humanoid robots during its Lunar New Year’s Eve TV gala, watched by hundreds of millions of people, according to The New York Times.

China has invested heavily in robotics. The country is a leader in industrial robots per capita and has just hosted the first "World Humanoid Robot Games" in Beijing.