Shanghai to Host 2026 International Embodied Intelligence Skills Competition
The International Embodied Intelligence Skills Competition review event is scheduled for October 23–25, 2026, in Shanghai. Organizers say it responds to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission’s 2026 special action for humanoid robots and embodied intelligence real-world training.
The event aims to accelerate technological breakthroughs and scaled deployment in China’s robotics and embodied intelligence sectors. Its slogan is “Labor is glorious; select the most capable robot model workers,” and it follows an industry-poses-questions, technology-answers approach.
Organizers intend to build a national real-world, real-combat demonstration platform and a replicable Shanghai training model. The competition forms a closed loop linking training, competition, industry, and finance.
Based on more than 1,000 embodied AI application scenarios collected by MIIT, the event has nine tracks and 23 events. These cover manufacturing, inspection and analysis, maintenance, warehousing and logistics, food and retail, healthcare and elderly care, safety production, emergency rescue, and cultural tourism education. The organizers expect to gather more than 1,000 competing teams.
The competition uses real scenarios as the arena, real job tasks as problems, and real operational data as the basis for scoring. It applies a unified 100-point assessment framework with four modules: task execution, embodied data collection and feedback, autonomous intelligence, and innovation capability.
Differentiated conversion coefficients are set for humanoid, quadruped, and wheeled robot forms, as well as for autonomous and teleoperated modes. This is intended to ensure fair, horizontal comparison across different technical routes.
A tripartite cross-review system will oversee judging: a scientist review panel for embodied intelligence, an AI technical expert panel, and a panel of skilled masters and real-scenario representatives. Organizers say safety bottom lines will be strictly enforced to ensure authoritative and fair evaluation.
The competition offers first, second, and third prizes, plus individual awards. For each of the 23 events, there is one first prize of 10,000 yuan, two second prizes of 5,000 yuan each, and three third prizes of 3,000 yuan each. Additional individual awards will recognize teams for outstanding technological innovation and scenario deployment.
The event also strengthens industry-finance linkages. It specifically invites research teams from world-renowned universities and overseas embodied intelligence startup teams to compete. Winning teams may receive investment intentions worth tens of millions of yuan and full professional financing guidance, with the goal of promoting industry, finance, and talent attraction through competition.
A single entry connects three major nodes: the October GDPS Autumn Conference, the December Dubai Middle East Artificial Intelligence Exhibition, and the July 2027 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC). This creates a complete loop from debut to going global to implementation.
The competition advances in phases. By September 30, the first phase will complete co-creation of scenarios and competition problems, turning real enterprise pain points into topic directions. By October 10, the second phase will finish building simulated production lines and carry out scenario testing and training.
The official competition runs October 23–25 as the third phase, testing robots’ generalization capabilities and the deployment value of scenario solutions. Afterward, the event will shift to regular operations, including a national simulation competition from November 2026 to February 2027 and a national real-world training competition from March to June 2027.
Excellent teams and solutions will be recommended to the 2027 WAIC embodied intelligence exhibition. The long-term mechanism covers online simulation validation, offline training transformation, order implementation, and exhibition promotion.
The competition is guided by the World Artificial Intelligence Conference organizing committee. It is hosted by the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Industry Association and the China Electronics Standardization Institute, and co-hosted by Shanghai Zhangjiang Group and Shanghai Lujiazui Group. Registration remains open. The official registration website is https://ieic.gdps.org.cn/; the WeChat public account is Global Developer Pioneer Conference (GDPS); contact: Ms. Zhang, 13301889120 (same on WeChat).