World Robot Conference 2019 opens in Beijing
WRC committed to creating a world-class exhibition and cooperation platform.
The World Robot Conference 2019 (WRC2019) kicked off in Beijing on August 20, 2019.
Cai Qi, member of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and secretary of the CPC Beijing Municipal Committee, and Wan Gang, vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference National Committee and president of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), attended the opening ceremony.
Chen Jining, mayor of Beijing; Miao Wei, Chinese minister of industry and information technology; Huai Jinpeng, executive vice president of CAST; and Oussama Khatib, president of the International Foundation of Robotics Research, delivered speeches at the opening ceremony.
Yin Yong, deputy mayor of Beijing, presided over the opening ceremony.
Song Jun, executive secretary of CAST, also attended the opening ceremony.
Huai Jinpeng delivers a speech at the opening ceremony of The World Robot Conference 2019(WRC2019) in Beijing on August 20, 2019.
Huai Jinpeng noted in his speech that with the world today facing the most profound changes unseen in a century, the robot technology is advancing rapidly, and empowering robots with cyberization and intelligence become the trend, as well as Robot Plus getting increasingly evident.
As a result, new economic growth drivers are replacing old ones at a faster speed, the digital economy and intelligent manufacturing are achieving coordinated development, and our work and life are being constantly changed, Huai said.
Speaking of the current growth momentum of robotics and its industry, Huai pointed out that many breakthroughs in core and frontier technologies have taken place, new products are growing explosively, and the robot industry is thriving.
"Seen from this year's conference and exhibition, robot R&D is now more systematic, application innovation is going deeper, and the talent pool is expanding rapidly, leading us to open the door to an intelligent era."
To develop the robot industry soundly, Huai proposed that greater efforts should be made in the following four respects -- laying a solid foundation and enriching the supply of robot products; pooling resources to jointly build an ecology favorable for innovation; paying due attention to ethical issues and governing science and technology proactively; upholding openness and cooperation and improving the mechanism for exchanges, interaction, and sharing.
He hoped that participants would fully communicate ideas and exchange information at the conference, and expand consensus, strengthen cooperation and jointly build a beautiful future for intelligent technologies.
Chen Jining said in his speech that with breakthroughs being made at a faster pace in the new generation of information technology, as represented by AI, the R&D and application of robots are seeing rapid expansion worldwide and robots are deeply penetrating various areas of production and life. Against this background, WRC this year puts its focus on the frontier technologies of intelligent robots and industry development trends from a global perspective, and is committed to building a world-class platform for exhibition and cooperation. This reflects the consensus of global science and industry and WRC will contribute new wisdom and inject new vitality to the global robot industry in the future.
Miao Wei pointed out in his speech that although the slower growth of industrial robots this year can be attributed to the international economic climate, the robot industry itself also faces many problems and challenges.
However, Miao believed that robots, as an innovative means of integrating the new round of technological revolution with manufacturing, are still an important driving force for achieving high-quality manufacturing industry growth.
"China is pursuing high-quality manufacturing industry development, and intelligent manufacturing is an important direction," said Miao.
Oussama Khatib, president of the International Foundation of Robotics Research, applauded the role of the WRC in stimulating collaboration and promoting innovation when speaking on behalf of the 22 international organizations providing support for this year's edition of the event at the opening ceremony.
"Over the years, the WRC has brought together distinguished researchers and scholars as well as people from related walks of life to communicate and explore its agendas and has successfully stimulated collaboration and promoted innovation. Going forward, it will play a bigger role globally and help build a beautiful future for robots,” Khatib said.
WRC2019 kicks off in Beijing on August 20, 2019.
WRC2019 is jointly sponsored by the People's Government of Beijing Municipality, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and CAST, and organized by the Chinese Institute of Electronics, the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, and the Administrative Committee of the Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area.
Altogether over 1,200 people took part in the opening ceremony. Among them were officials from 23 relevant Chinese ministries and commissions including the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Civil Affairs and the Ministry of Finance, representatives of the 22 international robot organizations supporting this year's WRC as well as robot experts and scholars, entrepreneurs and journalists.
