Children take interest in two robot fish, which can be used as underwater cameras, at the World Robot Conference in Beijing, Oct. 22, 2016.[Photo/Xinhua by Wang Yue]

The government in April stepped up its effort to boost the industry, issuing a development plan for the next five years, which laid out the industry's five tasks, including key breakthrough in products and significant improvement of technical reliability.

Despite government support, challenges remain, as the Chinese market is still dominated by overseas products and homegrown companies have not mastered core technology, said Niu Nutao, a national lawmaker and an official in charge of the information sector in east China's Anhui Province.