Out of every 10 humanoid robots shipped worldwide, eight come from China. That single statistic from a market research company captures a remarkable shift in the country's export story.

Gone is the reliance on sheer scale and rock-bottom prices. The new wave of Chinese tech exports — embodied in robots, artificial intelligence systems and smart hardware — is defined by sophistication, speed and a distinctly high-tech appeal, experts said.

The transformation is perhaps best illustrated by an unusual race held on a crisp April morning in Beijing's southern suburbs. More than 12,000 human runners lined up for a half-marathon. Alongside them, jostling for position at the start line, stood over 100 humanoid robots.

One of them, a nimble machine named "Lightning" from the Honor Qitian Dasheng team, crossed the finish line in 50 minutes and 26 seconds. To put that in perspective, the men's half-marathon world record, set by Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo in March, stands at 57 minutes and 20 seconds. Lightning, built in China, beat it by nearly seven minutes.

Yet the real headline was not the winning time — it was how the robots ran. Nearly 40 percent of the teams used fully autonomous navigation, a dramatic leap from the previous year's remote-controlled field. Technologies borrowed from self-driving cars, including LiDAR and vision-only navigation, have been successfully grafted onto two-legged machines.

Zhao Mingguo, a researcher at Tsinghua University's Department of Automation, watched the race closely. "This proves that once Chinese industry sets a goal, it has the ability to get it done," he said.

Behind the marvel on the racecourse lies the relentless pursuit of technological breakthroughs and advanced manufacturing in China. The confidence that powers these robots at full speed comes from a strong industrial and supply chain system.

Today, China is home to more than 140 humanoid robot manufacturers, with annual shipments reaching 14,400 units — accounting for 84.7 percent of the global total. Out of every 10 humanoid robots shipped worldwide, eight come from China, according to a report jointly released by CCID Media and China Electronics News in March.