BEIJING (REUTERS)

A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 metres in 9.39 seconds in a preliminary heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games ⁠in Beijing on Saturday, faster than the men's world record held by Jamaican sprinting great ​Usain Bolt.

Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, won its heat ​at the ‌opening of the games' second edition, organisers said.

The robot ⁠overtook ​smartphone maker Honor's Lightning near the finish after falling behind early in the race. Lightning finished in 9.47 seconds, also faster than the 9.58-second record Bolt set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

The two robots lacked Bolt's flair, slamming straight into a thick mat designed ‌to stop them in their tracks, with Tiangong stumbling wildly into the sidelines, ‌forcing onlookers to move out of the way. Lightning was carried away on a stretcher after collapsing to the ground.

The results nevertheless marked a sharp improvement from last year's inaugural games, when ​Tiangong Ultra won the 100 metres in 21.50 seconds. Tiangong also won the world's first humanoid robot half-marathon, held in Beijing last year.

Earlier on Saturday, Chinese state media reported that Lightning had run 100 metres in 9.32 seconds in a preparatory test, reaching a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second.

Lightning won this year's humanoid half-marathon ‌in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than ​the pace of the elite men's human world record.

Lightning stood 169 centimetres tall and had 95-centimetre legs during the half-marathon. Its researchers later lengthened its legs by 10 centimetres, to 1.05 metres, ahead of the games, according to broadcaster CCTV.

The 100 metres ​is among 51 events at the games, ‌which include ⁠football, dancing and ‌industrial-task contests.

China ‌has promoted humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with policymakers and companies betting that advances in AI and hardware will accelerate their ⁠use in manufacturing, logistics, and consumer applications.

Investor enthusiasm for the sector was on display earlier this ​week when shares in Unitree, China's best-known humanoid robot maker, jumped more than five fold in its Shanghai trading debut on Wednesday, giving the company a market value of about $50 billion.

This year's games have drawn 2,056 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries and six continents, up from 280 teams at the inaugural event. The games, held at Beijing's ​National Speed Skating Oval, run through Wednesday.