Embodied AI The drones and robots reshaping daily life in China

On a misty Saturday afternoon in Shenzhen's central park, a gaggle of teenage girls are sheltering from the drizzle under a concrete canopy.

- Amy Hawkins

With their bags of crisps piled high in front of them, they crowd around a couple of smartphones to sing along to Mandopop ballads. The sound of their laughter rings out across the surrounding lawn until it is pierced by a mechanical buzzing sound. Someone has ordered dinner.

A few metres away from the impromptu karaoke session is an "airdrop cabinet", one of more than 40 in Shenzhen that is operated by Meituan, China's biggest food delivery platform. Hungry park-goers can order anything from rice noodles to Subway sandwiches to bubble tea.

A drone, loaded up with goods from a shopping mall less than 3km (2 miles) away, flies into view and earshot, hovering over the delivery station for a moment before steadily lowering and depositing the goods into a sealed box that can only be unlocked by entering the customer's phone number. Meituan aims to beat human delivery times by about 10%, although - perhaps because of its journey whizzing through the clouds in a thin polystyrene box - the food, char siu pork and a waffle, is slightly cold.

The drones are a small part of the broader robotics and artificial intelligence industry that China is intent on expanding this year. With a trade war raging, demographic challenges dragging on the economy, and the prospect of a productive relationship with the world's largest economy looking ever more remote, Beijing is doubling down on the industries where it sees the potential - and the need - to develop ahead of the US.