The high-tech hub Suzhou, in East China's Jiangsu Province, and the Chinese University of Science and Technology (USTC) won the bid to hold the 2008 Robot World Cup Soccer Games (RoboCup), the world's most renowned intelligent robotics competition.

According to Yang Baoguo, USTC spokesman, the joint bid by USTC and Suzhou, the technological and the financial sponsor, beat several competitors.

"It is the first time this world class robotics competition has come to China. It will surely motivate the spirits of thousands of robotics fans in the country," Yang said.

Yang also said the Chinese team, made up of scientists from 20 Chinese universities, won nine gold medals out of 33, second only to the German team, which won 11 gold medals at the 10th RoboCup, which concluded yesterday in Bremen, Germany.

About 2,500 scientists from 36 nations participated in the week-long 2006 Bremen RoboCup.

According to Chen Xiaoping, a renowned information technology expert with USTC, RoboCup is an international research and education initiative aimed at fostering artificial intelligence (AI) and intelligent robotics research.

"RoboCup chooses humanoid soccer game as a central topic for research, which requires the integration of a wide range of technologies," Chen said.

"The ultimate goal of the RoboCup project is to develop a team of fully autonomous humanoid robot soccer players that can beat human world soccer champions by 2050."

According to Chen, USTC has a graduate campus in Suzhou and has co-operated with the city for years in the area of high-tech industry. Fully aware of the role RoboCup plays, the two sides began preparing for their bid to hold the 2008 game last year.

According to Zhu Yongxin, vice-mayor of Suzhou, RoboCup fits the development strategy and industrial character of Suzhou, a city renown for its robust science and technology industry.

"We will do our best to provide enough funding, arrange proper stadium facilities and organize audience activities in accordance with international requirements," Zhu said.

It is estimated that more than 500 teams consisting of 3,000 scientists from 40 countries will participate in the 2008 Suzhou game, making it the largest competition in the game's history, Zhu said.

The news also excites many Chinese robotics lovers.

"We have few chances of seeing real robots, especially such sophisticated ones. The 2008 game will be a perfect chance for us to get in touch with world class robotic technologies," said Wang Wei, a Ph.D candidate in Physics with Nanjing University.

Related Suzhou bureaux promised that they would ensure enough time and space during the 2008 game to enable the robotics fans to interact with their beloved machines.

(China Daily June 21, 2006)