A world sports championship needs a glitzy opening ceremony - even if the competitors aren't human.

And at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, man and machine perform together to mark the start of the event.

Liu Yuxin uses bots as his backup dancers.

And some of the machines even don clothes for a catwalk show - although not all managed to stay on their feet.

The competition begins on Friday with more than 500 humanoid robots in 280 teams.

Entrants from 16 countries, including the U.S., Germany and Japan, will compete in sports including soccer, running and boxing.

It comes as China has stepped up efforts to develop humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence.

During the opening ceremony, the robots demonstrate soccer and boxing among other sports, with some cheering and backflipping as if at a real sports day.

One robot soccer player scored a goal after a few tries, causing the goalkeeper to fall to the ground.

Teams from robot companies and Chinese universities including Tsinghua University and Peking University are competing in the games. Three middle schools are also participating.

China’s official newspaper People’s Daily quoted a government officer in Beijing as saying “every robot participates is creating history.”

The event will last three days, concluding on Sunday. Tickets sold to the public range from 180 yuan ($25) to 580 ($80).

AP video shot by: Olivia Zhang