A Chinese humanoid robot named ‘Lightning’ has broken Jamaican sprint champion Usain Bolt’s 100-metre record after clocking 9.32 seconds in a test run ahead of the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.

Chinese smartphone company Honor developed the robot.

The humanoid clocked a peak of 14.5 seconds per second during the test run event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which run through to August 26.

The robot’s time also edged Bolt’s world record of 9.58 seconds in the men’s 100m, which the Jamaican set at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Before the robot set the new record, the humanoid won the Beijing half marathon in April, finishing the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the men’s world record. 

At the sporting event, the robot stood 169cm tall and had 95 cm-long legs.

CCTV reported that researchers later lengthened the robot’s legs by 10 centimetres to 1.05 metres.

The emergence of humanoid robots from China highlights the country’s advances in artificial intelligence and robotics, with this new technology heavily developed in areas such as manufacturing, logistics and consumer applications.