Short-distance personal transport goes high-tech

The Ninebot-Xiaomi tie-up aims to solve the problem of distant car parks in big cities

Late November in Beijing was chilly, misty alright but not cold enough to dampen robotics enthusiasts' passion for a major industry expo.

Around 50,000 of them crowded the exhibition hall as big as three soccer fields during the three-day event, jostling for a good spot to see robots playing badminton with humans, robotics arms delicately folding paper planes and auto-piloting drones hovering above head.