This is the amusing moment a robot dog 'porter' carries items for tourists in China.

The agile animatronic, holding a storage box, was spotted climbing the concrete steps at Mount Tai in Shandong on October 19.

Footage shows the machine marching smoothly on the pavement, effortlessly transporting the objects uphill.

The property company of Taishan Cultural Tourism Group said that the robot dog is in the testing stage.

They said it is one of their solutions to solve the problem of garbage removal and transportation in mountainous scenic spots.

A staff member told local media that this was the first time that the machine came to climb Mount Tai and participate in the test, and only climbed one-fifth of the mountain road.

It is designed to carry up to 120 kilograms and is expected to be put on a large scale in Taishan in the future to transport goods up the hill, or to transport garbage from the mountain down the mountain.

China is in a tech 'arms race' with the West, including Elon Musk in Texas, for the development of robots.

The rivalry between Musk and companies in China is rooted in the broader competition for leadership in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, and automation, fields crucial to the future of manufacturing, consumer technology, and space exploration.

Both Musk and several Chinese tech giants are vying to shape these industries.

Earlier this month, a robot shark was used in a zoo aquarium at the newly opened Xiaomeisha Ocean World in Shenzhen, Guangdong.

But visitors were unhappy with the makeshift marine creature. The park, which had just opened on October 1, faced backlash for high ticket prices - around 240 yuan (approximately 25.91 GBP) for adults - along with long queues and poor conditions for marine life.

These issues led to a low rating of just 2.9 out of 5 stars on a popular review platform.