China's first cooking robot, named AIC-AI Cooking robot, has been invented by scientists in Shenzhen in south China's Guangdong Province.

The robot, developed by Fanxing Science and Technology Co. Ltd in Shenzhen, is capable of Sichuan, Shandong and Canton cuisines and can cook thousands of Chinese dishes, according to a report in the Shenzhen Economic Daily.

The company spent four years and more than 2 million yuan (about US$250,000) to develop the robot, said Liu Xinyu, executive director of the company.

Scientists translated standardized human cooking actions into machine language. The robot is happy to fry, bake, boil and steam, and can perform other special Chinese cooking actions.

At a show held by the company on Sunday, the robot cooked a dish of beautifully-flavored, attractive-looking shrimp in five minutes, said the newspaper.

The robot will help standardize Chinese fast food, said Cai Hegao, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering.

The robot will go on sale in 2007, and will enter Chinese homes sometime in the future, Liu Xinyu added.

(Xinhua News Agency October 10, 2006)