http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0415/c90000-20302095.html
On a recent Morgan-Stanley list of 100 global humanoid robotics-related companies, 37 were from China.
As a perfect example of “embodied AI”, China aims to build an innovation system for humanoid robots, with breakthroughs in key technologies to ensure the safe and effective supply of core components. By 2027, China will see a secure and reliable industrial and supply chain system of humanoid robots, and related products will be deeply integrated into the real economy.
According to Qiao Hong, director of the State key laboratory of multimodal artificial intelligence systems, China has accounted for more than half of the global installations of industrial robots over the last three years. Chinese tech heavyweights, automakers, and startups are all jumping on the bandwagon for both short-term gains and long-term strategic goals. Since the beginning of this year, humanoid robots have become the hottest trend in the automotive industry. At least 15 Chinese automakers, including GAC, SAIC, XPeng, Chery, and Xiaomi, along with supply chain companies like Huawei, Horizon Robotics, and Hesai Technology, have entered the humanoid robot race. Overseas, six automakers — Tesla, BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai — have also proposed their own humanoid robot concepts.
Virtually all mainstream global automakers have now joined the humanoid robotics arena. In the short term, they aim to enhance manufacturing and sales efficiency. In the long term, as population growth plateaus and the automotive technology matures, automakers will need new growth drivers.
Zheshang Securities estimates that by 2030, Chinese and US manufacturing sectors will require 1.1 million and 583,000 humanoid robots, respectively, indicating the massive market potential.
Last year, Unitree Robotics unveiled a surprisingly low price of 99,000 yuan for its latest G1 humanoid robot, standing in sharp contrast to many robots from other companies that are priced from 150,000 to 200,000 ¥. G1 is about 127 centimeters tall and boasts impressive stability and flexibility, such as 180-degree body rotation and the ability to crack walnuts “barehanded”.
Experts agree that current humanoid robot technology approximates to level 2 autonomy, or assisted autonomy, while the industry hopes to achieve commercially viable level 3 autonomy, or conditional automation. The leap from level 2 to level 3 in humanoid robots requires “exponentially” greater capabilities, and humanoid robots need to reach level 4 autonomy before operating in households.
The progress of large language models such as China-developed DeepSeek is also injecting new vitality into the sector. In March, AgiBot launched an AI large language model, the GO-1, to accelerate the training of robots. The model enables robots to rapidly generalize new tasks with minimal training, significantly lowering the technical barriers for embodied AI applications. The GO-1 model leverages real-world human demonstrations and internet-sourced video data to enhance contextual understanding of human activities. Even a simple water-pouring action requires nearly 100 high-quality data samples for training. These data sets, collected from 100 robots, are uploaded to the cloud computing platform for model iteration, eventually enabling universal task deployment.
Repetitive industrial tasks remain the initial focus for the application of humanoid robots. Logistics serve as a prime example. While automated guided vehicles excel at transporting goods, tasks such as packaging different-sized items demand real-time adjustments and error correction — a challenge perfectly suited for humanoid robots. AI control allows them to rethink strategies upon failure, much like humans.
According to AgiBot, humanoid robots’ flexibility will fill the gap between rigid automation and human labor.
(Web editor: Tian Yi, Zhong Wenxing)
