China has been making significant strides in the field of humanoid robotics, capturing global attention with their recent showcase of robots performing kung fu jumps during the Spring Festival televised gala. In addition, Chinese phone maker Honor is on the brink of revealing its first humanoid robot at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) in Spain. This exciting progress is part of a broader vision under China’s “Made in China 2025” plan, which initially focused on factory automation but has now broadened to include humanoid robotics. The push towards embodied AI, autonomous machines operating in the real world, is deemed to help offset labor shortages and boost productivity. You can read more about these developments Here.
China’s Rapid Advancements in Humanoid Robotics
Selina Xu, head of China and AI policy at Eric Schmidt’s office, pointed out that Chinese companies are surpassing their U.S. counterparts in the speed and volume of humanoid robot development. This is largely due to China’s robust hardware supply chain and strong manufacturing base, particularly developed in the electric vehicle sector. These advantages allow Chinese companies to more rapidly iterate and launch new models than their Western competitors.
This speed and efficiency not only make Chinese robots more affordable but also enable Chinese companies to ship far more units. For instance, major Chinese player Unitree reportedly shipped about 36 times more units last year than its U.S. competitors, Figure and Tesla. This impressive performance is set against a backdrop of a burgeoning industry, with global shipments of humanoid robots projected to reach 2.6 million units by 2035.
The Shift Towards Practical Applications of Humanoid Robots
According to Yuli Zhao, chief strategy officer at Galbot, there has been a significant shift from simply showcasing humanoid robots to focusing on their practical applications. As customers grow more interested in how these robots can operate stably in real-world environments and alleviate human workloads, the rush to adopt humanoid robots in China is being fueled by industrial policy and strategy that encourages automation upgrades and a manufacturing ecosystem that facilitates rapid iterations.
While funding for humanoid startups has certainly accelerated progress, Zhao believes that the most sustainable adoption comes when the robots can demonstrate reliable, repeatable value in production or service operations. In the race to achieve this, Chinese robotics manufacturers are proving to be successful, with companies like Unitree and Galbot raising substantial funding and being valued at billions of dollars.
Obstacles to Chinese Domination in Humanoid Robotics
Despite the remarkable progress, there are still hurdles to overcome. The industry is betting heavily on vision-language-action models and “global models,” but both technologies are still nascent. In addition, humanoid robot makers are tackling fundamental problems like predicting the “next physical state” the robot will encounter in unpredictable environments. Safety is another major issue, as high-profile accidents could trigger a public backlash, and the rapid deployment of technology could pose risks.
According to Zhao, the first surge in demand for humanoid robots will likely be in industrial manufacturing, warehouse logistics, and retail, where tasks are repetitive, hours are long, and processes are clear. These conditions create ideal circumstances for humanoid robots to deliver value at scale.
Other APAC Players in the Humanoid Robotics Sector
The development of humanoid robots isn’t just a two-horse race between China and the U.S. Japan, a long-standing pioneer in this field, is also aiming for mass production of humanoid robots by 2027, with a unique focus on using them in elderly care. James Riney, CEO of Coral Capital, believes that Japan will continue to thrive in the humanoid robotics industry due to factors like labor shortage and cultural acceptance of robots.
Meanwhile, Hyundai Motor’s Boston Dynamics unit plans to introduce a new Atlas humanoid for factory use by 2028, with plans to produce up to 30,000 units per year in the United States.
However, Zhao emphasizes that China’s leadership in humanoid robotics is best understood in terms of the speed of scaling. The convergence of government policy, industrial strategy, labor shortages, and private capital in China power the country’s rapid rise in the humanoid robotics industry, allowing companies to progress from prototype to real-world deployment more quickly and iterate at a pace that is hard to match anywhere else.
