China’s humanoid robot industry leads in speed and volume

Chinese humanoid robot manufacturers are currently outpacing their U.S. rivals in both speed and volume. This momentum was highlighted when China’s humanoid robots grabbed global attention with kung fu flips at the nation’s televised Spring Festival Gala, while phone maker Honor is set to unveil its first humanoid robot at MWC in Spain. Robotics was flagged as a priority under the country’s “Made in China 2025” (Chinese government industrial policy) plan, accelerating “embodied AI” (autonomous machines operating in the real world). According to Selina Xu, China and AI policy lead at the office of Eric Schmidt, Unitree shipped roughly 36 times more units last year than U.S. rivals Figure and Tesla. Xu attributed this to structural advantages: “China has a more robust hardware supply chain — much of it built up through the EV sector, from sensors to batteries — and the world’s strongest manufacturing base, allowing companies to iterate far faster than Western competitors.”

While global humanoid robot shipments totaled just 13,317 units last year, Forbes reported that the industry is expected to nearly double annually and reach 2.6 million units by 2035. The sector is shifting from demo-driven excitement to operations-driven adoption. Yuli Zhao, chief strategy officer at Galbot, noted that customers are asking whether robots can run stably in real environments. This practical pull is strengthened in China because policy and industrial strategy encourage automation upgrades. To support this transition, Chinese robotics makers are securing significant private capital:

• Unitree was valued at around $3 billion after closing its Series C, with ambitions to reach as much as $7 billion in a future IPO.
• Galbot has raised more than $300 million in fresh funding.

Despite hardware advantages, software remains a hurdle. Chinese firms are currently reliant on Nvidia’s software stack, which currently leads the space according to Xu. Consequently, most humanoid startups in China are powered by Nvidia’s Orin chips (Nvidia hardware for robotics). Additionally, the industry faces significant safety risks. The robot bodies currently have reliability issues, as seen with the “robots that broke down at humanoid marathons”, and “One high-profile accident could trigger public backlash.”

The race is not limited to China and the U.S. Japan’s robotics ecosystem is targeting humanoid mass production by 2027. Coral Capital CEO James Riney noted that Japan’s adoption will likely be driven by labor shortages, a cultural view of robots as friends, and existing dominance in the robotics supply chain. Meanwhile, U.S. competitors are also scaling up. U.S. startup Foundation plans to build 50,000 humanoid robots by 2027, while Hyundai Motor’s Boston Dynamics unit introduced a new Atlas humanoid for factory use by 2028, with plans to produce up to 30,000 units annually.

Why it matters

China’s humanoid robotics industry is leveraging a robust hardware supply chain and rapid iteration cycles to outpace U.S. rivals in speed and volume, driven by government policy and industrial strategy.