China is rapidly establishing dominance in the nascent humanoid robot industry, leveraging its manufacturing prowess and strategic government support to outpace global competitors. Recent displays, from kung fu flips at the televised Spring Festival Gala to upcoming reveals at MWC, signal a significant acceleration in what officials see as a key technology for offsetting labor shortages and boosting productivity.
While robotics was initially prioritized for factory automation under the “Made in China 2025” plan, recent advances in multimodal and embodied AI have shifted focus toward autonomous humanoid machines.
The Speed-to-Scale Advantage
At this early stage, Chinese companies are outpacing US rivals in both speed and volume, largely due to the country’s unparalleled hardware ecosystem.
“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,” Selina Xu, a China and AI policy lead at the office of Eric Schmidt, told TechCrunch.
This ecosystem allows Chinese firms to produce cheaper robots and release new models more quickly. Leading player Unitree reportedly shipped approximately 36 times more units last year than American counterparts Figure and Tesla combined. A recent Forbes report noted that of the 13,317 humanoid robots shipped globally last year, Chinese companies like Agibot, Unitree, UBTech, and Fourier Intelligence led the market.
From Demos to Deployment
The industry is undergoing a crucial shift from “demo-driven excitement” to “operations-driven adoption,” according to Yuli Zhao, chief strategy officer at Galbot. The focus is now on practical application and reliability in real-world environments.
“More customers are asking: Can the robot run stably in real environments and actually take work off people’s plates? That practical pull is strengthened in China because policy and industrial strategy encourage automation upgrades, and the manufacturing ecosystem makes iteration extremely fast,” Zhao explained.
This pivot is backed by significant investment. Unitree secured a valuation of around $3 billion after its Series C, while Galbot recently raised over $300 million, pushing its valuation to a reported $3 billion.
The Software and Safety Bottleneck
Despite its hardware superiority, China’s leadership in AI systems and integrated software remains uncertain. The industry is heavily reliant on vision-language-action models, a technology still in its early stages. According to Xu, Nvidia currently leads the software stack, and most Chinese humanoid startups use Nvidia’s Orin chips while domestic alternatives are being developed.
A major challenge is the scarcity of real-world training data. Unlike large language models, robot foundation models cannot simply scrape the internet for data to learn how to navigate unpredictable physical environments.
“Because of the data scarcity problem, humanoids are still far away from autonomy. The hardware is currently ahead of the software… but the brain is still nascent,” Xu noted. Safety also remains a significant hurdle, as a single high-profile incident could trigger public backlash and stricter regulations.
Global Competition Heats Up
The humanoid race is not limited to China and the US. Japan, a long-time pioneer with projects like Honda’s Asimo and SoftBank’s Pepper, is leveraging its expertise in precision engineering to target mass production by 2027, with a unique focus on eldercare applications.
Meanwhile, South Korea’s Hyundai Motor, through its Boston Dynamics unit, has introduced a new Atlas humanoid designed for factory use, with plans to produce up to 30,000 units annually.
Relevance for MENA’s Tech Scene
The rapid advancements in humanoid robotics, particularly China’s focus on speed and scale, hold significant implications for the MENA region. Nations like Saudi Arabia and the UAE are making massive investments in economic diversification, smart cities, and advanced manufacturing through initiatives like Saudi Vision 2030 and Operation 300bn.
Humanoid robots could play a pivotal role in these ambitious projects, particularly in logistics, manufacturing, retail, and hospitality sectors within giga-projects like NEOM and Masdar City. As the region builds its industrial capacity and addresses its own labor market dynamics, the development of affordable and scalable humanoid solutions presents a major opportunity for driving efficiency and innovation. MENA’s VCs and corporate investors will be closely monitoring the industry’s maturation, looking for opportunities to deploy this technology to leapfrog traditional industrial processes.
About Unitree
Unitree Robotics is a China-based robotics company recognized as a global leader in the development and manufacturing of high-performance quadruped and humanoid robots. The company has gained international attention for its advanced robotic solutions, which are utilized in a variety of sectors including research, industrial inspection, and entertainment. Unitree is known for its focus on making robotic technology more accessible and affordable, driving innovation in the field of embodied AI.
Source: TechCrunch
