中国工业合作协会
上海市工业经济联合会
上海市经济团体联合会
中国工业合作协会绿色工业节能分会
工信装备工程研究院（北京）有限公司
上海贝瑞克展览有限公司
Correspondent: Liu Zhao Trainee Reporter: Liu Xiaoyi
2024 witnessed explosive growth across the humanoid robot industry. A slew of supportive policies were rolled out, tech giants including Huawei and Tesla ramped up investment and layout, financing events for startups surged, and share prices of multiple A-share concept stocks soared. A steady stream of landmark industrial milestones has cemented humanoid robots as a standout star in the global tech landscape.
Earlier this year, seven central authorities including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) and the Ministry of Science and Technology jointly issued the Implementation Opinions on Boosting the Innovative Development of Future Industries. The document called for strengthening high-end future equipment. To meet major national strategic demands and people’s aspirations for a better life, China will accelerate key technology and equipment research initiatives to achieve breakthroughs in humanoid robots, quantum computers, ultra-high-speed trains, next-generation large aircraft, green intelligent vessels, unmanned boats and other premium equipment.
Meanwhile, capital flocked to the sector. According to incomplete statistics from Gaogong Robot Industry Institute (hereinafter referred to as Gaogong Robotics), a research firm based in Shenzhen, there were 56 financing deals for China’s humanoid robot industry from January to October this year, with total funding exceeding RMB 5 billion.
Standing at the crossroads of 2024 and 2025, we look back on the growth trajectory of China’s humanoid robot industry and look forward to where this sector is headed.
Following the boom of large foundation models, embodied intelligence emerged as a breakout tech trend this year, widely recognized as a core track in the new wave of artificial intelligence. Industry insiders generally agree that humanoid robots, the optimal carrier of embodied intelligence, are poised to become another disruptive product after personal computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles.
Throughout 2024, tangible real-world applications kept emerging: Agility Robotics units entered Schaeffler’s factories, XPeng Iron humanoids took up screw-tightening tasks on production lines, 1X Robotics mastered steak cooking, and Tesla’s Optimus robot achieved marked improvements in dexterity. These silicon-based creations have secured their place in human society.
At major domestic industry events in 2024 — the World Robot Conference, World Artificial Intelligence Conference, 7th China International Import Expo and China International Fair for Trade in Services — humanoid robot teams took center stage, underscoring their pivotal status on the frontier technology arena.
If the generative AI revolution epitomized by ChatGPT acted as a spring thunder that brought humanoid robots into the public spotlight, the sector’s sustained momentum stems from collaborative innovation across the entire industrial chain.
On the software side, the intelligence and autonomy of humanoid robots rest on core technologies including AI foundation models, 3D vision, operating systems and control algorithms, laying solid groundwork for efficient task execution. AI foundation models, as the robot’s intelligent core, exert a decisive impact on advancing robotic cognitive capabilities.
In 2024, breakthroughs by tech giants Tesla and Nvidia drastically boosted humanoid robots’ self-learning and decision-making capacity. Tesla’s Optimus can navigate complex environments autonomously with outstanding agility and stability, enabled by deep data mining and precise analysis powered by large AI models. Nvidia’s GR00T foundation model enables seamless human-machine interaction via multi-modal input commands.
Hardware performance, by contrast, hinges on advances in material science, motor technology, sensors and other key components. High-performance NdFeB permanent magnet materials have greatly boosted drive motor efficiency and energy conservation, revolutionizing robotic power systems. Lightweight, high-strength materials such as PEEK reduce robot weight and boost mobility. Continuous breakthroughs have been made in core components including reducers, sensors, lead screws and coreless motors. A growing number of Chinese manufacturers have secured supply chain partnerships with the world’s top robotics enterprises.
Notably, multiple regions accelerated the construction of humanoid robot innovation hubs this year, with Beijing, Shanghai, Zhejiang and Guangdong taking the lead to explore industry standardization and large-scale commercialization.
In October 2024, the National-Local Joint Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center, jointly accredited by MIIT and the Beijing Municipal Government, was inaugurated in Beijing. Officials from the center disclosed that R&D teams are pushing technical breakthroughs centered on the universal robot mother platform “Tiangong” and the multi-functional embodied agent platform “Kaiwu”. The Tiangong Open-Source Program officially launched in November. The center will partner with global universities, research institutes and system integrators capable of secondary humanoid robot development to build the world’s most influential open-source community for embodied intelligence.
“Driven by rising market demand and technological iteration, the humanoid robot industry will develop a more coordinated industrial network, fostering deep collaboration between raw material suppliers, component manufacturers and system integrators,” said Lu Hanchen, Director of Gaogong Robot Industry Institute, in an interview with the Securities Daily. The influx of startups, universities, research institutions and innovation hubs will inject new vitality into the sector. On the application front, humanoid robots hold enormous untapped potential across household services, industrial manufacturing, medical care, education and entertainment.
The rapid expansion of humanoid robotics brings two sides of the same coin: on one hand, humanoid robots will reshape production and lifestyles and grow into a new pillar driving high-quality economic development; on the other hand, their extensive industrial penetration makes commercialization an unavoidable priority for the whole industry.
Will 2025 bring new opportunities amid industrial expansion? Multiple industry professionals told reporters that the sector will shift from unregulated rapid expansion to refined, targeted development.
More market participants will enter the track, with vehicle manufacturers and major tech firms maintaining aggressive investment. Lu Hanchen explained that automakers and tech giants share highly overlapping supply chains covering software, hardware, R&D and sales. The entry of leading enterprises will significantly accelerate humanoid robot industrialization.
Meanwhile, boundaries between industrial tracks are fading. A senior official from the Shenzhen Institute of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics told the Securities Daily that a mature sustainable development model for humanoid robotics has yet to take shape. Divergences persist across technical stacks, software and hardware configurations, product forms and business models, resulting in a diverse, fragmented market landscape. Over the next few years, the industry will gradually converge toward concentrated development from its current scattered state.
In terms of products, humanoid robot prototypes are shifting from tech showcases to practical on-site operation. Reporters from the Securities Daily observed at numerous exhibitions that while manufacturers demonstrated impressive feats such as object grasping and Chinese calligraphy writing, domestic commercialization remains in early stages. Most shipments currently flow to research institutes, educational institutions and developer communities. Industry insiders widely agree that real-world scenario deployment is an inevitable milestone, with 2025 likely marking the starting point.
Scenario development will move toward specialization. Interviews with domestic humanoid robot makers revealed that many domestic enterprises aim to cover nearly all sectors and scenarios. By comparison, overseas robotics firms adopt a more focused strategy, prioritizing 1 to 2 vertical industries to refine targeted functional capabilities.
Lu Hanchen emphasized the importance of clarifying development boundaries: “Embodied intelligence deployment cannot be accomplished overnight. The evolution from special-purpose to general-purpose robots is full of uncertainties and randomness. Embodied intelligence will not arrive all at once; it will advance incrementally through multiple technical milestones.”
Since the birth of humanoid robots, mass production has remained an unavoidable topic.
A research report released by Guosen Securities on December 4 stated that Tesla’s rapidly iterating humanoid robots will deliver a catfish effect to the global robotics market, stimulating innovation among all industry players. Driven by overlapping automotive and robotic component supply chains, alongside corporate investment, technical upgrades and policy support, 2025 is expected to become the first year of pilot mass production for humanoid robots.
A series of favorable catalysts signal 2025 as a turning point for major leaps in general robotic capabilities. Tesla’s Optimus is projected to enter small-batch production this year, with thousands of units deployed for real operational testing in internal factories. Mass commercial sales of Optimus are scheduled to kick off in 2026. In addition, Huawei’s Global Embodied Intelligence Industry Innovation Center in Shenzhen officially opened for operation in November 2024. Leading domestic and international robotics enterprises including Hangzhou Unitree and Shenzhen Ubtech have also launched humanoid robot mass production pipelines.
Nevertheless, full-scale mass production requires robust capital reserves and strong independent R&D capabilities. Tan Min, Chief Brand Officer of Ubtech, noted that multiple technical bottlenecks still hinder the industrial chain, including enhancing large AI models’ learning and decision-making performance in complex environments, boosting the precision, stability and cost efficiency of 3D vision, and improving robotic manipulation accuracy and dexterity through technological innovation.
“A critical barrier to large-scale humanoid robot production is insufficient training data. The industry is expanding data collection via simulation and physical training platforms. We expect mass deployment to first materialize in sectors with simpler operating environments and lower software requirements, such as automotive manufacturing, 3C electronics, food processing and chemical industries,” said Deng Xue, Managing Director of China International Capital Corporation’s Research Department, in an interview with the Securities Daily.
“While many regard 2025 as the year of mass production trials, we believe 2026 will witness genuine large-scale mass manufacturing. Widespread adoption in ordinary households may not arrive until 2030,” Lu Hanchen commented.
Source: Securities Daily