context: Beijing views humanoid robots as a key ‘future industry’, aiming to create major robot-focused industrial clusters. While promising applications are emerging, technical challenges remain. Commercial robots struggle with precision, flexibility and understanding natural language, while industrial robots lack the innovative design needed for genuine intelligent manufacturing. Widespread adoption is still a long way off.
The PRC's humanoid robot industry is on the cusp of a boom, argues Xu Xiaolan 徐晓兰 Chinese Institute of Electronics chair and former MIIT (Ministry of Industry and Information Technology) vice minister. Reasons include
- leading companies are driving innovation
- increasing government support through
- standards
- talent
- finance
- growing demand for humanoid robots from
- businesses
- consumers
Cities are racing to develop their humanoid robot industries, reports Yicai. Shanghai, Beijing and Shenzhen are now home to a number of leading companies and have introduced policies to support the industry, such as
- Beijing
- released 'Robot industry innovation and development action plan (2023–25)’
- established Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre in 2023
- Shanghai
- is home to four key international players in industrial robots including
- FANUC
- ABB
- Yaskawa
- KUKA
- released 'Action plan to promote high-quality innovation and development of intelligent robot industry (2023–25)'
- established Joint National-Local Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre in 2024
- is home to four key international players in industrial robots including
- Shenzhen
- released 'Action plan to accelerate high-quality development and high-level application of artificial intelligence (2023–24)'
- plans to establish Guangdong Humanoid Robot Manufacturing Industry Innovation Centre
- scales up applications of robots through taking advantage of manufacturing hubs in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area
Other provinces and cities, such as Zhejiang, Anhui and Chengdu, have also established humanoid robot centres. But when it comes to moving from prototypes to real-world applications, industry insiders still seel challenges, notes Yicai.
Undue short-term excitement would be mistaken, reckons Wang Bing 汪兵 Dataarobotics co-founder, as
- industry is still unclear about practical applications and genuine demand
- complex and extensive refinement and testing are needed to create robots ready for tasks like nanny or factory worker jobs
Humanoid robots are still in their early days, points out CCID (China Centre for Information Industry Development), and the industry still faces heaps of challenges such as
- core tech
- commercial viability
- ethical concerns
To address these bottlenecks, CCID suggests
- leverage regional strengths and avoid unnecessary competition in regional development
- enhance international collaboration across value chain to improve resource allocation
- use key projects to focus on breakthroughs in foundational theory, core tech and practical applications