The humanoid robot industry races toward commercial mass production

Staff Reporter Jia Li

At 9 a.m. on February 28, the exhibition hall at Beijing Beiren Yichuang International Convention and Exhibition Center was already bustling.

As soon as I entered, ZhiYuan Robots greeted me enthusiastically with synthesized speech; Shenzhen ZhiJi Power Technology Co., Ltd.'s bipedal robot, with a round head, kept changing cute expressions like blinking and tilting its head, climbing stairs, rotating flexibly, busy and lively; the Lingbao Robot Band from Beijing Zhongke Huiling Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. (hereafter “Zhongke Huiling”) was performing, with robot guitarists and bassists flying fingers, bodies swaying to the music rhythm, while small robots nearby waved frequently to set the atmosphere; two robotic arms were working in sync, completing smooth actions like handing over cloths and wiping tables.

This high-tech, life-like “warm-up show” kicked off the annual conference on Standardization of Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence (HEIS). Representatives from many companies along the humanoid robot industry chain and research institutes across the country gathered to discuss breakthroughs in technology, mass production, and standard development, jointly drawing the blueprint for the humanoid robot industry.

From “Showcasing Skills” to “Getting the Job Done”

Real Machines Accelerate Deployment

“2025 will be a very memorable year for China’s humanoid robot industry,” said Wang Xingxing, Vice Chairman of the Standardization Technical Committee for Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and founder of YuShu Technology Co., Ltd. “I believe that in 2026 and the coming years, everyone should work together to improve the industry and avoid vicious competition. At the same time, as humanoid robots are deployed, higher stability requirements will be necessary.”

Wang Xingxing revealed that YuShu Robots shipped over 5,500 units and produced more than 6,500 units in 2025, becoming the global leader in humanoid robot shipments. He said that YuShu Robots can learn any human movement through IL (Imitation Learning) training, and full-body remote operation technology has also been breakthrough. This year, practical functions like “remote participation” will be realized, with only latency and jitter to solve. Additionally, in factory projects with Geely Auto and Future Robots, the success rate of robots in single-task assembly has approached 100%, but long-sequence tasks still need breakthroughs.

The impressive data from YuShu Robots reflects the explosive growth of the industry. Humanoid robots have become a hot spot, driven mainly by breakthroughs in AI technology, supported by strong policy backing that ensures the industry’s vigorous development.

The industry’s scale is expanding rapidly. On January 21, 2026, Zhang Yunming, Vice Minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, introduced at a State Council Information Office press conference that in 2025, there were over 140 domestic humanoid robot companies, with more than 330 humanoid robot products released.

As the industry grows quickly, the competitive landscape is subtly changing. Peng Zhihui, Deputy Director of the Standardization Technical Committee for Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence and co-founder of Zhiyuan Innovation (Shanghai) Technology Co., Ltd., said that the humanoid robot industry has officially entered the second half of engineering and scenario-based competition. He believes embodied intelligence will eventually become a foundational infrastructure like electricity and the internet. “The robot itself is the foundation, while movement, interaction, and work are its soul. Humanoid robots are accelerating from ‘showing off skills’ to ‘getting the job done.’”

Breaking Through Industry Bottlenecks

From “Samples” to “Products”

Currently, robots are accelerating from “samples” to “products,” but mass production faces many challenges. “2026 will be the year of mass production, when humanoid robots begin industrialization and gradually achieve mass production, but there are still many tough issues to overcome,” said Xiong Youjun, Vice Chairman of the Standardization Technical Committee for Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence.

Zhao Tongyang, founder of Shenzhen Zhongqing Robot Technology Co., Ltd., admitted that despite rapid industry development, related products are still in small-batch trial production. Due to limited participants in manufacturing, R&D, and sales, concerns about mold manufacturing and large-scale investment often cause hesitation, leading to supply chain bottlenecks and issues with consistency that need solving.

Chen Jianyu, founder of Beijing Xingdong Jiyuan Technology Co., Ltd., shared a typical case: a batch of humanoid robots walking with inconsistent postures. After investigation, it was found that uneven glue application during motor assembly was the cause. He said, “The humanoid robot industry chain is long; even tiny variables in components or algorithms can affect stability. Our company sets multiple quality gates and maintains a ‘mistake book’ for rapid iteration to address these challenges.”

Cheng Hao, founder of Beijing Accelerate Evolution Technology Co., Ltd., told Securities Daily that mass production is not just about manufacturing but also about understanding demand, controlling costs, and providing services. How to expand capacity while maintaining talent density and ensuring after-sales response efficiency is the biggest challenge. He believes users need continuous maintenance support, which tests the overall capability of enterprises.

Professor Wang Yu from Tsinghua University pointed out that the key to intelligent mass production of humanoid robots is calibration—ensuring sensors, mechanical structures, and models are linked in a unified mathematical space to solve issues caused by tiny differences.

Standardization Accelerates

Addressing Industry “Growing Pains”

While industry exploration continues, the hype around humanoid robots in capital markets remains high, making it a hot spot for investment. Driven by technological breakthroughs and application prospects, investment firms are rushing to deploy, aiming to seize opportunities before the industry explodes.

Zhang Zhengtao, founder and chairman of Zhongke Huiling, told Securities Daily that current capital is more rational, focusing on segmented areas of the humanoid robot industry chain, which helps promote front-end technology research and commercialization.

“Humanoid robots have a broad outlook,” said Zhang Jianhua, Vice President of the National Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund. “Investors are increasingly interested, especially in the ability to implement technology and meet standards.”

To address “growing pains,” the industry is speeding up standardization. At the HEIS annual conference, the “Humanoid Robot and Embodied Intelligence Standard System (2026 Edition)” was officially released, covering six major areas: basic commonality, brain-like and intelligent computing, limb and component modules.

“Standards are not restrictions but accelerators for industry deployment,” said Liang Liang, Secretary-General of the Standardization Technical Committee for Humanoid Robots and Embodied Intelligence. “Building these systems will solve core issues like data silos, interface incompatibility, and lack of safety norms.”

Industry insiders believe that standardization is urgent. “The most needed is embodied data standards,” said Wang Zhongyuan, Director of the Institute of Intelligent Sources. “Different companies have different formats for action data and perception data, which reduces training efficiency. We are leading related working groups and hope to achieve data interoperability by 2026.”

The necessity of safety standards is also widely recognized. “Last year, there were incidents like robots stepping on children’s shoes or brushing against spectators. Safety is the industry’s lifeline,” said Wang Xingxing. “Hardware emergency stops and software warning mechanisms need unified standards. Overseas clients have high requirements for data privacy and security; without standards, it’s impossible to open international markets.”

Chen Jianyu called for establishing communication standards for industrial scenarios: “Humanoid robots need to connect with industrial equipment; unified interfaces can greatly reduce deployment costs.”

Peng Zhihui said, “The purpose of standards is to enable the industry to grow quickly and steadily.” With technological breakthroughs, mass production, and standard implementation, humanoid robots are moving from labs to factories and from TV stages into daily life. 2026 may become a key turning point for further industry regulation and development.