China’s industrial robot output soars, as start-ups Unitree and UBTech take lead

Name: Robotics star Unitree opens new manufacturing plant amid China’s humanoid robots craze
Uploaded: 2025-05-19T09:00:30.000Z
Duration: 2 min 27 s
Description: Robotics star Unitree opens new manufacturing plant amid China’s humanoid robots craze

Production of industrial robots in April outpaced increases seen in earlier months amid national enthusiasm around the technology

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A UBTech humanoid robot picks up an object during a demonstration simulating a factory’s assembly line. Photo: Reuters

Ann Caoin Shanghai

Published: 5:00pm, 19 May 2025

China’s production of industrial robots surged by more than 50 per cent in April compared with a year earlier, according to official data, highlighting the growing demand driven by a national frenzy for robotics.

The national output of industrial robots jumped 51.5 per cent year on year to 71,547 units last month, according to the latest data released by the National Bureau of Statistics on Monday. The growth outpaced the 16.7 per cent increase seen in March and the 27 per cent growth recorded in the January-February period.

In the first four months of the year, total output reached 221,206 units, marking a 34.1 per cent increase compared to the same period last year, when growth was 9.9 per cent.

The rapid expansion of China’s industrial robotics sector comes as a long list of robotics manufacturers push to integrate humanoid robots and other automation machines into factory environments.

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Robotics star Unitree opens new manufacturing plant amid China’s humanoid robots craze

Shenzhen-based UBTech Robotics, a rising player in the industry, planned to mass-produce humanoid robots by the end of this year, a company executive said in an interview with the South China Morning Post in January.