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Robotics

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Robotics
As China bets on tech and innovation to drive its growth, it has placed its chips on several industrial sectors that are expected to play increasingly important roles in development and trade, which will bring fresh opportunities and challenges for stakeholders. SCMP’s China Future Tech is your go-to destination for the latest news, insights, and opinions on these select industries. Explore in-depth coverage of EVs, AI, semiconductors, aerospace, robotics and biomedicine sectors. Follow us to stay ahead in China's evolving competitive landscape.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif (right) meets the chairman of Alibaba Group, Joe Tsai, on Sunday. Photo: handout
Alibaba

‘Sharif speed’ meets Qwen AI: how Alibaba sealed a sweeping deal with Pakistan

Chairman Joe Tsai uses firm’s mobile AI tool to draft a sweeping tech pact in moments, as ‘frontier technologies’ increasingly enter the global limelight.

China technology

Every humanoid robot in China set to receive personal identification number

China technology

Video | Meet China’s home-cleaning robot

Trending in China

Ancient Chinese texts show ‘immortal mirror’ linking to early notion of robots

Imagination and folk legend in imperial China came up with objects that could display people’s internal organs and a flying wooden magpie.

China ancient texts depict magical mirrors akin to a CT scan, vivid wooden puppets and early notions of robots. Photo: Baidu
Elon Musk

Inside the Chinese auto-glass maker whose chairman sat beside Elon Musk

Fuyao Glass, which holds 35 per cent of the world market for automotive glass, banks on automation to cement its position.

Singapore

Why Singapore wants to become the world’s ‘living lab’ for physical AI

These machines are set to complement humans in the workplace, but safety should be a priority for their deployment, analysts say.

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Artificial intelligence

China unveils first humanoid robot for household chores, ready as early as 2027

Companies are still improving data required for robots to perform complex household tasks, some of which require embodied AI.

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A humanoid robot, the SeeLight S1, performs a household chore. Photo: Changjiang Daily
Electric & new energy vehicles

Chinese firm Xpeng builds driverless cabs, challenging Tesla’s FSD software

The EV maker has embarked on mass production of robotaxis using its own chips and plans to trial the tech before the end of the year.

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Mainland China

Video | Robo-monks lead Seoul’s Lotus Lantern Festival

South Korea’s Lotus Lantern Festival, or Yeon Deung Hoe, was added to Unesco’s Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2020.

Unitree Robotics

Editorial | China’s AI-enabled robots set to transform global playing field

Chinese companies’ proven capability in making affordable, high-quality robotics is poised to be an engine of growth for the future.

The Unitree GD01 ‘mecha’ robot seen in bipedal mode. Photo: Handout
Unitree Robotics

Video | China’s Unitree unveils manned mecha

The 500kg mecha is capable of transforming into a four-legged mode.

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Unitree Robotics

Unitree debuts US$574,000 ‘mecha’ robot that ‘transforms’ from 2 legs to 4

The GD01 expands the Hangzhou-based company’s portfolio at a time when Chinese manufacturers are significantly outstripping their US rivals.

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South Korea

Robots to the rescue? South Korea looks for solutions to falling army numbers

South Korea’s standing forces have shrunk by 20 per cent in the past six years to 450,000 amid a record-low birth rate.

China manufacturing

China robotics to drive next chapter of manufacturing dominance: Morgan Stanley

Strategic state-led investment and low production costs are expected to lift the nation’s manufacturing export share amid deployment of advanced automation.

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A guest interacts with a humanoid robot at the 2026 Chery International Business Summit in China’s Anhui province on April 28. Photo: Xinhua
Japan

Baggage bots: Chinese humanoids clock on at Japanese airports amid labour crunch

Chinese-made humanoids are being deployed at Tokyo’s Haneda Airport as Japan’s aviation industry struggles with a shrinking workforce.

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A humanoid robot pushes a cargo container during a media demonstration at Haneda airport in Tokyo. Photo: Reuters
Mainland China

Video | What is this robot at the Met Gala?

In China, humanoids like this AgiBot are being put to work everywhere from factories to city streets.

Mainland China

Hype or real: China’s robot boom faces reality check as commercialisation lags

Capital floods into China’s robotic sector but profitability remains elusive as challenges emerge with the industry’s business model.

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Mainland China

China’s robots step into real-world roles, from cleaning to directing traffic

Robots appear in settings from dirty kitchens to dangerous steel mills as country pushes development of embodied AI.

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An X Square Robot that is capable of picking up rubbish in Beijing on April 21. Photo: AP Photo
US-China relations

Exiting China market a ‘self-inflicted wound’ for US tech, think tank warns

ITIF argues that regional sales help finance domestic R&D and block local rivals, while warning that a full exit would be a self-inflicted wound to innovation leadership.

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Mainland China

Video | Hangzhou’s ‘robocops’ direct tourist traffic

The squad of 15 intelligent traffic management robots is trained to control crowds during “golden week” holidays.

Trending in China

Quirky China: robot ‘dies’ for pesticide warnings; bot hugs girl, in-car toilet approved

In-vehicle, under-seat convenience gets nod from officials; robotic ‘park ranger’ sparks online stir; hugging automaton grabs student.

Quirky China: a robot, designed to prevent tourists from disturbing dandelions, enhanced its pesticide warnings by pretending to be dead; a malfunctioned bot embraced a young woman and patent for a voice-controlled in-car toilet approved. Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin/RedNote
China technology

From phones to humanoid robots: China’s supply chain eyes next growth curve

A slowdown in global smartphone shipments is driving Chinese electronics suppliers to pivot towards humanoid robots.

Trainers supervise the training of a humanoid robot at the Qingdao Humanoid Robot Data and Training Centre in Qingdao, east China’s Shandong Province. Photo: Xinhua
US-China relations

The ageing dilemma: why robots can’t save us but China-US cooperation might

US medical anthropologist Arthur Kleinman looks for path out of a social paradox: longer lives without a defined social role.

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Mainland China

Video | Sophia the robot makes classical music debut

The AI-themed concert, featuring a robot developed in the city, merged traditional art forms with innovation.

IPO

Chinese industrial robot maker Inovance joins Hong Kong IPO queue

Company aims to enhance internationalisation strategy with listing expected to raise up to US$2 billion.

Staff members work on a production line at Inovance in Nanjing, in east China’s Jiangsu province, on March 17, 2026. Photo: Xinhua
Jensen Huang

AI | China’s physical AI prowess on roads, in skies and factories

Innovation and competition drive rapid advances in Chinese humanoid robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and flying cars. America is playing catch-up.

China’s physical AI progress seen on roads, in skies and factories
China technology

Editorial | Robots are all well and good – so long as they do no harm to humans

Advanced robots in daily lives are both inevitable and desirable. But it’s more important that they work as humanised machines.

Shenzhen

From supply chain to record growth: Shenzhen dominates China’s robotics sector

The output of the city’s robotics industry hit a record in 2025, rising 20 per cent year on year to over US$35.4 billion.

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