Story perspectives

China Leads Humanoid Robots, 28k Units Expected

6/11/2026

Summary

China Leads

China leads the global humanoid robotics market, overtaking Japan.
UBTech began U1 presales on June 2, selling 3,000 units with a 3,000-yuan deposit; it will go online on June 30 and measures 183 cm (male) or 168 cm (female) with 88 joints.
Morgan Stanley projects Chinese humanoid sales to reach about 28,000 units this year—90 % of last year’s shipments—and a Chinese robot broke the men’s half-marathon record in Beijing at Spring Festival Gala.

Summary

China Showcases

A four-day Beijing media tour (Wednesday-Saturday) visited industrial clusters, AI scenarios and a robot training centre under the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).
The 14th Five-Year Plan and “AI Plus” policy enabled Siasun to secure full-line approval for nearly 100 robots at Geely welding stations.
Zoomlion’s Zvalley-based AI stack, backed by ~1,300 R&D staff, will be shown at Hannover Messe 2026 after visits to Tianjin and Hebei, demonstrating autonomous decision-making and multi-robot collaboration.

History

Historical Context

Honda began humanoid research in 1986, creating two-legged prototypes that evolved into the P series (1993-1997). In October 2000 the company unveiled ASIMO, a 130 cm, 54 kg robot capable of walking 2 km/h and later running 6 km/h; Honda produced 20 units in 2002. After successive upgrades, Honda retired the line in 2022, freeing its technology for new mobility projects.

1 of 3

China Leads

China leads the global humanoid robotics market, overtaking Japan.
UBTech began U1 presales on June 2, selling 3,000 units with a 3,000-yuan deposit; it will go online on June 30 and measures 183 cm (male) or 168 cm (female) with 88 joints.
Morgan Stanley projects Chinese humanoid sales to reach about 28,000 units this year—90 % of last year’s shipments—and a Chinese robot broke the men’s half-marathon record in Beijing at Spring Festival Gala.

1 / 3