China’s push into humanoid robots is accelerating, with domestic firms shipping more units and iterating faster than U.S. competitors in a still-nascent market.

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China's humanoid robot industry is outpacing U.S. rivals in shipments and iteration speed, driven by a robust hardware supply chain built through the EV sector, strong manufacturing infrastructure, and government policy support. Chinese firms like Unitree and Agibot led global humanoid shipments in 2025, with Unitree shipping roughly 36 times more units than U.S. competitors Figure and Tesla. The total market shipped only 13,317 units last year but is projected to reach 2.6 million by 2035. Key bottlenecks remain: AI software and robot foundation models are still nascent, training data is scarce, and safety concerns loom. Japan and South Korea (via Boston Dynamics/Hyundai) are also active players. Early adoption is expected in industrial manufacturing, warehouse logistics, and retail where tasks are repetitive and well-defined.

Why China’s humanoid robot industry is winning the early market