China advances toward scaled commercialization of humanoid robots

SHANGHAI, July 28 (Xinhua) -- More than 60 humanoid robots are on display at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai, demonstrating capabilities across industrial and service applications as China continues to move closer to large-scale commercialization.

Once confined to stage performances, humanoid robots in China are now transitioning into practical industrial use, and are also poised to move from labs into a phase of mass production and commercial deployment, according to Du Guangda, deputy director of the department of science and technology at the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Being held from July 26 to 28, the 2025 WAIC features an exhibition area of over 70,000 square meters -- with more than 800 companies showcasing over 3,000 cutting-edge products. This year's event highlights an increasing focus on embodied intelligence, which involves intelligent systems with physical presence and real-time interaction with the environment.

Driven by advances in generative artificial intelligence (AI), as well as both software and hardware innovations, China's humanoid robots are increasingly able to interact with their surroundings in smarter, more adaptive ways.

"Humanoid robots integrate key technologies such as chips, sensors, AI, mechanics and materials. They are the ideal carriers of embodied intelligence and represent an advanced form of intelligent robotics," said Xu Xiaolan, president of the Chinese Institute of Electronics.

"They are expected to become the next disruptive product after computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles -- with wide applications in domestic services, manufacturing, logistics, border security, education and healthcare," Xu added.

Keenon Robotics, a leading embodied service robot company with products available in over 60 countries and regions, has debuted its new bipedal humanoid service robot, XMAN-F1, at the conference. XMAN-F1 is capable of performing standardized tasks -- such as food preparation and table service.

At the Keenon Robotics booth, themed settings such as a "tavern bar" and "medical station" are showcasing a robot bartender's precise order recognition and pouring skills, alongside humanoid robots collaborating with their hospital logistics peers to create an intelligent medical delivery system. This, notably, marks a shift from single-function robots to integrated service ecosystems.

Specialized robots excel in specific tasks, while general-purpose robots are valued for their adaptability across diverse environments, said Li Tong, founder and CEO of Keenon Robotics, who anticipates that both will work in tandem to jointly serve human society.

Fourier Intelligence, a general-purpose robotics company initially focused on exoskeleton rehabilitation, has unveiled its upcoming humanoid care robot, named GR-3, in Shanghai. This robot is designed for interactive companionship. Featuring expressive facial details and a warm tactile design, GR-3 deepens emotional interaction by sensing user movements and emotions -- aiming for future deployment in care and educational settings.

Building on this foundation, the GRx humanoid series has already been rolled out at over 300 medical sites across China -- serving more than 1 million patients.

Beyond care and rehabilitation, a new generation of "blue-collar" humanoid robots is also emerging. Shanghai Kepler Robot Co., Ltd. focuses on industrial applications such as smart manufacturing, logistics and automated inspection. At the 2025 WAIC, its robots are demonstrating embodied intelligence in scenarios like automotive assembly and warehouse operations -- highlighting their potential to reduce reliance on manual labor in complex environments.

"As humanoid robots evolve from simply walking and running to performing real tasks, the next breakthrough of humanoid robot lies in their ability to perform real tasks," said Jiang Lei, chief scientist of China's National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center. "The future of humanoid robots will focus on four pillars -- standards, innovation, open-source collaboration and ecosystem development."

Located in Shanghai's Pudong New Area, this center is China's first training base for heterogeneous humanoid robots.

To drive technological innovation and industrialization, the center has unveiled several key initiatives at the 2025 WAIC. The release of a proposal for collaboration on humanoid robot and embodied intelligence data collection marks a critical step toward building an open, compliant and shared data ecosystem through unified standards.

Meanwhile, new collaborations with regional training grounds and tech leaders have been launched -- aiming to establish a cooperative ecosystem for embodied intelligence testing and iteration.

The center also rolled out its open fund, supporting cutting-edge research at top universities and institutes, and catalyzing innovation across both academia and industry. ■