The Tamesis
Chinese state media said orders for humanoid robots from across the country have more than doubled after a now-viral show saw them dancing with children and performing complex kung fu moves.
The performance was part of China’s Lunar New Year celebrations and was broadcast as part of China’s most-watched show, the Spring Festival Gala.
Within two hours of the performance, orders for the robots on e-commerce platform JD.com surged 150%, according to state media China Daily. explain.
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According to “Daily Economic News” citing data from JD.com, at the same time, the number of robot searches soared by 300%, and the number of customer service inquiries soared by 460%.
The commercial curiosity about Chinese robots will mark the success of Beijing’s strategy of prominently displaying them during the party, so much so that another national mouthpiece CGTN called program The Super Bowl of humanoid robots.
China International Television hailed the performances as “high-stakes products launched to billions of viewers.”
show what they can do
This is also true. show seems to indicate Robots have been integrated into Chinese people’s daily life and culture.
For example, on the streets of Yiwu market, a humanoid robot wearing traditional clothes was cheered by hundreds of people on the street. The market is the world’s largest small commodity wholesale market.
The performance ended with the song “We Are The World” sung in Chinese and English by actor Jackie Chan and American singer Lionel Richie.
another show Chinese company MagicLab’s robots are depicted as pandas, waiters, “noodle chefs” and food delivery workers. China is the world’s largest food delivery market, serving more than 550 million users.
Meanwhile, a skit from Chinese company Galbot show Robots can skewer sausages, pick up broken glass, fold laundry and serve as shopping assistants. Galbot’s humanoid robots are already working in convenience stores, CGTN famous.
“We want the public to see robots not just as performers, but as capable, intelligent partners,” MagicLab co-founder Gu Shitao told China Daily of the show.
Citing data from domestic research firm GGII, CGTN said China’s humanoid robot shipments are expected to surge from 18,000 units in 2025 to 62,500 units in 2026, an increase of more than 270%.
Robust supply chain
The biggest winner of this party is yuni treeIts G1 robot led the viral kung fu show alongside child performers. The South China Morning Post said interest from “tens of thousands of users” has pushed the delivery date of the G1 robot to “early March” report.
Meanwhile, users also seemed interested in Bumi, a children’s robot from Chinese startup Noetix, whose humanoid robot performed a comedy routine alongside human actors at the party. For Chinese buyers, Bumi’s price is under 10,000 yuan ($1,455).
The South China Morning Post noted that Unitree’s G1 robots start at a whopping 85,000 yuan ($12,373), which would put them “out of the reach of most consumers.”
This suggests that larger companies and enterprises may be increasingly interested in Unitree’s robots.
Outside of China, the G1 humanoid robot is now sold in major discount stores in South Korea. According to “Korea Business News”. The report notes that the G1 could pose significant competition to the likes of Hyundai Motor and LG Electronics.
Experts told Korea Business Daily that China is quickly establishing its dominance in the robotics industry thanks to a localized “parts supply chain,” which provides its manufacturers with a cost advantage.
That advantage is explained last week Author: Xu Rui, a former technology executive at Xiaomi, ByteDance, Lenovo and Amazon, and has worked in the robotics industry in China and the United States.
Yushu is headquartered in Hangzhou, surrounded by two industrial clusters — the Pearl River Delta and the Yangtze River Delta — that produce motors, sensors and other key components for robots “so fast it’s like cheating,” Xu writes.
“When Unitree wants to test a new joint design, they go down the street.”
Leading the commercialization of robots
These advantages mean China now dominates the commercialization of robots – an aspect of the industry that has long been viewed with skepticism.
Last year, for example, a widely circulated video showed an industrial robot in China losing control and waving its arms wildly near frightened engineers. The video raises concerns about the reliability of these machines working in close proximity to humans.
Humanoid robot malfunctions during training
go through
u/wonzhizai
so damn funny
Then when China showed off its robots running marathons and boxing matches, skeptics Want to know Key points of these displays and their potential for commercial applications.
But in research published Tuesday, Counterpoint Research explain Chinese companies account for more than 80% of commercial installations of robots.
According to the report, China’s AgiBot, Unitree and UBtech account for nearly 56% of global humanoid robot sales revenue.
Counterpart found that humanoid robots are primarily used in the entertainment industry, with data research not far behind. Yuuki’s performance At last year’s New Year’s Eve party Far less trendy than this year, Counterpoint points out that this is a key driver of demand in the entertainment industry.
Chinese companies are now keen to have these robots perform a variety of other tasks.
“We have 17 different models of humanoid robots here, with prices ranging from 149 yuan to 700,000 yuan,” said a shop owner of a newly opened robot store in Hubei Province, China. tell state media Wednesday.
“They can be deployed in more than 10 scenarios such as industrial manufacturing, cultural tourism guidance, elderly care, and special operations.”
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