Multiple regions in China are ramping up efforts to foster the development of embodied intelligence and humanoid robots, with Beijing unveiling a three-year action plan to cultivate a trillion-yuan industrial cluster. Provinces like Zhejiang and Guangdong have also rolled out supportive policies, signaling a nationwide push to position the robot industry as a key driver of economic modernization and technological advancement. Experts highlight that embodied intelligence, a pathway to artificial general intelligence, represents a new frontier in global tech competition and economic growth, with the robot industry poised to transform sectors from manufacturing to healthcare as it transitions from lab research to large-scale application.
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Policy Initiatives Propel Robot Industry Growth
Beijing’s blueprint, titled “Beijing Embodied Intelligence Technology Innovation and Industry Cultivation Action Plan (2025-2027),” targets breakthroughs in over 100 key technologies and the development of at least 10 internationally leading hardware and software products by the end of 2027. The city aims to deploy tens of thousands of embodied intelligence robots, fostering a trillion-yuan cluster through innovation in technology, platform support, scenario applications, and ecosystem optimization. This initiative is part of a broader trend, as over ten provinces and municipalities, including Shanghai, Shandong, and Chongqing, have introduced similar policies to accelerate the robot industry, viewing it as a strategic lever for high-quality economic development and industrial upgrading.
In Zhejiang, home to the robots featured in the Spring Festival Gala, the provincial government released an implementation plan in September last year to advance humanoid robot innovation, with the 2025 government work report emphasizing the deployment of future industries like humanoid robotics to seize competitive advantages. Guangdong, where humanoid robots are increasingly used in factories, outlined its 2025 action plan for modernizing the industrial system, calling for the development of embodied intelligence robots, breakthroughs in core components like robotic brains and limbs, and the establishment of a provincial innovation center to nurture three to five unicorn enterprises and leading tech firms. These coordinated efforts underscore a unified national strategy to bolster the robot industry, ensuring it becomes a cornerstone of China’s industrial transformation.
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Critical Phase for Scaling Applications in the Robot Industry
Embodied intelligence is emerging as a pivotal area in the global race for technological supremacy, with Liu Weihua, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and Zhongguancun Administrative Committee, describing it as a new high ground in tech competition, a fresh track for future industries, and an engine for economic development. Zhu Minghao, Executive Director of the China High-End Manufacturing Research Center at Beijing Jiaotong University, emphasized that as an emerging sector, the robot industry will play a vital role in building a modern industrial system once technological breakthroughs and ecosystem maturation occur. He noted that China’s nationwide push for equipment upgrades and digital transformation is creating vast demand for intelligent devices like humanoid robots, opening expansive opportunities for the robot industry to thrive in industrial settings.
Beijing, recognized as a national hub for AI innovation, has positioned embodied intelligence at the core of its next-generation AI strategy. Su Guobin, Deputy Director of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, detailed that the city has established a collaborative innovation path focusing on “brain-cerebellum-body” integration, with embodied intelligence now at a critical juncture moving from lab development to large-scale application. To support this, Beijing has launched a government investment fund totaling 100 billion yuan with a 15-year term, targeting future industries like AI and robotics to spur private capital into key technology R&D and industrialization. High-level innovation platforms are being built to foster industry-academia collaboration and international partnerships, alongside accelerated scenario deployments to drive widespread adoption in the robot industry.
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Path to Household Integration for the Robot Industry
The anticipation for humanoid robots to enter homes has surged since their appearance in the Spring Festival Gala, with products like the “Gala edition” robots now available on e-commerce platforms. For instance, Unitree’s humanoid robots are listed on JD.com at prices of 99,000 yuan and 650,000 yuan, respectively, and despite being sold out in JD’s self-operated channels, third-party sellers offer them at markups, while rental services on secondary platforms charge daily fees from thousands to tens of thousands of yuan. This market enthusiasm reflects growing consumer interest, but challenges remain that could slow the robot industry’s expansion into domestic settings.
Zhu Minghao pointed out that companies such as Ubtech, Unitree, and Xingdong Jiyuan are leading the humanoid robot wave, with applications deepening in manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, and consumer sectors. Manufacturing integration, in particular, is expected to accelerate robot maturity through iterative improvements. However, he identified weaknesses in the robot industry, including reliance on imported components like motors, reducers, and specialized chips, as well as gaps in foundational materials such as biomimetic and lightweight substances. High production costs also hinder market penetration, though demand is strong in aging societies for eldercare and medical robots. In response, domestic firms are exploring home applications, and the recent release of an international standard for eldercare robots, led by China under the International Electrotechnical Commission, provides benchmarks for design and testing, fostering global industry health. Zhu concluded that accelerating real-world scenario validations and pilot-use incentives will soon bring robots into more diverse environments, further energizing the robot industry.