Robots, hailed as the “crown jewels of manufacturing,” serve as a critical benchmark for measuring regional innovation and advanced manufacturing capabilities through their development, production, and application. According to the State Administration for Market Regulation, by the end of 2024, China’s robot industry boasted over 451,700 enterprises with a total registered capital of approximately 6444.557 billion yuan. This represents a 206.73% increase from the end of 2020 and a 19.39% rise from the end of 2023. As a pioneering province in digital economy and manufacturing transformation, Fujian has intensified its focus on this sector, hosting more than 25,000 robot-related enterprises—a figure that aligns with its national economic standing.
In September 2023, the General Office of the Fujian Provincial People’s Government issued the “Ten Measures for Promoting the Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry in Fujian Province,” emphasizing support for key technologies in fields like intelligent robotics. The policy advocates for establishing public service platforms for industrial technology research and development, accelerating domestically controllable products in areas such as new machine learning, natural language understanding, human-computer interaction, and intelligent control and decision-making. It also mandates annual implementation of key AI technological innovation and industrialization projects. As competition in the China robot market intensifies, with niche technologies becoming increasingly sophisticated, Fujian leverages its industrial foundations and comparative advantages to achieve breakthroughs in specialized segments, driving accelerated growth despite gaps with leading robot hubs in other Chinese provinces.
- Focusing on Practicality
Within the workshops of Fuzhou Mingfang Auto Parts Industry Co., Ltd. (Mingfang Auto) in Minhou County’s Qingkou Town, a new collaborator—a delivery robot named “Ben Xiao Di”—operates seamlessly alongside human workers. Developed by Fujian Hanter Cloud Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. (Hanter Cloud), this white, cart-like robot has been active on Mingfang Auto’s sunroof production line for three months. It efficiently transports materials such as windshields, drainage channels, pillar components, and motor assemblies, while a digital management platform displays real-time data on task progress and delivery analytics. Liu Lin, manager of Mingfang Auto’s administration department, highlights that a single sunroof line involves dozens of material types, requiring intelligent scheduling and obstacle avoidance—capabilities where “Ben Xiao Di” excels. The China robot operates in on-demand bell-summoning or fully automated modes, with the latter enabling optimal routing, timed deliveries, and autonomous recharging, effectively replacing two workers per shift.
Hanter Cloud, founded in 2019 with a technical team originally from Southeast Motor’s autonomous driving division, has evolved into a national high-tech enterprise. It holds core technologies in domain controllers, software operating systems, and intelligent connected cloud platforms, alongside three chassis platforms. The company has developed over 20 intelligent robot products, including three autonomous mobile bases, targeting public service scenarios like communities, buildings, and airports. Its robots, such as “Ben Xiao Bao” for guidance at the Beijing Winter Olympics and “Ben Xiao Luo” for security patrols in Fuzhou’s industrial parks, have gained traction domestically and in over 20 cities across five countries. Hanter Cloud has earned accolades including an Excellent Industrial Design Case from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, and titles like Fujian Specialized and Sophisticated SME and Kechuang China Rising Star Enterprise.
Chen Zhaobao, assistant general manager at Hanter Cloud, notes that while humanoid robots attract market buzz, their wheeled counterparts offer cost and practicality advantages. Autonomous driving technologies, such as environmental perception and image recognition, provide a foundation for future humanoid robot development. A recent patent approved by the National Intellectual Property Office—”A Multi-Camera Feature Fusion Method for Humanoid Robots”—demonstrates this potential. The innovation processes data from multiple cameras to create fused projection images for large model training, reducing neural network complexity and improving detection accuracy and efficiency. This focus on utility has propelled Hanter Cloud’s China robots into diverse roles, reinforcing the growth of the China robot ecosystem.
- Expanding Application Scenarios
Hanter Cloud has secured investments from entities like Fuzhou Financial Holding and BOE Technology Group, and collaborates with Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., Limited (CATL). Robots equipped with CATL batteries now handle auxiliary material delivery and inspection in factories. However, Hanter Cloud’s ambitions extend beyond industry to the broader community market. In Fuzhou’s Taijiang District, the Tianqin Bay residential complex—Fujian’s first vertical ecological smart community—features robots like “Ben Xiao Wei” for underground garage cleaning and “Ben Xiao Bao” for parcel and food delivery. You Zhiyong, sales manager at Hanter Cloud, explains that integration with Xiamen Star-net Communication Equipment Co., Ltd.’s smart home systems enables functions like elevator control and real-time tracking. These China robots even perform celebratory tasks like singing for residents, averaging nearly 100 daily deliveries in communities like those in Xiamen. Plans include expanding into security, recyclable waste collection, and partnerships with lifestyle platforms to break data barriers, potentially bringing China robots into households as smart home adoption grows.
Parallelly, Hongfa Robotics Company (Hongfa) in Xiamen’s Haicang District capitalizes on surging demand from smart homes and new energy vehicles for products like relays and charging modules. As a specialized and sophisticated “little giant” enterprise, Hongfa excels in R&D and manufacturing of intelligent robots and high-end automation equipment. In its workshops, robotic arms play pianos, showcasing advanced capabilities, but the standout is its production of miniature coils—relays wound with hair-thin copper wires in 20,000 to 30,000 turns. Zhang Yidan, deputy general manager, attributes Hongfa’s success to early investments in flexible fully automatic production lines, which handle small-batch, multi-specification demands. These lines, listed in Fujian’s “First Set” equipment catalog, produce over 40% of the world’s high-voltage DC relays, compatible with more than 10 coil types for high efficiency and precision.
The proliferation of China robots is broadening into marine and educational domains. Fujian’s inaugural university intelligent marine equipment competition in late 2024 attracted 83 teams from 17 institutions, featuring innovations like cable-free remote-controlled torpedo robots and biomimetic tail-swinging devices. Gao Xiujing, deputy dean of the School of Intelligent Marine Science and Technology at Fujian University of Technology, notes that small, civilian underwater robots from the university are already deployed for dam inspections, environmental mapping, and aquaculture monitoring. Similarly, Fujian Kudou Robot Co., Ltd.’s “puzzle-style programming learning robots” are endorsed by the China Education Equipment Industry Association, while Fujian University of Technology’s wall-climbing robots assist in nuclear facility maintenance. Xiamen Tubot Robot focuses on child psychological therapy, underscoring the diverse expansion of the China robot landscape.
- Building Innovation Platforms
Amid rising interest in embodied intelligence—systems that perceive and act through physical bodies—Quanzhou launched Fujian’s first Embodied Intelligent Service Robot Innovation Platform on March 11, 2025. Hosted in the Quanzhou Digital Economy Industrial Park, this platform aims to serve local clusters in textiles, footwear, smart homes, sports training, and high-risk applications, empowering Quanzhou’s intelligent manufacturing upgrade. The Fujian (Quanzhou) Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology (Advanced Institute), a key contributor, demonstrated a power operation robot that moves on aerial wires to diagnose and repair faults, enhancing efficiency and reducing risks. The institute, evolving from the Fujian (Quanzhou) HIT Engineering Technology Research Institute, has developed nine series of products, including mining/petrochemical inspection robots and intelligent logistics solutions, laying groundwork for embodied intelligence.
Among Advanced Institute’s subsidiaries, Quanzhou Tongwei Technology Co., Ltd. (Tongwei Tech), recognized as a high-tech and gazelle enterprise, excels in rail maintenance robotics. Huang Chengxi, Ph.D. and technical lead, explains that trains require frequent overnight inspections of components like undercarriages and bogies, where cramped, poorly ventilated conditions pose challenges. Tongwei Tech’s solutions, starting with Harbin Railway Bureau sections, now automate disassembly, repair, and rust removal in locations like Kunming and Hangzhou. In 2024, the team adapted this expertise to create “rail-type robots” for cleaning photovoltaic panels, addressing efficiency losses from dust in arid regions. This innovation secured orders from China Huadian Corporation for deployment in Tianjin, Inner Mongolia, and Shandong, with ongoing standardization talks to scale applications across China’s solar infrastructure.
Li Ruifeng, dean of the Advanced Institute, asserts that AI and robotics are core drivers of the new technological revolution. With the Quanzhou platform’s launch, hardware clusters and intelligent systems will integrate to form cross-scenario service matrices for homes, elderly care, sports, and specialized industries. This initiative exemplifies Fujian’s strategic push to position itself as a leader in the China robot sector, harnessing innovation to transform traditional industries and foster sustainable growth in the competitive China robot market.
The convergence of practical applications, diverse scenarios, and robust platforms underscores Fujian’s accelerating role in the China robot industry. As enterprises like Hanter Cloud and Hongfa refine niche technologies, and innovation hubs like the Quanzhou platform drive embodied intelligence, the province is poised to capture larger shares of the global robotics arena. This momentum not only aligns with national policies but also highlights the dynamic evolution of China robot capabilities in shaping future manufacturing and daily life.