Unitree Robotics shares vision for China's robot revolution
From robots dancing the Yangko, a traditional folk dance, during China's 2025 Spring Festival Gala, to bone-crushing combat mechs in the arena and all-terrain robotic dogs that carry humans, the creations of Chinese firm Unitree Robotics never fail to astonish with their boundary-pushing features.
"Within the next year or two, robots will acquire generalized capabilities for both commercial and household applications, such as tidying rooms and delivering items," said Wang Xingxing, founder and CEO of Unitree Robotics, in a recent exclusive interview with Xinhua.
Founded in east China's tech hub Hangzhou in 2016, this world-renowned consumer robotics company has been consistently enhancing the operational capabilities of robots to perform practical tasks for humans.
"Over the past year, we've upgraded the manipulation capabilities of our robots' arms, enabling tasks like component assembly and door opening — all to free humans from strenuous labor," the CEO revealed.
Unitree Robotics, notably, is the first company in the world to start public retail of high-performance quadruped robots, and leads the global market in terms of robot sales volume.
While humanoid robots often demonstrate their technical prowess through performative acts like dancing and combat, such displays have sparked debates about practical utility, viable commercialization pathways and potential industry bubbles.
In response, Wang said that before achieving the "ultimate goal" of integrating humanoids into daily work and life, these performances serve dual purposes — showcasing genuine technological progress while generating interim commercial value.
"In robot combat tournaments, our latest-generation control technology enables robots to perform complex combos, from precision punches to spinning kicks, with seamless transitions and exceptional stability," Wang explained. He predicted such competitions could evolve into a globally popular sport rivaling football and basketball.
Unitree Robotics launched its humanoid robot project in 2023. Leveraging years of technological accumulation in quadruped robotics, the company developed its first bipedal robot prototype in just six months.
Powered by AI advancements, the humanoid robots launched by Unitree Robotics in 2024 exhibited superhuman flexibility, making them capable of executing highly dynamic maneuvers. This year, through data capture and reinforcement learning technologies, the robots have mastered martial arts maneuvers, including aerial cartwheels and kip-ups, garnering widespread attention.
Led by pioneers like Unitree Robotics, China's technological prowess is making its mark in the global humanoid robotics arena. A recent Morgan Stanley report forecasts China's humanoid robot market will grow to 6 trillion yuan (about 836.88 billion US dollars) by 2050 — with the total number of humanoid robots reaching 59 million.
According to data from China's State Administration for Market Regulation, as of December 2024, the country had 451,700 enterprises in the intelligent robotics industry, with total registered capital topping 6.44 trillion yuan. The number of enterprises represents a 206.73-percent surge since 2020 and 19.39-percent growth from 2023, demonstrating sustained robust expansion.
In March 2025, China deployed humanoid robots in 5G-enabled smart factories, thereby achieving multi-unit, multi-scenario collaborative training across diverse tasks.
"Currently, large-scale, batch deployment of robots still requires breakthroughs in both hardware and software," said Wang, who thinks the greater challenge lies in AI foundation models.
"The 'ChatGPT moment' for humanoid robots, when they will truly enter workplaces and homes, still requires some time," Wang said, adding that global robotics firms and research institutions are exploring diverse approaches and are now on the cusp of breakthroughs.
Wang believes humanoid robots will first gain traction in industrial and commercial applications. He asserts that AI and general-purpose robotics will drive a new "industrial revolution," potentially restructuring production relationships and human-machine ethics. It is necessary to think in advance about issues including legal framework refinement, human-robot collaboration safety protocols, and workforce skills transformation, Wang noted.
"Since childhood, I've dreamed of changing the world through technology. Just like our company name 'Unitree' implies, this isn't merely a business — I aim to cultivate a thriving 'science and technology tree' that branches across the cosmos," he said.
