Over the previous 12 months, China’s humanoid sector has shifted from eye-catching demos to severe industrial scale.
Industry estimates present greater than 13,000 humanoid robots shipped globally in 2025, with roughly 87% to 90% of them produced by Chinese firms. With over 140 home producers and greater than 330 humanoid fashions unveiled, the nation’s push into embodied AI is now not experimental; it’s industrial.
The momentum was unattainable to overlook throughout this 12 months’s CCTV Lunar New Year Gala, the place firms like Unitree Robotics and AgiBot surprised hundreds of thousands with martial arts routines, aerial flips, and tightly synchronized choreography. What seemed like leisure was additionally an announcement: humanoids are shifting from labs and manufacturing unit pilots into public life.
Here are seven Chinese humanoid robots shaping that transformation in 2026.
Unitree’s G1: Best for analysis and training
Compact, quick, and aggressively priced, the G1 has turn into probably the most recognizable humanoids on the earth. Built for agility and accessibility, it combines reinforcement studying, dexterous palms, and a developer-friendly SDK in a compact, environment friendly type issue. It’s designed for analysis labs, logistics pilots, and repair experiments.
The G1 stands about 1.three meters tall and weighs roughly 35kg. It runs for two hours per cost and focuses on cost-effective automation. Despite its smaller dimension, it has demonstrated acrobatics, fall restoration, and even sparring capabilities in managed demos, signaling how shortly movement management programs are evolving. Unitree plans to ship 20,000 humanoids this 12 months, up from over 5,500 in 2025.
AgiBot A2: Best AI-native service humanoid
This Shanghai-based firm shipped extra humanoid robots final 12 months than some other firm, over 5,100 models, in response to an Omdia analysis report.
The A2 is their flagship service robotic, and it’s constructed for one factor: interplay. We’re not speaking clunky, scripted exchanges right here. The A2 carries superior pure language processing that lets it maintain precise conversations whereas performing precision duties.
What impressed me most was the certification bundle. The A2 is licensed for China, the United States, and European markets. That’s triple certification, a logistical nightmare that AgiBot someway pulled off. It means this robotic can deploy anyplace within the developed world with out leaping by regulatory hoops.
You might need seen AgiBot’s robots on the Shaolin Temple earlier this month, training kung fu alongside monks. The footage confirmed humanoids mirroring posture, steadiness, and timing with uncanny accuracy. For many viewers, it felt surreal, machines performing actions tied to centuries of Buddhist philosophy and human self-discipline.
For robotics consultants, it was proof that embodied AI has reached a brand new degree.
DEEP Robotics DR02: Best for industrial manufacturing and outside duties
If the G1 is town automotive of robots, the DR02 is the heavy-duty pickup truck.
DEEP Robotics constructed this machine for the “all-weather” life. It options full-body IP66 safety, which is tech-speak for “it can handle dust and heavy rain without short-circuiting.” It’s one of many few humanoids designed to depart the security of the lab and head straight onto the manufacturing unit flooring.
The DR02 focuses on precision and sturdiness. It can stroll at a brisk four meters per second and carry a 20 kg load, making it an ideal match for industrial automation or high quality management. It’s constructed to work in temperatures that might make most electronics stop, guaranteeing it stays dependable even within the hardest manufacturing environments.
