Chinese Humanoid Robot Leader Soars in Market Debut Despite U.S. Ban

SINGAPORE—A pioneering Chinese maker of humanoid robots soared 460% in its trading debut in Shanghai to achieve a market value of $51 billion, symbolizing the frenzy around an industry Beijing hopes to dominate.

Unitree Robotics 688836 460.34%increase; up pointing triangle is the first humanoid maker to list in mainland China and stands at the forefront of the geopolitical competition between Washington and Beijing. Last month, the U.S. banned most imports of new humanoid robot models, citing an “immediate national security threat.”

For its part, the Chinese government has identified “embodied artificial intelligence”—robots and other devices that apply AI to the physical world—as one of six future industries expected to drive the economy over the next five years.

Last year, Chinese companies shipped thousands of robots along with components globally, solidifying the country’s dominance in the world’s robotics supply chain.

Unitree’s robots are already familiar to hundreds of millions of Chinese owing to their appearances on nationally televised Lunar New Year programs in which they have danced and performed kung fu. Online videos have shown Unitree robots performing back flips and cartwheels.

The company’s revenue last year was about $250 million with about $40 million in profit, signifying that the $50 billion-plus valuation is built on expectations for rapid growth.

The company, whose official name is Yushu Technology, is headed by Wang Xingxing, 36, a mechanical engineer by training. Wang began developing robots in college and founded his company a decade ago in Hangzhou. On Wednesday, he wore a red scarf as he struck the gong to kick off trading.

In its offering prospectus, Unitree highlighted geopolitical risks, saying more than 40% of its revenue came from outside China and its business could shrink if Washington tightens trade restrictions. Analysts at Bernstein said they expected Washington to blacklist leading Chinese robotics companies and block U.S. investors from putting money into Chinese robot technology.

The Unitree IPO coincided with the start of an annual robot conference in Beijing, where hundreds of robots were competing in athletic events and real-world chores such as sorting warehouse merchandise and folding laundry.

Chinese humanoid robots have made significant progress including beating humans’ record time in a half-marathon. Yet, the technology is still a long way from replacing what a skilled factory worker or hotel housekeeper can do, in the view of many specialists.

For now, Unitree’s humanoid robots find their main uses in education and entertainment, or they serve as guinea pigs in the labs of robotics researchers. The most popular model sells for the equivalent of $12,600 or more and is readily available in China for purchase online. Wang, the company founder, told investors earlier this month that he wanted eventually to bring his humanoids into factories and homes.

Chinese developers still trail their U.S. rivals in developing robotic AI models, people in the industry say. Just as language models are built on countless texts drawn from the internet and elsewhere, humanoid robots often learn best from real-world physical data, which remains scarce. Chinese companies hope to tap their vast home market to gather data faster.

“China’s approach is to drive technological innovation through rapid iteration and massive production. The immediate challenge is how the economy absorbs all that output,” said Lian Jye Su, analyst at research firm Omdia.

Last year, Unitree shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots, a scale well beyond what American robot startups have achieved so far. Morgan Stanley predicts overall humanoid-robot shipments in China will reach 50,000 units this year and more than 440,000 by 2030.

Competition is heating up in both the U.S. and China.

Tesla is preparing for mass production of its Optimus Gen 3 humanoid robots. Chinese component suppliers for Optimus said Tesla recently told them to increase supplies to support a monthly output of 8,000 robots by December.

Elsewhere in the U.S., Agility Robotics, which is preparing to go public soon, has teamed up with Amazon to test robots in the e-commerce giant’s warehouses.

In China, Unitree competes with a host of robot makers including Shenzhen-based UBTech Robotics, which listed its shares in Hong Kong in 2023, as well as carmakers BYD and XPeng, both of which are leveraging their expertise in manufacturing and autonomous driving.