In 2025, China produced 12,800 humanoid robots — roughly 90% of the global total. A sharp increase over 2024, but the humanoid segment remains niche: for comparison, Chinese factories produced 556,000 conventional industrial robots over the same period — stationary manipulators used for assembly, sorting, and material handling.
According to a MERICS report published on April 30, Chinese companies supplied over 57% of the domestic industrial robot market in 2024, overtaking foreign manufacturers for the first time. Yet the humanoid segment is far from mature: UBTech’s founder has acknowledged that humanoids in Chinese factories are still “only half as efficient as humans,” lacking the dexterity to exceed human performance.
Most deployments are limited, task-specific trials. Kepler’s K2 handles logistics loads up to 30 kg. UBTech’s Walker S series performs quality inspections and simple assembly at EV factories. Midea’s six-armed MIRO U supports washing machine assembly at its plant in Wuxi. None of these operate at full autonomy or full scale.
The numbers tell a clear story: China dominates production volume but is still in the early stages of making humanoids genuinely useful. The gap between manufacturing capacity and real-world capability is the central tension in China’s humanoid push.
Source: MERICS Embodied AI Report