China’s humanoid robots have captivated the world. A rental market is exposing their limits
By John Liu, Fred He PUBLISHED A visitor poses in front of a billboard showing a humanoid robot in the AI section at the Chinese International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) on June 26, 2026 in Beijing. Kevin Frayer/Getty Images See all topics Email Link Copied!
Key takeaways
- Humanoid robots are moving rapidly from showcase demos toward commercial deployment, with China leading the market through a booming rental sector that sees units such as Unitree’s androids hired for exhibitions, events and even marriage proposals at roughly 3,000 yuan a day; the company, now the world’s largest humanoid maker, is preparing a Shanghai listing while Beijing’s new nationwide initiative targets more than 100 high‑value application scenarios by the end of the year.
- In the West, AGIBOT unveiled its A3 humanoid in Europe and launched a robot‑as‑a‑service model in the United Kingdom to handle customer attraction, reception and smart‑retail tasks, while BMW announced the deployment of Figure 03 at its Spartanburg plant for logistics sequencing, building on a pilot that saw its predecessor assemble over 30,000 vehicles.
- Agility Robotics is set to go public via a SPAC merger, positioning itself as the only U.S. publicly listed pure‑play humanoid company with active commercial customers such as Amazon and Toyota.
- Meanwhile, Genesis AI introduced Eno, a wheeled general‑purpose robot with dexterous hands and a foundation‑model brain, aiming for industrial and laboratory rollouts by the end of 2026, and analysts at Roland Berger project the global humanoid‑robot manufacturing market could reach $750 billion by 2035 as labor shortages drive adoption, though they caution that safety standards and harmonised legislation will be critical for widespread industrial use.
By John Liu, Fred He
PUBLISHED
A visitor poses in front of a billboard showing a humanoid robot in the AI section at the Chinese International Supply Chain Expo (CISCE) on June 26, 2026 in Beijing.
Kevin Frayer/Getty Images
See all topics
Link Copied!
Hong Kong/Hangzhou/Beijing —
When humanoid robots dominated the stage of last year’s Spring Festival Gala with sleek dance routines, Ai Lin saw more than a spectacle. He saw a business.
Soon after, the e-commerce livestreamer in Hangzhou shelled out $30,000 for his first android and turned it into a rental venture.
Business has been brisk. For 3,000 yuan ($443) a day, customers can hire an android to attract crowds at exhibitions, perform at events or even help stage a marriage proposal. A rare look inside Unitree's Hangzhou headquarters. Humanoid robots performed martial arts, dance, and boxing for journalists, as well as for clients and officials on other tours.
CNN
Unitree has emerged as the world’s largest humanoid robot maker and is preparing for a public listing in Shanghai later this year. In a recent visit to its Hangzhou headquarters, staff were busy receiving a delegation of Malaysian buyers and another of Chinese government officials concurrently.
Yet even for this frontrunner, the limits of today’s technology remain clear. Research and educational institutions account for the majority of sales, while industrial deployments remain less than 10%. China already dominates the manufacturing and deployment of industrial robots, such as robotic arms in factories. And its humanoid robot makers accounted for the vast majority of the global android deliveries last year, far outpacing American competitors like Tesla and FigureAI.
Earlier this month, Beijing launched a nationwide initiative to accelerate the real-world deployment of humanoids, aiming to deploy them in more than 100 “high-value application scenarios” by the end of this year.
“I do think that by far, the biggest competition for humanoid robots will be from China,” said Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla during a January earnings call. After repeated delays, Tesla’s humanoid Optimus is slated for production later this year.
Rental boom
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