'How many will survive?': Bubble fears arise as China's humanoid robotics face reality check - The Business Times

For instance, China’s State Grid, which is among the largest utilities firms globally, placed a 6.8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) order for humanoid, dual-armed and other types of robots.

Logistics and postal providers China Post and SF Express are deploying humanoids across logistics centres, according to Sheng.

She also noted “continuous livestreams” of humanoid robots working in factory settings, and in unmanned retail stores.

“As business verification typically takes several months, we expect projects that began testing in H1 2026 to translate into adoption from H2,” said Sheng. The Business Times

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‘How many will survive?’: Bubble fears arise as China’s humanoid robotics face reality check

Industry leader Unitree soared during its Shanghai IPO, but has since plunged more than 50% from its peak

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Tan Weizhen

Published Tue, Sep 29, 2026 · 07:00 AM

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Robots for various purposes from caregiving to making coffee on display at the Shanghai Humanoid Robot Innovation Incubator. PHOTO: ST

[SHANGHAI] From robots for healthcare and companionship, to those used in malls and hotels, China’s humanoid robotics industry is growing rapidly – although some in the industry caution that this area is nowhere near maturity. According to Morgan Stanley, commercialisation was already happening in the first half of 2026 in China, with government, enterprise users and humanoid integrators pushing out commercial verification or adoption.

“(There’s been a) stronger push towards commercialisation... the focus of the humanoid industry is shifting from demonstrations to commercialisation and real business value creation,” said Morgan Stanley equity analyst Sheng Zhong, who added that, nevertheless, commercialisation was still at an early stage.

“In H1 2026, we have observed accelerated progress,” she added, with initial use cases broadening across areas such as production lines, sorting lines and commercial services.