Chinese robotics companies showcased their latest machines at a Beijing conference on Wednesday, seeking to attract investors and customers as the industry pushes towards broader commercial adoption.
More than 300 companies are attending the World Robot Conference, which runs through Sunday, displaying over 2,000 exhibits and launching more than 150 products, according to Beijing authorities.
The conference comes as robotics emerges as a new front in US-China competition and investor enthusiasm for the sector reaches fresh highs in China.
Shares in Unitree, China's best-known humanoid robot maker, surged nearly six-fold in their Shanghai trading debut on Wednesday.
Robotics seen as growth engine
Following Unitree's successful initial public offering, which was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail investors, startup Lumos Robotics and the robotics division of China's largest auto exporter, Chery Automobile, told Reuters they were also considering stock market listings.
At the conference's opening ceremony, Xin Guobin, vice minister of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, said robotics had become "an important force" in China's economic and social development, according to state-backed financial news outlet Cailianshe.
Robots are increasingly being used in China for tasks including hotel food deliveries and some assembly-line work, but large-scale adoption beyond pilot projects remains limited.
Startup Robotera showcased a humanoid robot torso mounted on a wheeled tripod base for parcel sorting. A sales representative told Reuters the robots can operate continuously for 900 to 1,000 hours and are 85 percent as effective as a human worker.
Competition drives expansion
The rapid expansion of China's robotics industry mirrors the growth of its electric vehicle sector, where scores of companies emerged and competed aggressively.
"A large number of (robot) companies appeared almost overnight," Zhang Guibing, head of Chery's AiMOGA Robotics division, told Reuters.
"But from the perspective of industry development, there is a positive side to this. It allows everyone to compete fully," he said, adding that competition would help deepen the industry's technology and capabilities.
Global humanoid robot shipments nearly quadrupled in the first half of this year to 19,100 units, with Chinese manufacturers dominating the market, according to Smart Analytics Global.
Still, robotics analyst Georg Stieler estimates that 50 to 70 percent of humanoid robots produced this year could end up in "data factories," where they collect training data rather than perform productive work for paying customers.
Zhang said competition in China's robotics market could become particularly intense over costs and that humanoid robots could take about a decade to mature before seeing rapid adoption.
