A humanoid robot, "PM01," developed by EngineAI, runs along Shenzhen Bay in South China's Guangdong Province on March 9, 2025. Photo: Courtesy of EngineAI

On a breezy Sunday afternoon along Shenzhen Bay, a sleek humanoid robot sporting metallic limbs and laser-focused sensors sprinted past joggers and cyclists, with its fluid strides mirroring a human athlete. 

The humanoid robot, "PM01," was developed by Shenzhen-based robotics startup EngineAI, which quickly switched between "double-leg support" and "single-leg support" phases, and overcame the brief airborne stage to ensure stable landing during running. Just weeks ago, the company's robot executed the world's first flawless forward somersault performed by a humanoid robot, stunning the entire technology community.

At the beginning of the year, local governments across the country have been rolling out the red carpet for companies like EngineAI, betting that embodied AI could unlock vast growth opportunities. As key words such as "intelligent robots" and "embodied AI" were underlined in China's 2025 Government Work Report, industry insiders projected that this year will emerge more innovation breakthroughs in the humanoid robot industry.   

Nationwide efforts

On February 6, South China's Guangdong Province, which has already seen humanoid robots working in local manufacturing plants, released an action plan for fostering a modern industrial system in 2025. It aims to accelerate breakthroughs in machine brains, limbs, bodies, and key core components while actively promoting innovation in application scenarios for intelligent robots.

The plan also calls for the high-standard construction of a provincial innovation center for embodied intelligent robots and the introduction and cultivation of three to five unicorn companies and leading tech enterprises.

Shenzhen, China's tech hub in Guangdong, on March 3 released an 18-point action plan on enhancing the city's technology innovation and industrial development in embodied intelligent robot from 2025 to 2027, which includes efforts to tackle key component breakthroughs, advance R&D in AI chips for robots, and develop high-performance bionic multi-finger dexterous hands, among other advancements. 

By 2027, Shenzhen aims to cultivate over 10 enterprises valued at more than 10 billion yuan ($1.38 billion) and more than 20 enterprises with revenues exceeding 1 billion yuan. The city plans to implement over 50 large-scale application scenarios worth billions and expand the related industrial scale to over 100 billion yuan, with the embodied intelligent robot industry cluster surpassing 1,200 enterprises, according to the action plan. 

Shenzhen-based robotics firm UBTECH announced recently that it had achieved a global first by successfully conducting collaborative training for multiple humanoid robots across diverse scenarios and tasks in a 5G-wired smart factory of Chinese electric brand Zeekr. In January this year, UBTECH and manufacturing giant Foxconn announced that the two companies will establish a strategic partnership to advance the integration of UBTECH's humanoid robots into Foxconn's intelligent manufacturing processes.

East China's Zhejiang Province, home for the "dancing robots" featured in the 2025 Spring Festival Gala that attracted global attention, has already issued the humanoid robot industry innovation and development implementation plan from 2024 to 2027 in September 2024, proactively planning and accelerating the innovation and development of the provincial humanoid robot industry. 

DEEPRobotics in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, launched its humanoid robot DR01 at the end of 2024, boasting strong stability and balance capabilities, particularly in adapting to random and complex outdoor environments, said the company in a statement sent to the Global Times. DR01 is expected to play a significant role in manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, and public services, helping humans perform dangerous and repetitive tasks while improving industrial productivity and quality of life at home.

Notably, Zhejiang's 2025 Government Work Plan stated that the province "will plan and build future industries, deepen the 'artificial intelligence +' initiative, accelerate the planning of new industries and business formats such as humanoid robot, establish a growth mechanism for investment in future industries, and cultivate a number of future industry pilot areas," aiming to further consolidate the province's humanoid robot R&D edge. 

China's two leading metropolises, Beijing and Shanghai, have also integrated local R&D resources to reinforce embodied intelligence. Beijing on February 28 released an action plan targeting technology innovation and industry cultivation of embodied intelligence, which will promote the field across four dimensions: technological innovation, platform support, scenario-driven applications, and ecosystem optimization.

China's first heterogeneous humanoid robot training facility was inaugurated in Shanghai on January 21, 2025, which is able to accommodate over 100 humanoid robots, the largest of its kind in China. 

Policy stimulus

China's 2025 Government Work Report, submitted on March 5 to the national legislature for deliberation during the annual two sessions and approved on Tuesday, stated that it will support the extensive application of large-scale AI models and vigorously develop new-generation intelligent terminals and smart manufacturing equipment, including humanoid robots.

Humanoid robots, as the best carriers of AI and the ultimate form of embodied intelligence, represent a forward-looking field for developing new quality productive forces, Zhou Jian, founder, CEO and chairman of UBTECH, told the Global Times in a statement, noting that the Government Work Report clarified the development pathway for the humanoid robot industry - further empowering the nation's modern industrialization.  

He Xiaopeng, a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress (NPC) and chairman and CEO of Chinese electric carmaker XPENG, said that mention of embodied intelligence in the Government Work Report is highly forward-looking. 

His motion proposed setting five levels, from L1 to L5, for intelligent humanoid robots based on their capabilities, in order to promote the commercialization of intelligent humanoid robots referencing the nation's development plan for new-energy vehicles. 

Embodied intelligence or humanoid robots, as an important direction of the new generation of artificial intelligence technology, not only have broad market application prospects but also serve as a key force in driving high-quality economic and social development, Wang Peng, an associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times on Tuesday, noting that domestic industry is striving for commercialization with more breakthroughs expected in 2025.