A worker gets a robot ready for demonstration at a booth for leading Chinese commercial humanoid robotics firm Unitree Robotics during the World AI Conference in Shanghai, China, on July 18, 2026. (AP Photo\/Ng Han Guan)<\/small><\/p>\n
2026-08-19T05:01:52Z<\/p>\n
HONG KONG (AP) \u2014 Shares of Unitree, one of China\u2019s largest humanoid robot makers, initially soared as much as 629% in its public stock trading debut Wednesday in Shanghai, in the latest highlight of investor optimism over China\u2019s technological advances.<\/p>\n
The company, founded in 2016 by entrepreneur Wang Xingxing in the eastern Chinese technology hub of Hangzhou, raised around 6.1 billion yuan ($904 million) in its listing on the Shanghai Stock Exchange\u2019s Nasdaq-style STAR market. The shares were priced at 150.80 yuan ($22.36) a share. Shares were still up nearly 500% as of midday.<\/p>\n
Advanced robotics, often referred to as \u201cembodied\u201d artificial intelligence, is a key sector in the heated technology rivalry between China and the U.S. China leads the U.S. in terms of production capacity of humanoid robots and the ability to scale up manufacturing.<\/p>\n
Last year, of the roughly 15,000 humanoid robots shipped globally, Unitree and AGIBOT, another major Chinese humanoid robot maker, each shipped more than 5,000, according to technology research and advisory group Omdia, way ahead of their U.S. counterparts.<\/p>\n
But analysts say for now, many of these humanoid robots are still mainly used for demonstrations, performances and research rather than<\/a><\/span> real-world applications. Unitree\u2019s humanoid robots, for example, dazzled audiences at China\u2019s annual Spring Festival gala<\/a><\/span> by performing backflips and martial arts.<\/p>\n \u201cThe real competitive test will be whether companies \u2013 Chinese or American \u2013 can achieve reliable performance and attractive returns on investment in large-scale industrial and commercial deployments,\u201d analyst Kangyuxiao Li at investment research firm Morningstar said in a commentary.<\/p>\n