China’s AI-driven robots are ‘evolving at an incredibly fast pace’: Unitree CEO

Wang Xingxing, CEO of Chinese robotics firm Unitree, predicts humanoid robots will ‘reach a whole new level’ by the end of 2025

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A Unitree H1 robot shakes the hand of an attendee at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas in January. Photo: AP

Published: 6:30pm, 19 Feb 2025

China’s humanoid robot industry is poised for a breakthrough year as artificial intelligence accelerates the pace of change in the field, according to one of the country’s most prominent tech leaders.

Humanoids – robots that resemble humans in shape – are likely to be widely deployed in China’s service and industrial sectors within the next year or two, said Wang Xingxing, CEO of Hangzhou-based start-up Unitree Robotics.

“AI-driven robots are evolving at an incredibly fast pace, surpassing my expectations. Every day brings new surprises,” Wang told Chinese state broadcaster CCTV after attending a symposium with President Xi Jinping.

“I believe that by the end of the year, humanoid robots will reach a whole new level.”

In an effort to rally the private sector, Xi met with a group of China’s leading entrepreneurs on Monday and pledged unwavering support for private companies, while calling on the country’s entrepreneurs to “showcase their talents and make significant contributions”.

The rapid progress being made by Chinese tech start-ups such as Unitree and DeepSeek has attracted global attention in recent weeks, boosting investor confidence in Chinese stocks and prompting economists to revise up their China growth projections. Liang Wenfeng, founder and CEO of DeepSeek, also met Xi on Monday.