China building strong foundation for next wave of AI, robotics: Unitree CEO

At ‘Summer Davos’ panel, the head of the robotics start-up and others credit Beijing’s talent pool, infrastructure for rapid tech advances

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The Understanding China’s Approach to AI panel was held on Thursday at the “Summer Davos” forum in Tianjin. Photo: Handout

Published: 2:00pm, 26 Jun 2025Updated: 4:08pm, 26 Jun 2025

As the head of China's humanoid robotics start-up Unitree disclosed its annual revenue has passed one billion yuan (US$139.4 million), entrepreneurs and scholars said the country's strong data infrastructure, mature supply chain and vast market position it as a potential leader in the next wave of development for artificial intelligence (AI).

“The rising attention on our industry, along with increasing demand and support, has created the essential conditions for leading companies to grow rapidly,” Wang Xingxing said during a panel discussion on Thursday at the Annual Meeting of the New Champions in Tianjin, where he announced the milestone.

The Unitree founder and CEO said support from the government of Zhejiang province, where the company is based, along with its favourable business environment and rich talent pool, all contributed to his firm’s success since its founding in 2016.

Li Haitao, dean of the Cheung Kong Graduate School of Business, said at the same panel China has “tremendous potential” in AI.

“Only two countries can lead the AI revolution in the next decade so far,” Li said during the World Economic Forum event, also known as “Summer Davos”.

“One is America. One is China.”