The world's biggest humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics made its stock market debut in Shanghai on Wednesday, with its shares soaring by more than 600%. In the highly anticipated initial public offering (IPO), the firm's shares opened at 1,100 yuan (£120.60; $163.12), well above the 150.8 yuan offer price. The listing on the tech-focused Star Market - which is widely known as China's Nasdaq - marks a milestone for Beijing's ambitious plans for the country's robotics industry.
It comes as the US and China are locked in a battle to dominate the global market for robots and artificial intelligence (AI) models that power them. Robots like automated industrial equipment and smart vacuum cleaners are already widely used in factories, warehouses and homes. Now, the humanoid robotics industry is attracting huge amounts of investment as major companies - including Tesla, BYD and Amazon - are developing two-legged machines capable of performing tasks usually carried out by people.
Founded in 2016, Unitree has become a robotics industry leader, selling a wide range of devices from sensors and automated arms to four-legged and human-like machines. For several years, it has been a fierce rival to developers in the US as it rolled out robots with similar features but at lower prices. The company - which plays a key role in Beijing's ambitions to be a global leader in cutting-edge technologies - is based in Hangzhou, in eastern China.
The region is home to a so-called golden cluster zone of robotics firms, which have been boosted by huge government investments. That support helped drive a more than threefold increase in the number of Chinese robotics firms between 2020 and 2024, according to state-run China Daily. Robots are also seen as a potential solution to challenges posed by China's ageing population, which is expected to lead to a shortage of workers to support the economy's physically demanding manufacturing base, according to Fei Qin, an associate professor at the University of Bath.
Beijing considers the robotics sector a "strategic priority" in its pursuit of leadership in advanced technology, she said. "Robots are where AI leaves the screen and enters the economy" in factories, hospitals and, potentially, the home, Qin added. US robots tend to have more user-friendly software but it is difficult to ignore the lower prices offered by Chinese manufacturers, said Harold Soh, a researcher from the National University of Singapore.
Unitree's robot dogs start at $2,700, a fraction of the roughly $70,000 price tag for Boston Dynamics' four-legged device, Spot. "They're not exactly comparable because some of Unitree's dogs are much smaller," Soh said. "But the price is a big difference." Unitree has been selling humanoid robots since 2023, with its $13,500 child-sized G1 model hitting the market the following year.
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