SHANGHAI, Aug. 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Unitree Robotics on Wednesday became the first humanoid robot maker to be listed on the A-share market, marking a significant step for the country's humanoid robot industry to move from technology accumulation to scaled and commercialized development.
The company's shares surged 629.44 percent to open at 1,100 yuan (about 161.99 U.S. dollars) each in its debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's sci-tech innovation board, or STAR Market.
"Unitree's move toward the capital market sends an important signal: humanoid robotics and embodied AI are moving beyond technology development, competition-based validation and product iteration toward industrialization, scalability and broader recognition from the capital market," said Zhou Changjiu, president of the RoboCup Asia-Pacific Confederation.
"It is not only a significant step for the company, but also an encouraging development for China's robotics and embodied AI industry," Zhou added.
The Hangzhou-based company is offering about 40.45 million shares at 150.8 yuan each, corresponding to a price-to-earnings ratio of 219.23 times.
According to its prospectus, the company's humanoid robot shipments surpassed 5,500 units in 2025, ranking first globally with a 32.4 percent share of the world market, while its cumulative quadruped robot shipments exceeded 33,000 units, with a global market share of nearly 60 percent.
Unitree said the funds raised will go toward intelligent robot model development, robot hardware R&D, new product development and manufacturing base construction, as the business moves from robot manufacturing toward building a broader ecosystem for high-performance general-purpose robots.
Unitree's listing comes as China's robotics sector gains global prominence. Chinese companies accounted for nearly 70 percent of global quadruped robot sales in the first half of 2026, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Market forecasts point to continued growth. Global humanoid robot shipments are projected to exceed 510,000 units by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of about 95 percent, according to market researcher International Data Corporation.
Founded in 2016, Unitree has emerged as one of China's leading robotics firms, specializing in quadruped and humanoid robots and developing fully self-developed core components, including motors, reducers, controllers, and LiDAR.
Benefiting from the gradual expansion of downstream application scenarios for humanoid robots and sustained market demand, the company posted revenue of about 1.15 billion yuan in the first half of 2026, up 48.54 percent year on year.
With scaled deployment in scientific research and education, industrial inspection, security patrol and emergency rescue, Unitree's products have entered markets in dozens of countries and regions, according to the company. ■
