China is accelerating the development of AI-powered humanoid robots to transform its manufacturing sector.

In a Shanghai warehouse, robots from the startup AgiBot are folding clothes and making sandwiches to collect data for training.

Chinese President Xi Jinping recently visited the company, highlighting the strategic importance of robotics in addressing trade tensions, population decline, and economic slowdown.

Backed by over US$20 billion in government support last year, China is also planning a one trillion yuan (US$137 billion) fund to boost AI and robotics startups.

Cities like Shenzhen and Beijing offer subsidies to encourage development.

Experts project that with China’s strong supply chain, humanoid robots will become cheaper to produce. Global sales potentially hitting one million units annually by 2030.

🔗 Source: Reuters

🧠 Food for thought

1️⃣ China’s AI ambitions build on decades of evolving government support

China’s current push into humanoid robotics represents the latest phase of a complex, decades-long evolution in the country’s approach to AI technology.

Initially hampered by political constraints, China’s AI journey began post-1949 under Soviet influence, with cybernetics viewed skeptically as a “bourgeois science,” limiting practical applications through the 1950s-60s1.

The establishment of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence in 1981 marked a turning point, formalizing research efforts as government recognition of computing technologies grew1.

Today’s robust support, including $20 billion in recent allocations and a new trillion-yuan fund for AI startups, builds on this historical foundation, showing how China transformed ideological skepticism into strategic investment2.

This trajectory explains why humanoid robot development has become central to addressing China’s structural challenges of slowing growth, trade tensions, and demographic decline.

2️⃣ Research shows complex employment effects beyond simple job displacement

Contrary to simplistic narratives about robots replacing workers, research on automation in China reveals nuanced impacts across different sectors and skill levels.