A visitor interacts with a robot during the 2024 World Intelligent Manufacturing Conference, which opened at the Nanjing International Expo Center, East China's Jiangsu Province on December 20, 2024. Photo: VCG

China's humanoid robot sector is showcasing strong growth momentum at the end of 2024, with multiple companies and research institutions releasing their latest achievements in robot training, production, and application, further solidifying China's leading role in cutting-edge technological advancements.

The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center recently announced the launch of RoboMIND, a multi-embodiment intelligence normative data for robot manipulation, which is designed to enhance the training of humanoid robots, the innovation center told the Global Times on Monday.

RoboMIND comprises 55,000 real-world demonstration trajectories across 4 embodiments, 279 diverse tasks and 61 distinct object classes, which are collected through human teleoperation, and covers most application scenarios in homes, factories and offices, among others. 

"Just like ChatGPT needs vast text data for training, high-quality, diverse datasets are crucial for quick advances in embodied intelligence and fast implementation of humanoid robots," said the innovation center.

Data of RoboMIND is collected from robots of various forms spanning from single-arm and dual-arm to humanoid robots, effectively meeting the needs for efficient and targeted training of embodied intelligence in complex scenarios, said the innovation center, noting that the embodied intelligence industry is expected to leverage this as an opportunity to consolidate more practical applications over the coming year. 

In terms of humanoid robot production, Shenzhen-based Leju Robotics announced on Monday that its humanoid robot manufacturing line has become operational in Suzhou, East China's Jiangsu Province, marking the first humanoid robot manufacturing line project of the province, according to chinastarmarket.cn.

The manufacturing line currently has annual capacity of 200 humanoid robots, and is expected to reach full production capacity within five years, with an annual output value of more than 300 million yuan ($41.1 million).

What lies behind the robust growth momentum of the humanoid robot sector is the increasing application scenarios across various industries.

Automotive production lines are among the fastest deployment scenarios for humanoid robots. UBTECH Robotics, a leading robotics firm based in Shenzhen, has integrated their products into the training programs of automotive manufacturers like BYD, NIO and Geely, according to a statement the company sent to the Global Times. 

In addition, high-wattage embodied intelligence humanoid robot developed by China Southern Power Grid has been applied in electrical service settings based on its ability related to task understanding, autonomous planning and smooth interaction, the Xinhua News Agency reported on Monday. The company said humanoid robots have wide application scope in the power supply sectors, as some dangerous works and inspection routines could be replaced by robots. 

"Humanoid robots have evolved from laboratory prototypes to tangible products, entering a phase of increased intelligence and versatility this year," Hong Shaodun, an industry observer, told the Global Times, adding that China has a significant advantage in industrial application scenarios, which can accelerate the iteration and efficiency upgrade of Chinese humanoid robots.

Various latest achievements in the humanoid robot sector reflect a vast market and potential in China, as well as continuous policy supports from government department, the observer said. 

At the beginning of 2024, seven Chinese ministries, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the Ministry of Science and Technology, unveiled new guidelines, which aiming to achieve breakthroughs in multiple key sectors such as humanoid robots, quantum computers, ultra-high-speed trains and 6G network devices.

According to a report released at the First Chinese Humanoid Robot Industry Conference in April, the market scale of China's humanoid robot industry is predicted to reach 75 billion yuan by 2029, accounting for 32.7 percent of the global total, according to Xinhua.