China put its humanoid robotics industry on full display last week with a series of technological, commercial, and capital-markets milestones. Beijing first hosted the 2026 World Robot Conference, followed by the five-day World Humanoid Robot Games, while Unitree capped the week with a blockbuster IPO.

Bank of America analyst Ming Hsun Lee attended last week's 2026 World Robot Conference and provided feedback to clients, noting that China's humanoid-robot industry has shifted from research demonstrations to commercial deployment, with logistics emerging as the first real-world use case.

Lee said the WRC featured more than 300 exhibitors spanning humanoid robots, AI models, and critical components. Unlike last year's conference, which focused mainly on research and industrial applications, this year's conference focused on real-world uses for these robots, including logistics, retail, services, and household tasks.

He pointed to one example in which humanoids far exceed human capabilities.

X Square Robot demonstrated a dual-arm system capable of sorting more than 1,800 parcels per hour, far faster than the 1,200 to 1,400 parcels typically handled by a human worker. He also noted that Galaxea AI reported a success rate above 95% for its retail sorting and delivery system.

Other robotics startups featured at the event included Unitree, Galbot, and Spirit AI, which demonstrated robots folding clothes, preparing meals, sorting household objects, and assembling supermarket orders.

Dexterous hands displayed at the conference offered between 6 and 37 degrees of freedom, with these components having completed approximately 1 million operating cycles.

"Tactile sensors have become a must-have for dexterous hands, which account for 20-25% of the BOM cost of a dexterous hand. On the cost front, 6D force & torque sensor/tactile sensor/planetary roller screw are among the key components with fastest cost reduction over the past year, thanks to scale effect and improved manufacturing process. This could support a 45% cost reduction of humanoid robots in 2026-30E, according to our forecast," the analyst said.

Here's what Lee told clients:

Wider application scenario for embodied AI

We attended the 2026 WRC, held in Beijing from 19-23 August. The conference featured more than 300 exhibitors spanning humanoid robots and key component manufacturers. Compared with WRC 2025, where applications were primarily in R&D/industrial settings, WRC 2026 showcased a broader range of embodied AI use cases, extending into logistics, retail, services, and household scenarios. Among these, logistics emerged as one of the fastest-commercializing applications. Notably, X Square Robot demonstrated a parcel-sorting capacity of >1,800 parcels per hour using dual robotic arms, higher than the speed of human beings (1,200-1,400 parcels per hour). Many robotics companies (such as Galbot, Galaxea AI, Spirit AI, X Square Robot etc.) also demonstrated long-duration tasks in retail and household scenarios, such as folding clothes, preparing meals, and picking supermarket orders.

Real-world data crucial to model capability

World action models (WAM) are increasingly adopted by embodied AI companies, which enables higher generalization capability and performs well in long-period tasks. Leading robotics companies are seeking to develop a unified base model that can control different body forms (wheeled, bipedal etc.). On the data front, the importance of high-quality real-world data has become a consensus among embodied AI developers. Egocentric data is increasingly used in pre-training, thanks to its cheaper cost and larger scale, while high-quality real-world robot data (teleoperation/ failure-recovery trajectory) are used in post-training. Currently, data availability remains the key bottleneck for embodied AI developers. We estimate a general-purpose embodied AI model with high generalization capability would require 10mn-100mn hours of real-world data. Leading robotics companies now target to collect >1mn hours of real-world data by end-2026. Third-party data service providers (e.g. Lightwheel) also emerge to provide Egocentric/UMI data and simulation platform for model training.

Component: fast cost reduction continues

Dexterous hand companies in WRC demonstrated products with DoF ranging from 6 to 37. In general, high-DoF dexterous hands are preferred for R&D and high-precision manipulation tasks, while 6-DoF hands and grippers are widely used in manufacturing scenarios. Technology routes for dexterous hand haven't yet converged, with tendon-driven/bar linkage/direct drive solutions co-existing in the market. Leading dexterous hand companies can now achieve a life span of nearly 1mn cycles. Tactile sensors have become a must-have for dexterous hands, which account for 20-25% of a dexterous hand's BOM cost. On the cost front, 6D force & torque sensor/tactile sensor/planetary roller screw are among the key components with fastest cost reduction over the past year, thanks to scale effect and improved manufacturing process. This could support a 45% cost reduction of humanoid robots in 2026-30E, according to our forecast.

The bigger picture is that China appears to hold an early lead over the US in the humanoid robotics race, supported by control over both critical materials and downstream manufacturing. Beijing dominates rare-earth supply chains and much of the production capacity for critical components, including permanent magnets, motors, actuators, and sensors. That vertically integrated advantage could allow Chinese manufacturers to reduce costs and scale humanoid production faster than any US company. 

Last week, JPMorgan analysts toured Tesla's Fremont humanoid robotics factory and read more about what they uncovered (see here).