A humanoid robot conducts box-carrying training at a data collection pre-training center for humanoid robots in Hefei, east China’s Anhui Province, Dec. 4, 2025. (Xinhua/Zhang Duan)

China exported 10.377 million robots across individual categories from January to May this year, with total export value approaching 20 billion yuan ($2.98 billion), according to customs data. The products were shipped to more than 150 countries and regions worldwide, with the European Union and ASEAN emerging as the primary destinations, China Media Group reported.

China’s robot exports expanded rapidly in the first five months of the year, with a more optimized product mix injecting new momentum into the country’s high-end manufacturing going global, experts said.

In terms of product, China’s robot exports are highly diversified, with cleaning robots dominating – exporting 14 billion yuan, accounting for more than 70% of total exports, according to customs data.

Backed by core technologies such as autonomous navigation, automatic dust collection, and intelligent wastewater recycling, Chinese-made cleaning robots are well adapted to differentiated residential environments overseas, giving them a clear competitive advantage, according to the report.

In the industrial applications segment, China exported around 70,000 industrial robots in the first five months of the year, with overseas application scenarios continuing to expand.

Handling robots equipped with vision recognition and intelligent algorithms have been widely deployed in large-scale infrastructure and transport projects overseas. Welding robots with automatic scanning and modeling capabilities can calculate optimal processing parameters in real time. Collaborative robots are also increasingly used in light manufacturing sectors abroad, including food processing, pharmaceuticals and daily chemicals.

In emerging frontier segments, exports of intelligent bionic robots exceeded 8,000 units, covering diverse applications such as equipment inspection, scientific research and education, and public services.

Supported by a fully integrated domestic industrial supply chain, China’s robot exports have continued to expand steadily in scale.

A report released by the National Data Administration on June 8 showed that China’s industrial robot exports grew by 48.7 percent in 2025 and, for the first time, exceeded imports, making the country a net exporter of industrial robots.

The report showed that in 2025, China had more than 140 complete robot manufacturers, with over 330 humanoid robot products released. Industrial robot output rose 28 percent year-on-year, while service robot production reached 18.581 million units, up 16.1percent from the previous year.

At the same time, there are around 1 million active and existing robot-related enterprises nationwide. By the end of 2025, China recorded 744 investment deals in embodied intelligence and robotics, with total financing reaching 73.54 billion yuan, said the report.

Global Times

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