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The Chinese robotics market had a blast in the first half of the year, with sales topping the rest of the world.
Data released by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology on Monday says Chinese quadruped robots accounted for nearly 70% of global sales in H1 2026. China has also now built 400 humanoid robot models, accounting for more than half of the global market.
Most of the supply chain ran through Zhejiang, according to Global Times. The province shipped more than 1 billion yuan ($147 million) worth of robots in the first half. Its intelligent bionic robot exports accounted for about 60% of China’s total exports during the period.
“China has already taken the lead,” says industry expert
China witnessed massive growth across different sectors in the first half of the year, including artificial intelligence, semiconductors, new energy, and biomedicine, as reported by Cryptopolitan.
The boom added 67 new unicorns to the Chinese market, the second-best half-year growth in China since 2021, when 76 unicorns were created.
Led by DeepSeek, the growth was mostly concentrated on AI and robotics, which together accounted for more than 53% of the unicorns.
The H1 performance puts a firm floor under China’s claim to lead the robotics sector.
During the World AI Conference in China last week, the chief scientist at the Shanghai-based National and Local Co-Built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center, Jiang Lei, asserted, “China has already taken the lead in several core areas of embodied intelligence, particularly manufacturing, datasets, and training environments.”
China on track to produce 100,000 humanoid robots in 2026
In terms of manufacturing, speakers at the conference believe China is on track to produce more than 100,000 humanoid robots this year.
Last year, China made only about 20,000 units. However, it’s already surpassed 40,000 in the first half, according to recent reports.
The output figures align with how Wall Street has been revising its expectations for the year.
Morgan Stanley has raised its forecast for Chinese humanoid shipments twice this year. In June, the bank raised its 2026 forecast to 50,000 units, up from an initial estimate of 14,000 at the start of the year and a spring revision of 28,000.
The Wall Street bank expects China’s humanoid robot market to reach $2 billion in 2026 and up to $15 billion by 2030.
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