Chinese manufacturers are said to have shipped more than 40 000 humanoid robots in the first half of 2026. The figure comes from the 2026 Humanoid Robot Industry Development Report, compiled by the committee of 100 on humanoid robotics and embodied AI (China Humanoid Robotics and Embodied Intelligence Committee of 100) and made public on 20 August 2026 at the World Robot Conference in Beijing.

A news agency dispatch published the same day puts China’s share at 97 % of global shipments of humanoids. The two numbers are not a single measurement and cannot be derived from one another : they are put forward separately, and no independent count corroborates them.

It is this same dispatch that attributes the presentation of the report to Zhang Feng, secretary of the Party committee at the Chinese Institute of Electronics and chairman of the association of 100 on humanoid robotics and embodied AI. No other source cites him.

What the report says — and what it does not

The document asserts that China now has production capacity across the entire chain, from key chips to components and on to complete machines.

Its scope of analysis covers five countries — China, the United States, Germany, South Korea and Japan. Here too, a single pick-up carries the information.

The applications, for their part, come from the trade show and not from the report. Exhibitors there demonstrated :

  • inspection of electrical installations 
  • firefighting 
  • casualty evacuation 
  • tank inspection 
  • surface grinding 
  • welding 
  • cleaning.

These are stand demonstrations, not usage records compiled by the report. And some of them involve machines that are not humanoids : climbing robots, quadrupeds.

To be set against the sector’s revenue

Revenue in the Chinese robotics industry came to 165.5 billion yuan in the first half, up 24.5 % year on year. Once again, a single source carries the figure.

The World Robot Conference 2026 was held from 19 to 23 August in Yizhuang, on the outskirts of Beijing, across some 50 000 square metres split into four halls, with more than 300 exhibitors (+36 % year on year), more than 2 000 exhibits and more than 150 products making their world debut. Forty-nine central state-owned enterprises exhibited together there for the first time, in a dedicated pavilion built around twelve application scenarios : energy, aerospace, industry, logistics and emergency rescue.

The leading Western market closes at the same moment

The record share is announced just as the US Federal Communications Commission has added foreign-made humanoids and quadruped robots to its " Covered List ", banning the import of new models on cybersecurity and national security risk grounds, with China explicitly targeted. The measure affects only new models submitted for approval and does not recall machines already sold. Chinese manufacturers are redirecting their sales towards Europe, the Middle East and South-East Asia.

Provenance of the figure. The 40 000 shipments and the 97 % share are self-reported data, drawn from a Chinese trade association report presented at a Chinese trade show. The Swiss pick-up is an agency dispatch relaying China National Radio, the Chinese state broadcaster : it is not independent verification. No independent source corroborates these figures to date. One numerical benchmark elsewhere, also from a single source : AgiBot reported 15 000 robots produced cumulatively as of the end of June 2026, and pre-orders for UBTech’s U1 reached 13 361 units at the same date.

Sources : Global Times, 19 August 2026 and 20 August 2026  Swissinfo, 20 August 2026.