Unitree made a major splash in the robot's space in January when 16 of its highest-performing H1 humanoid robots joined a group of human dancers to celebrate the Lunar New Year in a demonstration broadcast on national television.
But there are signs that China's progress in robots go much further. Morgan Stanley's February research note found that the country has led the world in patent filings mentioning "humanoid" over the past five years, with 5,688 patents compared with 1,483 from the United States.
Large players such as Xiaomi and EV makers, such as BYD, Chery, and Xpeng, are also involved in the humanoid robot space.
"Our research suggests China continues to show the most impressive progress in humanoid robotics where startups are benefitting from established supply chains, local adoption opportunities, and strong degrees of national government support," the note said.