China robot makers flock to Beijing show, seek path to mass adoption

The industry's rapid expansion mirrors China's electric vehicle sector a few years ago, when scores of companies emerged rapidly and competed aggressively.

"A large number of (robot) companies appeared almost overnight," Zhang Guibing, head of AiMOGA Robotics, Chery's robotics division, told Reuters on the sidelines of the conference.

"But from the perspective of industry development, there is a positive side to this. It allows everyone to compete fully," he said. "In the end, this will help deepen the industry's technology and capabilities. From that perspective, I think this is a good thing."

Global humanoid robot shipments nearly quadrupled in the first half of this year to 19,100 units, with Chinese manufacturers dominating the market, according to data from Smart Analytics Global.

Still, Georg Stieler, a robotics analyst who advises industrial companies in China, estimates that between 50% and 70% of humanoid robots produced this year could end up in "data factories", where they are used to collect training data rather than perform productive work for paying customers.