China's Humanoid Robotics Race Heats Up as Tesla's Optimus Hits a Wall

TMTPOST -- Tesla's once-hyped humanoid robot project, Optimus, has hit a snag. Parts procurement has been suspended for more than two weeks, and development has slowed significantly, despite CEO Elon Musk's prior promise to scale production tenfold by 2026. But while Tesla stalls, China is seeing a full-blown robotics boom.

Over the past week alone, China's embodied intelligence and humanoid robotics industries have erupted with announcements of IPOs, financing rounds, and product debuts, signaling an intensifying race to lead the next wave of general-purpose robotics.

A Week of Frenzied Activity

• July 7: Robetera closed a nearly RMB 500 million Series A round. AgiBot launched its new robot Lingxi X2-N, and a quadruped robot from Zhejiang University broke Boston Dynamics' world speed record.

• July 8: DeepRobotics raised RMB 500 million. Xiaoyu Bot, backed by Didi and Beijing Information Industry Fund, completed a Series A+ round. Meituan led a $122 million Angel+ round in TARS. MagicLab debuted its humanoid robot MagicBot Z1.

• July 9: Geek+ went public in Hong Kong in the largest robotics IPO this year. Galaxy AI raised over $100 million, and UBTECH announced the Walker S2 humanoid. ByteDance's Seed team reportedly launched a five-finger dexterous hand, ByteDexter.

• July 10: AgiBot denied rumors of a Hong Kong IPO.

• July 11: DexForce completed a multi-hundred million RMB round, while HuggingFace launched its $299 open-source robot ReachyMini, which racked up EUR130,000 in sales within five hours.

Data from IT Juzi shows 114 investments in China's robotics sector in the first five months of 2025 alone—surpassing all of 2024. Total financing has already exceeded RMB 30 billion, with major backers including Meituan, Didi, ByteDance, Sequoia, and JD.com.

The biggest splash came from AgiBot, which gained control of Shanghai-listed Shangwei New Materials in a RMB 2.1 billion deal. The move is seen as a strategic backdoor entry into the capital market and a potential landmark case under China’s new M&A regulations.

AgiBot, founded in 2023, boasts a dream team of top-tier engineers, including Huawei "Genius Youth" Peng Zhihui. It is now China's most valuable embodied intelligence startup, valued at RMB 15 billion and backed by investors like Sequoia, JD, Hillhouse, and Tencent.

On July 9, Shangwei’s shares hit their daily limit, adding over RMB 2.3 billion in market cap in a week. Despite rumors, AgiBot said it has no concrete plans for a Hong Kong IPO, but insiders say it could eventually consolidate assets with Shangwei to list as China’s first humanoid robotics stock.

Meituan, Didi Deepen Robotics Bets

Meituan has emerged as a major robotics backer, investing in more than 30 companies including Unitree, Gaussian Robotics, Pudu, Galaxy AI, and TARS. It is often among top shareholders, as in Unitree, where it now owns 8%, second only to founder Wang Xingxing.

Didi, meanwhile, made its first foray into embodied robotics by backing Xiaoyu Intelligent Manufacturing, citing tech synergies with its autonomous driving division.

The investment frenzy has driven expectations sky-high. Analysts say the humanoid robot sector mirrors early autonomous driving hype, with some warning of overheating. Yet Citi estimates the global market will reach $7 trillion by 2050.

In Hubei, a RMB 10 billion fund was launched to boost humanoid robotics. Local governments across China are deploying over RMB 70 billion in funds to support industrial development. Guangdong alone allocated RMB 26.2 billion to AI and robotics this year.

A Marathon, Not a Sprint

Despite the momentum, insiders caution that humanoid robots remain far from mass adoption. Factory use cases are growing, but home scenarios are still years away due to cost, regulation, and tech constraints.

Estimates suggest China will sell 7,300 humanoid robots in 2025, up from 2,400 in 2024. The market could exceed RMB 140 billion by 2035. Bloomberg forecasts that over half of global humanoid robot production this year will come from China.

AgiBot and Unitree just won a RMB 124 million contract to supply humanoid robots to China Mobile. But executives like Zhang Miao of Lingbao CASBOT emphasize that these machines are about enhancing productivity, not replacing jobs.

The robotics industry may be running hot, but the race is only beginning—and China is determined to lead the charge.

(Note: 1 USD equals about 7.25 RMB)