Unitree Robotics, the world’s largest humanoid robot maker, made a spectacular stock market debut on Wednesday, with its shares closing their first day of trading up by more than 460% on Shanghai’s technology-focused Star Market.
The Chinese firm’s shares, offered to investors at $22.36 each, closed at 845 yuan, marking a milestone for Beijing’s ambitious plans for its robotics industry. The highly anticipated listing comes as the US and China are locked in a fierce battle to dominate the global market for robots and the artificial intelligence models that power them.
While Unitree is not the first Chinese humanoid robot maker to list on the stock market, its debut marks the first in mainland China. The company’s arrival on the public market is seen as a bellwether for investor appetite for the fast-growing humanoid robotics sector, giving the public a rare chance to invest in the industry.
Unitree, officially known as Yushu Technology Co Ltd, was founded in 2016 and is based in Hangzhou, eastern China, a region home to a so-called golden cluster zone of robotics firms that have benefited from huge government investments. The firm shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots last year as demand for the technology grows, and delivered a net profit of 278 million yuan in 2025, making it one of the few profitable companies in the sector.
Unitree has become a fierce rival to developers in the US by producing robots with similar features at significantly lower prices. Its robot dogs start at $2,700, a fraction of the roughly $70,000 price tag for Boston Dynamics’ four-legged device, Spot. The company has been selling humanoid robots since 2023, with its $13,500 child-sized G1 model hitting the market the following year, while major US rivals including Elon Musk’s Tesla have yet to start delivering rival products.
The company’s robots have been at the centre of a huge marketing push ahead of the IPO. This week, its machines are competing in the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, and in February, the G1 robots captured public attention with a display of martial arts moves during China’s Spring Festival Gala.
Beijing considers the robotics sector a “strategic priority” in its pursuit of leadership in advanced technology, with robots seen as a potential solution to issues posed by China’s ageing population and expected labour shortages. Government support helped drive a more than threefold increase in the number of Chinese robotics firms between 2020 and 2024.
Unitree’s IPO comes almost three years after smaller Chinese rival UBTech Robotics listed on the Hong Kong stock market, and more robot makers are expected to follow with stock market listings in the coming months.
Robots and AI have become the latest flashpoint in the rivalry between the US and China. The Trump administration announced in July that it would ban new Chinese-made humanoid and quadruped robots over national security concerns, a move Beijing rejected as “politicising” trade issues.
The US has also set tough restrictions on other Chinese technology, including AI models and electric cars. However, China’s dominance of the robotics industry highlights a broader issue, as Chinese firms become more “deeply embedded” in global manufacturing. The US has lost its lead in robotics, said researcher David Hsu. “We no longer hear about American robotics companies in the news. It’s the Chinese robot companies that are making news today. They have replaced America as the cool kids on the block.”
While experts caution that robots are still years away from working effectively in homes, the optimism around Unitree’s debut suggests that the sector is poised for significant growth.
