Unitree Robotics receives Shanghai IPO approval as Chinese robotics firms line up listings to test investor appetite for AI-driven automation

Unitree Robotics, known for robots practicing martial arts, received approval on Monday for a Shanghai listing. Hong Kong has at least 46 robotics-related companies in the IPO pipeline, accounting for more than 10% of applicants, with filings also from Leju Robotics and Deep Robotics.

Funds from Chinese humanoid IPOs will go toward R&D, especially robot models. Unitree has partnered with Nvidia to build humanoid reference machines featuring five-fingered hands and built-in chips.

China's robotics rollout accounted for 50% of global industrial robots and 85% of humanoids in 2025. Barclays estimates humanoids could reach about 3.8% of the nation's labor capacity by 2035, backed by coordinated industrial policy and supply-chain control.