China Establishes Giant Training Bases to Advance Humanoid Robot Development

China is establishing large-scale humanoid robotics training bases across the country, aiming to accelerate the development of advanced humanoids. These facilities will put robots through varied scenarios and collect crucial data to support product development for manufacturers. This strategy positions China to outpace the United States in the emerging humanoid robot industry.

Credit: AGIBOT

Cities nationwide are opening these vast training bases, designed to address a current data shortage within China’s domestic industry. The centres will generate standardised, high-quality data at lower costs, unlike previous isolated data collection efforts that resulted in inconsistent quality.

The largest facility, located in Beijing’s Shijingshan district, covers an area of more than 10,000 square metres. This centre is projected to generate over 6 million data points annually, the local government announced on Thursday. It provides 16 specific training scenarios, including settings that mimic a manufacturing facility, a retail outlet, an elderly care centre, and a smart home.

Credit: AGIBOT

China and the United States are front-runners in the humanoid robot industry, which seeks to create humanlike robots capable of replacing human workers. These robots could function in diverse environments, from factory floors to nursing homes.

Chinese authorities are broadly fostering a world-leading humanoid robot industry. Domestic players are competing with American companies, such as Tesla’s Optimus, to commercially deploy robots.

In March, the Chinese government highlighted embodied intelligence as a key future industry for the first time. Embodied intelligence refers to artificial intelligence integrated into physical machinery, including robots.

China has hosted several high-profile events in recent months to showcase its robotics progress. Humanoids participated in a half-marathon, a kickboxing match, and a dance performance at the popular Spring Festival Gala.

Beijing also issued guidelines in late August for promoting the deployment of AI-powered devices across the economy. The guidelines set a target of raising the adoption level to over 90 per cent by 2030, with directives to ensure high-quality data supply and build national testing centres for AI applications.

Local governments have responded swiftly to this call, constructing their own training bases. The Beijing facility will collaborate with counterparts in provinces including Zhejiang, Shandong, Anhui, and Henan. Shanghai announced on Tuesday that a robot training base would begin field tests by the end of the month.

During the World Robot Conference in August, Beijing unveiled the world’s first full-service store dedicated to humanoid robots. China’s robotics market is projected to increase from USD 47 billion in 2024 to an estimated USD 108 billion by 2028, according to a Morgan Stanley report published in June.

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• China is establishing large humanoid robot training bases to accelerate development and generate standardised data.

• The largest facility in Beijing covers over 10,000 square metres and offers 16 training scenarios.

• These bases aim to address a data shortage, enabling China to compete with the United States in the humanoid robotics market.

Source: SCMP