Chinese Humanoid Robots Move From Showrooms to Korean Factories
Chinese humanoid robot makers are pushing into South Korea in earnest, moving past dance routines and showroom displays into factory trials and paid deployments, as Seoul bets heavily on physical artificial intelligence. The Korea Times reports, in a piece carried by the South China Morning Post, that UBTech Robotics, Anyverse Dynamics, AgiBot and Unitree are among those testing the market.
And there is a gap to fill. Ethan Qi, an associate director covering robotics at Counterpoint Research, said China's new generation of robot companies has global DNA and looks overseas by instinct, with South Korea among the most important markets in the region. The shortage of locally built humanoids available at scale, he added, created an opening for Chinese suppliers.
But the first sale is a small one with symbolic weight. Galaxy Robot Park, a robot themed entertainment venue in Seoul, agreed to buy UBTech's lifelike U1 model after seeing it unveiled in Shenzhen, according to Sean Qin, who heads overseas business for the company's commercial robots. The unit, built with a female appearance and standing 1.68 metres tall, cost around 170,000 yuan, or roughly 25,000 US dollars, and reached the park recently.
UBTech is not new to the country. It entered South Korea in 2019 and says it has since sold more than 10,000 robots to dozens of corporate and government customers, and it is now running humanoid trials on an automotive parts line with local partners Duksan JM Robotics and Ajin Industrial. Qin said several models are in on site testing, and argued that a manufacturing powerhouse already full of robot arms needs machines flexible enough for tasks that demand adaptation.
Anyverse Dynamics is following a service route. The Beijing startup, whose founder previously worked with SK Telecom and Hyundai Motor, tested robots with the Korean coffee chain Hollys that serve drinks, clear tables and reset seats, and those units are in trial operation at a cafe in Beijing. Trials in Korean cafes and other commercial settings are planned for the fourth quarter, before any move into manufacturing.
But the trade data shows this is no longer a novelty. South Korea ranked as China's third largest export market by value for intelligent bionic robots in the first nine months of the year, behind the United States and Japan, taking 19.99 million US dollars of a global 206.95 million. China shipped 16,559 robots in that category, which covers humanoids and robot dogs, to 108 countries and regions.
Certification has been part of the cost of entry. Seoul's Korea Certification rules pushed UBTech to adapt its communications modules and radio frequency settings for local use, and industry research cited by a Korean outlet found that eight of China's ten top selling humanoid makers have been preparing through certification, trademarks and sales channels.
So the backdrop is a policy race. Seoul has proposed 3.1 trillion won, about 2.3 billion US dollars, for physical AI in 2027, more than triple this year's level, and its manufacturing AI programme targets 500 AI factories by 2030. LG Electronics is building a data factory to train robots, Samsung formed a robotics division, Hyundai is training Boston Dynamics machines for factory work, and Doosan has shown AI driven sanding and palletising systems built with Nvidia.
But that enthusiasm has a political edge. At a parliamentary audit, a ruling party lawmaker brought Unitree and AgiBot robots into the chamber to press the government on competitiveness, while an opposition member questioned whether the machines had passed security checks. The deputy prime minister responded by urging faster investment, pointing to China's growing field deployments and the data it collects.
So for the Chinese firms the calculation is simple. South Korea offers carmaking, shipbuilding and semiconductor plants as deployment sites, but access depends on finding local customers willing to run proofs of concept, which is why partnerships and certification matter more than marketing. Anyverse's founder called the two industrial bases complementary, with Korean manufacturing leadership meeting Chinese supply chains and rapid iteration.
UBTech, Anyverse Dynamics, AgiBot and Unitree are all active in South Korea, shifting from displays to trials and sales.
A Seoul robot venue bought UBTech's U1 for around 170,000 yuan, roughly 25,000 US dollars.
South Korea was China's third largest market for intelligent bionic robots in the first nine months of the year, at 19.99 million US dollars.
Seoul has proposed 3.1 trillion won for physical AI in 2027, more than triple this year.
Korean certification requirements forced UBTech to change communications modules and radio settings.
Source: SCMP
