China Ships 97% of Global Humanoid Robots as US Struggles to Compete in Physical AI Race

China's Overwhelming Lead in Humanoid Robot Production

China now accounts for roughly 97% of global humanoid robot shipments, establishing near-total dominance in an industry that represents the next frontier of physical AI2

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. This staggering figure means that if a humanoid robot shipped anywhere in the world this year, the odds are overwhelming it was made in China. Earlier analysis from Morgan Stanley found that approximately 90% of the 13,000 to 16,000 humanoids shipped in 2025 came from Chinese firms, while the US, Japan and others remained largely stuck at the prototype stage2

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The gap between leaders and everyone else is enormous. Zhiyuan alone shipped some 5,100 units last year, close to two-fifths of the global total, with Unitree not far behind2

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. By comparison, American names such as Figure, Tesla and Agility each managed only a few hundred units. A single Chinese maker can out-ship the entire American field several times over, with the top Chinese firm shipping roughly 36 times as many robots as its US counterparts2

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The Manufacturing Ecosystem Advantage

China's dominance in humanoid robots is less about a single breakthrough in AI than the depth of its manufacturing ecosystem3

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. The country controls about 63% of the global market for key mechanical components used in robots, including motors, actuators and reducers, as well as nearly 90% of the processing of heavy rare earths needed for magnets3

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. More than half of the hundred key global suppliers of parts like reducers, servo motors and 3D-vision sensors are Chinese, which lets domestic makers build faster and far more cheaply than rivals who must import the same components2

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China's robotics industry was built on billions of dollars in state funding and grew out of the country's world-beating electric vehicle industry1

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. The country's leading humanoid robotics start-up, Unitree, is preparing to go public in Shanghai at a valuation of $9 billion1

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. By early 2026, China was drawing close to half of all global venture funding for the sector2

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US Efforts to Build Domestic Capacity

In a warehouse in Plainview on Long Island, Teddy Haggerty is attempting to establish a robotics beachhead in the United States through his new company, Robo Inc.1

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. The 30-year-old serial entrepreneur had been the main North American distributor for Unitree Robotics since 2022, giving him a close-up view of an industry Chinese companies command. "In China, these things are just walking around the streets," he said. "They have so much more experience than we do"1

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Haggerty confronted a stark realization: China has near-total dominance of the supply chain, making it impractical to build a robot entirely free of Chinese parts1

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. Even Elon Musk's Tesla Optimus line of humanoids relies heavily on components made in China1

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. The US humanoid robotics industry remains in its infancy, with analysts estimating that top humanoid companies made just a few hundred robots last year1

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National Security Concerns and Policy Response

The geopolitical competition between the US and China came into sharper focus last month when the Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on the import of new models of foreign-made humanoid robots into the United States, citing national security concerns1

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. The measure did not explicitly target China, but most new humanoid robots are made by Chinese companies. Officials envision a future when humanoid robots become commonplace in homes, hospitals and hazardous jobs, giving them access to vast amounts of data about where and how people live1

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Sunny Cheung, a fellow at the Jamestown Foundation, said fledgling US robot makers will need substantial financial and policy support to compete. "Merely banning Chinese robots is just the first step," he said1

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Real-World Deployment and Future Implications

First deployments are focused particularly on auto production lines, where BYD is using about a hundred UBTECH robots, while Geely, FAW-Volkswagen and Audi FAW are also testing them to move parts, perform quality checks or carry out assembly operations3

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. BYD is planning to put a humanoid in its showrooms, the kind of concrete use case that helps justify breakneck production2

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. By quickly putting their machines up against real-world environments, Chinese manufacturers can rapidly accumulate the data needed to improve reliability and autonomy3

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Western firms argue the fight is far from settled. While China dominates hardware production, US groups retain an edge in semiconductors, AI models, simulation and training software, particularly around the Nvidia ecosystem3

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. As hardware becomes more standardized, a growing share of value could shift toward embedded intelligence, data and fleet management. The country that builds the most machines gathers the most operating data, drives costs down fastest and cements supplier relationships that lock in a lead, which is why a 97% share matters far beyond bragging rights2

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