Humanoid robots: China readies factories and issues first diplomas

China treats humanoid robots as an industrial product for the assembly line, not a technology showcase. The clearest signal comes from car group Changan. The company set two goals: mass production of humanoid robots by 2028 and commercialisation of flying cars by 2030.

The strategy in stages

Changan’s path is gradual, starting inside the cabin. Robots are first integrated as components within vehicles. They then move into logistics, cleaning, energy storage, charging, inspection, security, and firefighting. Executives summarise the formula in one line: build cars with robots, sell cars with robots, put robots inside cars. The stated goal is a factory where robots produce other robots. Meanwhile, the company is validating a 20 Ah solid-state cell based on oxygen and polymers.

The problem of millimetres

Wang Xingxing, founder of Unitree, pinpointed the technical bottleneck. He says the core issue in embodied AI is the error of a few millimetres between the model’s decision and the robot’s action in the physical world. In his view, a ChatGPT moment for robotics will arrive when a machine can complete 80% of tasks in 80% of new scenarios. Today, efficiency and capability remain insufficient for both factories and homes. The way out lies in building more general models that can transfer skills from one task to another.

Learning a trade

In Hangzhou, the transition already has an organised form. The robot school issued its first diplomas, where machines learn professional tasks through practical tests. This approach collects training data in real contexts while preparing the skills of people who will manage fleets of machines.

What changes for manufacturing

For the European production system, and Italy in particular, the question is not replicating Chinese robots but integrating them. Flexible robotics becomes cost-effective when the cost per machine hour falls below the labour it replaces, and when reconfiguration times allow small batches, as specialised manufacturing requires. The real challenge lies more in software integration and the operational safety of OT systems than in mechanics.