SZ robotics firm aims to contribute to high-quality development

UBTECH Robotics will continue to lead the development and commercialization of core technologies in humanoid robots, shaping new advantages in Guangdong's path of accelerating high-quality development, according to Zhou Jian, chairman and CEO of the Shenzhen-based robotics developer.

"The fact that this year's Guangdong Provincial High-quality Development Conference was held in Shenzhen undoubtedly underscored Shenzhen's role as a bellwether in innovation-driven development," Zhou told Shenzhen Daily at the conference yesterday.

Zhou emphasized that the company's growth over the past decade has greatly benefited from Shenzhen's sound environment for sci-tech innovation, well-developed industrial facilities, and government support.

"The high-quality supply chain system we find here in Guangdong has actually been very helpful to UBTECH's growth, and supply chain capacity is crucial when we talk about new productive forces," Zhou said.

Zhou Jian, chairman and CEO of UBTECH Robotics, makes a speech at the conference. File photo

Leveraging Guangdong's advantages in supply chains, UBTECH has taken the lead in commercializing humanoid robots and achieving small-batch production of humanoid robots. The company floated shares on the Hong Kong stock market in December 2023, and many people referred to them as "China's first humanoid robot stock."

Looking ahead, Zhou said he expects some cutting-edge technologies and products that will revolutionize the future to emerge in Shenzhen and Guangdong. "Shenzhen is actually the ‘best spokesperson’ for entrepreneurship."

From making coffee to providing guided tours at exhibitions, China has witnessed a remarkable expansion in the utilization of humanoid robots across diverse settings.

As a manufacturing powerhouse of intelligent robots, Guangdong issued an action plan for fostering a strategic emerging industrial cluster for intelligent robots earlier this year.

The plan anticipates that the revenue of Guangdong's intelligent robot industry will reach 80 billion yuan (US$11.12 billion) by 2025, with the revenue of the service robot industry accounting for 20 billion yuan.