Chinese humanoid robot startups are moving beyond choreographed demonstrations and into factories and retail stores, racing to secure real-world deployments that could eventually scale to tens of thousands of machines.

The shift gained further momentum on Tuesday when the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council launched a nationwide initiative to accelerate humanoid robot adoption across manufacturing, logistics, retail, healthcare and other sectors.

The initiative aims to create more than 100 high-value application scenarios by the end of 2026 and drive large-scale deployment of more than 10,000 humanoid robots, underscoring China's ambition to turn humanoid robots into a new pillar of industrial growth.

Among the early movers is Beijing-based Robotera, whose humanoid robots have already been deployed in more than 10 logistics centers operated by China Post and SF Holding across North, East and South China.

In a facility in Beijing on Wednesday, a Robotera humanoid robot packed products into cardboard boxes. When an item was unexpectedly removed from the box, the robot immediately detected the change, retrieved the object and completed the task again.

Chen Jianyu, founder of Robotera, said that its humanoid robots can process up to 1,200 parcels per hour, approaching human-level productivity in some logistics environments.

"We want robots to enter factories and logistics parks and become real productive forces," he said.

The company's commercial traction is already visible. Robotera's co-founder Xi Yue said the company is already delivering orders in thousands of units this year as demand accelerates.

A similar race is unfolding in retail. Beijing-based Galbot, another embodied AI startup, has opened autonomous retail stores, known as galaxy capsules, across the city, and deployed humanoid robots in some of Beijing's FamilyMart convenience stores.

Inside the silver, spacecraft-like capsule stores, humanoid robots prepare coffee, retrieve drinks and serve customers without human assistance.

The pace of improvement has been rapid. When Galbot opened its first capsule store last August, a robot took 46 seconds to pick up and deliver a cup of coffee. Less than a year later, that time has been cut to 18 seconds.

Galbot's co-founder Zhang Zhi­zheng said the company plans to launch similar stores in 10 cities, locating them in commercial districts, transportation hubs, tourist attractions and urban neighborhoods.

He added that Galbot has pursued a dual-track strategy, deploying robots in both industrial and retail settings.

According to him, its Galbot S1 mobile robot, capable of carrying loads of up to 50 kilograms while operating continuously through battery swapping, has entered production lines at companies including battery giant CATL and automaker BAIC Group.

Jiang Han, a senior researcher at market consultancy Pangoal, said: "What's happening now is a transition from laboratory validation to large-scale commercial deployment.

The key breakthrough is not that the robots can move. It's that they can operate autonomously in complex, dynamic environments as part of everyday business operations."

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn