A humanoid robot dances in front of a robot 6S store in Shenzhen, south China's Guangdong Province, Oct. 28, 2025. (Photo: Xinhua)

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced on Saturday the establishment of a standardization technical committee for humanoid robots and embodied intelligence, aimed at systematically advancing standard-setting in the field and comprehensively enhancing industrial competitiveness.

Jiang Lei, chief scientist of the Shanghai-based National and Local Co-Built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center, a member of the standardization committee, said the industry's most urgent standardization needs lie in embodied data, operational and task execution capabilities, core component interfaces, simulation and testing, as well as safety and ethics, adding that these areas directly affect product compatibility, safety and large-scale deployment.

The most prominent gaps in standards lie in the interfaces between datasets and core components, intelligence classification, and testing and inspection equipment. Currently, the divergent technological approaches adopted by various enterprises have hindered the large-scale application of products, Jiang added. 

With joint efforts from all parties, China's humanoid robot and embodied intelligence industry has developed rapidly, Ke Jixing, deputy head of the MIIT, said. The establishment of the committee comes at a crucial time and will further enhance international competitiveness by strengthening supply of high-quality standards, improving the standard system and proactively aligning with international standards, he noted. 

China's humanoid robot industry has achieved rapid, leapfrog development during the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25). 

Xu Xiaolan, president of the Chinese Institute of Electronics (CIE), said in her address that humanoid robots integrate multiple cutting-edge technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), chips, sensors, materials and software, and have become a representative form of new quality productive forces.

An industry report showed that the humanoid robot industry is expected to transition rapidly from a technology validation stage to large-scale commercialization in 2025, as the global embodied intelligence market is projected to reach 19.525 billion yuan ($2.78 billion), with China accounting for nearly half of the total. Earlier this year, CIE forecast that China's humanoid robot market could reach approximately 870 billion yuan by 2030.

The Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development stressed that forward-looking plans should be put in place for industries of the future. 

China needs to explore diverse technology roadmaps, typical application scenarios, feasible business models, and market regulation rules, and work to foster new drivers of economic growth such as embodied AI, said the Recommendations, as analysts noted that the establishment of the standardization committee closely aligns with the policy goals.

In terms of humanoid robot ethnic sector, Jiang said the standardization committee will set unified safety and ethics baselines, apply scenario- and stage-based oversight, and embed safety tools into technical standards, ensuring rapid innovation in humanoid robots and embodied intelligence without crossing safety or ethical red lines and supporting large-scale industrial development.

Wang Xingxing, chairman of Unitree, and Jiao Jichao, vice president of UBTECH, were selected as members of the committee.