The Unitree robot is pictured at the Artificial Superintelligence Alliance stand during the Web Summit at Parque das Nacoes in Lisbon, on November 11, 2025. Photo: VCG

Chinese start-up Unitree Robotics will launch Asia's first embodied intelligence experience store in Shanghai's Jing'an district by late May, the company announced at a launch ceremony "First in Shanghai" hosted by the Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on Saturday, the official WeChat account of Jing'an district reported on Sunday.

The outlet, located in a department store in Jing'an, will cover an area of more than 100 square meters and display the brand's entire range of latest products.

The experience store will be built into an immersive experience center, creating new immersive consumption scenarios through embodied intelligence technology, Unitree Senior Vice President Li Binjie said, according to the WeChat account of Shanghai Jing'an on Sunday.  

Unitree's opening of Asia's first embodied intelligence experience center in Shanghai highlights how China's embodied intelligence technology is being applied in commercial and urban settings, Ma Jihua, a veteran industry analyst, told the Global Times on Sunday.

Through immersive experiences and full-size robot interactions, the center could demonstrate the practical potential of robotics across multiple scenarios, such as home, education, and eldercare, Ma said.

As this year marks the first year of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) period, it also signals that more cutting-edge technology products will reach consumers, further driving smart technology to lead industrial upgrading and cultivate new quality productive forces, Ma added.

The event is a concrete initiative by the MOFCOM to actively lift consumption, and the MOFCOM will guide local authorities in carrying out a variety of events, which continuously unleash new drivers of consumption and promote high-quality development, according to the Xinhua News Agency on Sunday. 

During the "First in Shanghai" period, Shanghai will roll out a series of events, and the scope of debuts has expanded from beauty products, fashion apparel, and home appliances to include sports, pet products, and cultural intellectual property assets. The scale and level of these debut events have significantly increased compared with previous years, according to Xinhua.

As a major participant in this year's "First in Shanghai" initiative, the Sassoon brand under Henkel has announced a "triple launch" event in April: a brand renewal ceremony, an inspiration-themed pop-up experience, and the grand opening of Asia's first Sassoon Hairdressing Academy, according to media reports on Sunday. 

The strategic importance of domestic demand has been underscored in both the Government Work Report and the draft outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

Amid a complex and challenging international environment, the work report stressed the need to stay committed to expanding domestic demand, pledging a range of measures to stimulate consumption — a key pillar of domestic demand.

China's retail sales of consumer goods grew 2.8 percent year-on-year in the first two months of 2026, data from the National Bureau of Statistics showed earlier this month. The pace was 1.9 percentage points faster than the growth rate in December 2025.