Rushing to grab stakes in Unitree, these cities are the first to get a seat at the table
On August 10, Unitree Robotics, known as the "first humanoid robot stock" on the A-share market, officially opened subscription for its IPO on the Sci-Tech Innovation Board. According to previous announcements, the issue price is set at 150.80 yuan per share, corresponding to a total market value of about 60.993 billion yuan. If we roughly refer to the strong performance of new A-share stocks on their first trading day since the beginning of this year, the floating book profit from one winning allotment is expected to hit 200,000 yuan.
Behind this capital feast, local state-owned capitals are widely involved. Equity penetration shows that Beijing state-owned capital (Beijing Robot Fund, Zhongguancun Science City), Shenzhen state-owned capital (SCGC system), Shanghai state-owned capital (Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Fund) and Tianjin state-owned capital (Tianjin Computing Power Fund) are all on the shareholder list, and considerable book returns are expected.
Apart from the capital market, the action of various regions to "grab shares" in Unitree Robotics has already started.
In addition to Hangzhou, where the company is headquartered, according to incomplete statistics, Unitree Robotics has successively established subsidiaries in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Ningbo, Chongqing and other places, signed strategic cooperation agreements with Chengdu, Tianjin and other cities, and cooperated with universities in Wuhan, Guangzhou, Hefei, Qingdao and many other places to set up industrial colleges.
It is widely believed in the industry that 2026 is a critical window period for mass production verification and scenario implementation of humanoid robots. From the shareholder roster to the city layout, Unitree Robotics' "circle of friends" is still expanding. Behind this, a hidden line of cities competing for future industries has become clear — whoever can secure a position in the key links of the industrial chain is likely to take the initiative in the next round of industrial pattern.
01
"Brain Enhancement"
The reason why Unitree Robotics is so favored by capital is very straightforward — it is one of the few enterprises in the global humanoid robot industry that has achieved large-scale profitability.
According to the data in the prospectus, from 2023 to 2025, Unitree Robotics' operating revenue was 159 million yuan, 393 million yuan and 1.699 billion yuan respectively, and its net profit was -11.1451 million yuan, 95.4747 million yuan and 278 million yuan respectively.
It should be noted that Unitree Robotics did not start to deploy humanoid robots until 2023, with only 5 units of humanoid complete machines shipped that year. The figure soared to 5215 units in 2025, topping the global sales list of pure humanoid robots.
This change also increased the proportion of humanoid robot business in Unitree Robotics' main operating revenue from 1.88% in 2023 to 51.78% in 2025.
The wonderful performance on the Spring Festival Gala stage fully demonstrated its capabilities in motion control. However, Wang Xingxing, founder of Unitree Robotics, previously admitted that humanoid robots may still take "2 to 10 years" to reach the "ChatGPT moment" — when robots can complete 80% of voice instructions in 80% of unfamiliar environments. The core bottleneck here is that "the current large robot models are not yet sufficient".
According to the information disclosed in the prospectus, Unitree Robotics' advantages mainly lie in the ontology structure and motion control, that is, the "ontology" and "cerebellum" aspects, but its investment in the "brain" (embodied large model) is relatively insufficient.
"Enhancing the brain" is also the top priority of Unitree Robotics. According to the prospectus, the raised funds will be invested in the intelligent robot model R&D project, robot ontology R&D project, new intelligent robot product development project, and intelligent robot manufacturing base construction project according to priority. The total investment in the intelligent robot model R&D project is 2.022 billion yuan, accounting for nearly half of the total raised funds, which shows the company's high attention to this field.
Image source: Unitree Robotics Prospectus
At the online IPO roadshow on August 7, Wang Xingxing said that Unitree Robotics will continue to tackle key hardware and software technologies including embodied large models, scenario data collection and analysis, reinforcement learning, and independent R&D of core components.
At the same time, Unitree Robotics has also made full use of external resources to build an innovation platform in the field of intelligent robots. Taking Shanghai as an example, in February 2025, the Shanghai Baoshan University of Shanghai General Intelligent Robot Research Institute, jointly built by Baoshan District, Shanghai University and Unitree Robotics, was officially put into use; in March 2026, Unitree Robotics signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Shanghai Institute of Intelligent Computing of the University of Hong Kong in Shanghai, and the joint embodied intelligence laboratory was officially inaugurated.
These innovation platforms will further open up the channel between technological breakthroughs and industrial implementation, accelerate the tackling of key links, and accumulate more innovation momentum for the intelligent robot industry.
02
Scenarios
Only when technologies are implemented in real scenarios can they be transformed into productivity.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission of the State Council recently jointly issued a notice to launch the annual special action for real-scene practical training of humanoid robots and embodied intelligence, and proposed to "start the operation mode" and "drive the formation of a ten-thousand-unit-scale implementation capacity" by the end of this year. 2026 is also regarded by the industry as the first year of large-scale commercial application of humanoid robots and embodied intelligence.
Video screenshot
Scenarios have also become a key track for regions to compete for future bargaining chips.
According to public reports, since last year, top officials from Heilongjiang, Chongqing, Xiong'an, Tianjin, Chengdu, Shaanxi and many other regions have met Wang Xingxing intensively, and the regional cooperation map continues to expand.
Chongqing is a very representative example. During the meeting in March this year, responding to the local expectation of "creating more landmark achievements of artificial intelligence innovation and application", Wang Xingxing clearly stated that he is "full of confidence in Chongqing's future development", and will make full use of the rich scenarios of building a new modern Chongqing to orderly promote the implementation and application of AI robots in industries such as industry, fire protection, cultural tourism and education, and continuously increase the layout in Chongqing.
Not long ago, Unitree Robotics' wholly-owned subsidiary — Chongqing Unitree Yiyu Technology Co., Ltd. settled in Dadukou District, Chongqing, positioned as the western regional headquarters, which will be fully responsible for the western region's R&D, sales, operation and maintenance, manufacturing, scenario expansion and data collection and other businesses.
Among the key construction contents promoted by this project, scenario is a core keyword. For example, the two sides will jointly build a humanoid robot "Embodied Intelligent Robot Laboratory", focusing on public services, cultural tourism, flexible production, assembly, quality inspection and other scenarios to carry out adaptive application R&D.
From a broader perspective, the pace of joint scenario construction continues to accelerate.
On May 11, when Wang Xingxing and his delegation visited the Xiong'an New Area for investigation, he said directly that "the two sides have broad cooperation space and promising prospects", and will take multi-field scenario application as the entry point to strengthen cooperation in urban governance, industrial development and other aspects, and promote the transformation of scientific and technological achievements and industrial implementation;
On May 27, Unitree Robotics signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tianjin Municipal Government and Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, and will rely on Tianjin's advantages in talents, industry and ports to carry out in-depth cooperation in scenarios and R&D.
On June 24, Hunan Iron and Steel Group and Unitree Robotics signed a strategic cooperation agreement in Changsha. The two sides will jointly build the first embodied intelligent robot innovation laboratory in China's iron and steel industry, and create a new model for the integrated development of "intelligent manufacturing + embodied intelligence" in China's iron and steel industry...
Chen Li, co-founder of Unitree Robotics, previously mentioned that the rich application scenarios of intelligent robots are one of the reasons for choosing to cooperate with Tianjin. Subsequently, corresponding products and businesses will be implemented in Tianjin, such as the application of intelligent robots in ports, petroleum and petrochemical, production and manufacturing and other fields.
It is not difficult to find that all the "selected" cities, without exception, rely on their unique urban and industrial scenario "test fields" to become indispensable partners for Unitree Robotics on the road from technological leadership to commercial maturity.
"We traveled all over the country to find a cold-region test field, and Harbin perfectly makes up for our test shortcomings." Chen Yonggang, deputy general manager of Unitree Robotics, revealed at the 2026 Entrepreneur Sun Island Annual Meeting held in Harbin a few days ago that the company has actively connected with the Intelligent Robot Island in Harbin New Area, and plans to carry out long-term low-temperature reliability tests relying on local pilot test and real-scene training grounds.
03
Industry
The real "binding" is never "you are the only one", but meeting on the "extension line" of development. Looking at the shareholder list of Unitree Robotics, Zhejiang provincial state-owned capital is barely visible, but it plays a key role.
According to local media reports, in 2018, Unitree Robotics only had more than 100,000 yuan left on its books. The science and technology innovation financial platform under the Hangzhou state-owned capital system completed due diligence in 3 days and granted the loan in 7 days, using a 20 million yuan credit guarantee creditor's right to resolve Unitree Robotics' urgent need.
Since then, Hangzhou Science and Technology Innovation Fund and Hangzhou Innovation Fund have continuously participated in 4 rounds of financing from Round B2 to Round C+ through market-oriented sub-funds. Zhejiang state-owned capital does not hold shares directly, but only exerts the "leverage effect". Behind this, Hangzhou and Unitree Robotics have completed the dual binding of "capital + industry", which has become an important support for Hangzhou to build a city of intelligent robots.
Compared with Hangzhou's "quiet and subtle" approach, the state-owned capitals of Beijing, Shenzhen and Shanghai have competed fiercely. Shenzhen Venture Capital Group is one of the earliest state-owned venture capital institutions that made layout, holding a total of about 2.55% of Unitree Robotics' shares. Beijing state-owned capital has a higher shareholding ratio: Beijing Robot Industry Development Investment Fund holds 3.83% of the shares, and Zhongguancun Science City holds 0.93%.
In addition, Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Fund holds 0.37% of the shares, Tianjin Computing Power Fund holds 0.28% of the shares, and state-owned capitals from Xiamen, Chengdu, Chongqing, Shandong and other places also appear in the shareholder list, playing the role of patient capital.
Image source: Xinhua News Agency
The distribution of this capital map is roughly consistent with Unitree Robotics' business layout. In 2024, Unitree Robotics established subsidiaries Shanghai Gaoyi Technology Co., Ltd. and Beijing Lingyi Technology Co., Ltd. in Shanghai and Beijing respectively. In 2025, it established Shenzhen Tianyi Technology Co., Ltd., Chongqing Unitree Yiyu Technology Co., Ltd. and Unitree Robotics (Ningbo) Co., Ltd. in Shenzhen, Chongqing and Ningbo, thus forming expansion fulcrums covering the Yangtze River Delta, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and western China.
From the national perspective, not long ago, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology disclosed that China's output of humanoid robots was about 20,000 units last year, exceeded 40,000 units in the first half of this year, and is expected to exceed 100,000 units for the whole year. In the next two or three years, "it may be a key point for the development of the humanoid robot industry, or even a new starting point".
On the eve of the scale explosion, talent reserve must be put in the first place.
"The core of building industrial colleges is to set up benches in advance for the talent gap three to five years later." On August 7, Unitree Robotics launched two new projects in Wuhan, signing agreements with China University of Geosciences (Wuhan) and Changjiang Engineering Vocational College to jointly build industrial colleges. Before that, it had established undergraduate and junior college level industrial colleges in more than 10 cities including Qingdao, Liuzhou, Zhengzhou, Hefei, Xiamen, Ningbo, Suzhou and Guangzhou, which is also one of the key cooperation contents that Unitree Robotics signs with various regions.
This is not only a talent reserve, but also an ecological embedding. However, it is necessary to face up to the fact that humanoid robots are still in the early stage of commercialization, and there is still a long way to go from the laboratory to the production line, and from the prototype to stable operation. The enthusiasm of local governments is understandable, but they need to remain rational — "winning the bid" for Unitree Robotics only gets them the admission ticket, and the real realization of industrial value not only tests vision, but also tests perseverance.
This article is from the WeChat official account"City Evolution", written by DAN Zhongkui and CHENG Xiaoling, published with authorization from 36Kr.