The Greater Bay Area (GBA) city of Foshan has unveiled China’s first automated assembly line capable of producing 10,000 humanoid robots per year.
According to CCTV, the facility began assembling units on 29 March and is over 50 percent more efficient than conventional production lines, with its 24 digitalised, precision assembly processes allowing it to manufacture an average of one humanoid robot every half hour.
To ensure each unit meets standards, the factory has put in place 77 testing procedures to check components and the overall safety of assembled units.
The assembly line is characterised by its flexibility, as it is capable of modifying workstations and the length of the production line. It is also able to support the assembly of multiple types of units, as well as mixed-model production along the same assembly line.
The establishment of the facility is expected to further enhance China’s ability to achieve mass manufacturing of humanoid robots.
It also aligns with the country’s technological ambition, which was outlined in the recent 15th five-year plan (2026-2030) for economic and social development. That plan called for the country to fast-track development in strategic new industries relating to robotics, new energy vehicles and high-end equipment.
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China’s robotics sector has seen considerable growth in recent years, with the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) reporting that the country’s industrial robot production jumped from 4,201 units in March 2016 to a peak of 74,746 units in June 2025.
CSIS noted that this exponential growth has been driven by various factors, including the central government’s desire to launch a new economic growth model and China’s commercial and manufacturing landscape, which has been conducive to such developments.
Some of China’s leading robotics firms can be found in Guangdong, which led nationally in terms of the number of robot-related enterprises last year. According to data cited by Nanfang Daily, the province housed around 178,000 robot-related enterprises in July 2025, or 19 percent of the roughly 939,000 robotics companies registered in China at the time.
Within the GBA, Shenzhen reported 66,987 firms of this type, accounting for 37.65 percent of the Guangdong total, followed by Guangzhou with 54,448 (30.61 percent), Dongguan with over 20,000 (12.19 percent) and Foshan with over 9,500 (5.35 percent).
