Chinese humanoid robots were the star of the country’s main Lunar New Year event yet again on Monday as they performed intricate kung fu moves and backflips in a performance that state-sponsored media termed a “high-stakes product launch to billions of viewers.”
The first three performances of the show prominently featured robots, one of which featured several Unitree humanoids waving swords, poles and nunchucks in close proximity to human children performers.
Videos of the performance went viral on social media platforms, with many stunned users taking note of distinct improvements in the agility and overall capabilities of the robots compared to last year when Unitree gained huge popularity thanks to a choreographed dance performance.
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Unitree told Chinese state-media in a statement that the performance featured the robots performing “table-vaulting parkour, launched 3-meter-aerial flip, single-leg flips and Airflare grand spin of seven-and-a-half rotations”.
Aside from Unitree, three other humanoid robot startups – Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab – demonstrated their products at the gala, Reuters reported.
Humanoid robots, alongside human actors, deliver a stunning performance at the Chinese New Year Gala pic.twitter.com/PDU9DIcgPO
— Chengdu China (@Chengdu_China) February 16, 2026
The programme’s opening sketch also prominently featured Bytedance’s AI chatbot Doubao, while four Noetix humanoid robots appeared alongside human actors in a comedy skit. MagicLab robots, meanwhile, performed a synchronised dance with human performers during the song “We Are Made in China”.
Chinese state-sponsored media, while going gaga about the performances, stressed that the they were meant to indicate the commercial potential of the robotics industry.
State-run CGTN said the Lunar New Year event — China’s most-watched TV show — was a “Super Bowl-like stage” for the robots. It presented them as “autonomous machines powered by robust stability algorithms,” CGTN said.
Unitree founder Wang Xingxing told CGTN that improving mobility of the robots would allow them to “drive the progress of human productivity as a whole.”
After the show’s success, Wang told Chinese tech platform 36Kr that Unitree was planning to ship between 10,000 and 20,000 humanoid robots by the end of the year. That would be nearly four times higher than the 5,500 it sold last year.
“These technologies are very practical and conducive to large-scale cluster work of robots in the future,,” Wang told 36Kr.
Commercial potential in focus
That sales pitch follows prior scepticism around the rapid progress of China’s robotics industry.
Last year China conducted the world’s first race between humans and robots, which state media hailed as a ‘breakthrough’. But analysts at the time questioned whether a marathon was a reliable indicator of commercial prospects of the robotics industry.
With Monday night’s event, however, China appeared to be pitching the future of manufacturing.
In his interview with 36kr, Wang stressed the martial arts set ‘wasn’t simply a performance’ but a display of how its “robot cluster control technology” could be implemented in Chinese factories.
Wang said Unitree had developed the tech to ensure that robots didn’t require operators to monitor and control their movements. The robots function with the help of sensors that allow them to “sense the environment in real”, he said.
Wang also said his company was exploring technologies like an embodied intelligent robot brain that would use artificial intelligence to power its humanoids. Such robots had potential applications for tourism, scientific research and education, he added.
Unitree is, of course, not the only Chinese robotics firm pitching its commercial potential. A week prior to Monday’s event, Chinese startup Agibot showcased its humanoid robots performing comedy skits and magic shows. Its pitch was: robots in interactive entertainment.
Meanwhile, CGTN also noted that firms that were a part of Monday’s event were making a pivot “from prototypes to the marketplace”.
IPOs worth billions ahead
China’s move to hype up its robotics industry comes as major players including AgiBot and Unitree prepare for initial public offerings this year.
Unitree is looking at a valuation of as much as 50 billion yuan ($7 billion) for its IPO, while AgiBot is eyeing a valuation of HK$40 billion to HK$50 billion ($5.14 billion to $6.4 billion).
Experts also note that propping up the industry can translate into big gains for Beijing.
“Humanoids bundle a lot of China’s strengths into one narrative: AI capability, hardware supply chain, and manufacturing ambition. They are also the most ‘legible’ form factor for the public and officials,” Beijing-based tech analyst Poe Zhao told Reuters.
China already accounts for 90% of the roughly 13,000 humanoid robots shipped globally last year, far ahead of US rivals including Tesla’s Optimus, according to research firm Omdia. Morgan Stanley projects that its humanoid sales will more than double to 28,000 units this year.
Those prospects have meant that Chinese president Xi Jinping has met five robotics startup founders in the past year, comparable to the four electric vehicle and four semiconductor entrepreneurs he met in the same timeframe.
The New Year gala, meanwhile, has for decades been used to highlight Beijing’s tech ambitions, Georg Stieler, Asia managing director and head of robotics and automation at technology consultancy Stieler, told Reuters.
“What distinguishes the gala from comparable events elsewhere is the directness of the pipeline from industrial policy to prime-time spectacle,” Stieler said.
“Companies that appear on the gala stage receive tangible rewards in government orders, investor attention, and market access.”
- Vishakha Saxena
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