Shanghai robotics innovation center signs training agreements with tech companies

The National and Local Co-Built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center in Shanghai, China's first national-level public platform, signed cooperation agreements with technology companies and labs on Saturday to build a training ground cooperation ecosystem.

The agreements were signed during the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, which is running in Shanghai until Monday.

According to Jiang Lei, the center's chief scientist, humanoid robots have basically conquered the mission of walking, running and jumping over the past 20 years. But enabling them to work will be the major trend of the next decade. In this sense, collecting data from various training grounds is crucial, he said.

Also on Saturday, the center, which opened in June last year, released three new robots which can be used for various work scenarios, including in factories, industrial parks and schools. It also released localized core components and universal embodied intelligence development platform, with which companies can develop humanoid robots.

Xu Xiaolan, chairman of the Chinese Institute of Electronics, said during the signing ceremony that humanoid robots are the best representation of embodied intelligence as they have integrated various advanced technologies such as chips, sensors and new materials. In succession to computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles, they are likely to become the next disruptive products used in households. They can also play an important role in production, warehousing, logistics and border defense.

The humanoid industry can boost development along the industrial chain. Job opportunities can be generated regarding research and development, production, inspection and maintenance. New consumption scenarios will also be nurtured, she said.

Also released during the Saturday event was an open fund initiated by the center and involving seven Chinese universities and two research institutes.