Published : 13/05/2025
In the world's first humanoid robot half-marathon held in China's Beijing, the "Tiangong Ultra" humanoid robot won the first place. So, who developed this robot?
In south China's Shenzhen, a "Robot Valley" has gradually emerged, driven by leading Chinese robotics companies, and here is the place where "Tiangong Ultra" was born.
What's so special about this Chinese "Silicon Valley" in robotic world? Let's take a look together!
"Robot Valley" assemblies advanced institutions and top universities
In Nanshan District of Shenzhen, the newly emerged "Robot Valley" is located in the narrow valley between Yangtai Mountain and Tanglang Mountain. It is distributed along Liuxian Avenue and Metro Line 5.
Forming a signature integration, universities, research institutes, and enterprises are located close to each other here.
The "Robot Valley" has scientific institution settings similar to Silicon Valley in California, such as the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech), Shenzhen University (SZU), Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT), Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology (SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and the Peking University Shenzhen Graduate School (PKU Shenzhen).
In addition to Shenzhen UBTECH Robotics (UBTECH) who developed "Tiangong Ultra", known as the "first stock of humanoid robots," other robot companies include Dobot, known as the "first stock of collaborative robots," as well as Ai2robotics and Narwal, all have their headquarters in the "Robot Valley".
Furthermore, another Chinese robot company Unitree Robotics which gained popularity after its "Yangge Dance" performance at the 2025 Spring Festival Gala, also established an office in Zhigu Industrial Park within the "Robot Valley."
Read more: Chinese humanoid robots' new skills: Backflips, cycling and more
All resources within 15-min reach in "Robot Valley"
In this innovation ecosystem of Robotic Valley, all resources related to robot industry are within 15-minute reach, and this kind of "golden density" of various innovation elements is even rare on the global map of technological innovation.
With the University Town Metro Station as its centre, the Paxini tactile sensor lab is within 0.5 km; RoboSense radar testing centre is 1.2 km away, and the Ubtech future factory is within 3 km. Every link in the robotics industry can seamlessly connect.
"Upstairs and downstairs are like upstream and downstream, and industrial park is the industrial chain itself". This is the norm and advantage of the "Robot Valley".
Ubtech's humanoid robot assembly facility is just a street away from Paxini's tactile sensor lab, achieving extreme efficiency, where "research in the morning, testing in the afternoon, and iteration in the evening" reflects the "Shenzhen speed" to the fullest.
"Robot Valley" leading company Ubtech is growing bigger and stronger
Tan Min, Brand Officer from Ubtech revealed that the company has already received orders for over 500 humanoid robots this year, with the total annual shipment expected to exceed the 1,000-unit, out of which 50% are industrial robots.
It is estimated that by the end of 2025, the work efficiency of humanoid robots will increase from 40% of humans to 60%-80%. Actually, humanoid robots are still in a very early stage of development, and the company can currently only achieve small-scale production.
However, Tan Min believes that by serving the eight trillion-level industrial clusters in Guangdong Province, and through 10 to 20 years of effort, Ubtech can become the 9th trillion-level cluster.
After growing bigger and stronger locally, becoming the world's largest leading brand of humanoid robots is Tan Min's target.
Is Shenzhen becoming the 1st Robot City with the help of "Robot Valley"?
In 2023, Shenzhen's robot industry claimed the top national spot with an output value of 179.7 billion RMB, making it the veritable "Top Robot City" in China. By 2024, the robot output value exceeded 200 billion RMB.
"Robot Valley" is the core area of Shenzen's entire robot industry.
It is not just a simple collection of factories and codes, but a breathing, agile, and innovative organism. Elements like policies, capital, technologies, and application scenarios coexist and grow together in "Robot Valley," harmoniously contributing to its formation and prosperity.
Robots and the city are deeply bound together, much like how Detroit is defined by cars and Silicon Valley by the internet, Shenzhen could become the first global example city defined by robots.
Shenzhen's robots are striving to move from laboratories to the world, writing a new chapter in China's intelligent manufacturing.
Relying on the closely collaborative industrial chain and an open and inclusive innovation environment, "Robot Valley" is growing into an important part of the global technological landscape.
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