When it comes to robotics globally, China is the focus. In January and February this year, China's industrial robot production increased by 27% year-on-year. Meanwhile, within China, all eyes are on Guangdong. In 2024, Guangdong produced over 240,000 industrial robots, a 31.2% increase year-on-year, maintaining its position as China's top producer for five consecutive years. The province accounts for 44% of China's total market, meaning nearly every other industrial robot in the country is "Made in Guangdong."

Midea-owned KUKA industrial robots fully automated production line (file photo).

This March, Shenzhen has been making bold moves in its race to become the "first city of humanoid robots." At Shenzhen Bay, the ENGINEAI PM01 robot stunned the industry with its ability to run at 12 km/h and even performed a choreographed dance from "Kung Fu Hustle" alongside human dancers. With 2025 expected to be the breakthrough year for humanoid robots, this spring has seen humanoid robots made in Guangdong frequently making headlines with their backflips, human-like running, stair-climbing stunts, and dance performances. Additionally, exoskeleton robots and "robot journalists" made a notable appearance at China's Two Sessions.

In the Humanoid 100 Stock List released by Morgan Stanley, 11 Guangdong enterprises were included, making up nearly one-third of all Chinese entries. Shenzhen alone accounted for seven of these. In early March, Shenzhen announced plans to expand its embodied intelligence robotics industry cluster, aiming to exceed 1,200 related enterprises and achieve an industry scale of over 100 billion yuan by 2027.

At the major job fair under Guangdong's "Millions of Talents" initiative, job seekers interact with a humanoid robot from Guangzhou Ligong Industrial Co., Ltd. (Photo by Liu Chang, Yangcheng Evening News).

In Guangzhou, GAC Group and XPeng Motors were selected for the "Humanoid 100." GAC's 3rd-generation embodied intelligent humanoid robot, GoMate, has entered real-world testing, with plans for mass production of self-developed components in 2025 and small-scale robot production in 2026. XPeng's humanoid robot, IRON, has already been deployed in factories. The company aims for industrial-scale production by 2026. In August this year, XPeng's new headquarters in Guangzhou will begin operations, integrating both its flying car and robotics businesses.

According to Tianyancha, Guangdong is home to over 160,000 robotics-related enterprises, ranking first in China. Shenzhen and Guangzhou hold the top two positions nationwide in terms of the number of robotics companies. Reports indicate that approximately 38% of the world's humanoid robot supply chain enterprises are in China, with 57% of them concentrated in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Source: Lingnan on the Cloud

广东机器人何以在“榜首”？

世界机器人看中国，今年1-2月，中国工业机器人产品产量同比增长27%。而中国机器人看广东，2024年广东工业机器人产量超24万台（套），同比增长31.2%，连续五年稳居中国第一，占中国市场总量的44%，中国工业机器人差不多每两台就有一台是“广东造”。

阳春三月，加速竞逐“人形机器人第一城”的深圳动作频频。深圳湾畔，众擎PM01机器人每小时12公里的奔跑速度惊艳业界，还与舞者再现《功夫》舞蹈。2025年被视为人形机器人爆发元年，这个春天，“广东造”人型机器人凭借前空翻、拟人奔跑、楼梯跑酷、舞蹈等表现频频“出圈”，全国两会上外骨骼机器人、“机器人记者”也集中亮相。

全球摩根士丹利全球人形机器人上市公司百强名单里，11家粤企上榜，占中国上榜企业近1/3，仅深圳就有7家。3月初，深圳发布计划，到2027年，具身智能机器人产业集群相关企业超1200家，关联产业规模1000亿元以上。

在广州，广汽集团、小鹏汽车入选“全球人形机器人百强”。广汽第三代具身智能人形机器人GoMate已进入实地测试阶段，计划2025年自研零部件批量生产，2026年整机小批量生产；小鹏汽车的人形机器人IRON已进工厂“上班”，目标2026年工业化量产，今年8月新总部将在广州启动，飞行汽车、机器人业务都将入驻。

天眼查数据显示，广东机器人相关企业超16万家，全国居首，深圳、广州相关企业数量分别位居全国城市第一、第二。据透露，全球人形机器人约38%的供应链企业在中国，而中国约57%的供应链企业在粤港澳大湾区。

文 | 记者 王丹阳 孙绮曼
翻译 | 曾敏
审校 | 林佳岱