On August 8-12, the World Robot Conference 2025 (hereinafter referred to as the “WRC 2025”) was held in Yizhuang, Beijing, with humanoid robots standing under the spotlight. This grand event not only enkindles tech professionals’ enthusiasm, but also draws broader attention to the entire robot industry chain. A total of 50 humanoid robot makers, including Unitree Robotics, EngineAI and UBTECH, were invited to attend the conference, showcasing over 1,500 exhibits and industry solutions.

UBS forecasts that the number of global humanoid robots will exceed 2 million by 2035, and they will be first applied in industrial and service sectors for commercial purposes. In the first half of 2025, China’s industrial robot output grew by 35.6% year on year, while service robots rose by 25.5%, with great breakthroughs achieved in core technologies such as perception & environmental cognition, motion control & execution, AI and decision-making. The capital market also captures the investment opportunity. In this case, the Chinese robot industry attracted 283 funding deals in H1 2025, a year-on-year increase of 136%. The proceeds raised totaled 27 billion yuan. More notably, humanoid robots got 77 deals, amounting to 10.9 billion yuan.

Amid China’s robotics boom, Duolun Technology has displayed its strong foresight through strategic initiatives. In July 2025, EngineAI announced that it had raised approximately 1 billion yuan in Pre-A++ and A1 rounds. Specifically, the Zhuhai Xingxin Special Fund, which was co-established by Rockets Capital whose cornerstone investor is Xpeng and Duolun Technology, participated in the Pre-A++ round. Up to now, this fund has given Duolun Technology an indirect 1.57% stake in EngineAI. Simultaneously, Duolun Technology established its collaborative robotics innovation research center, dedicated to scenario-specific adaptation of humanoid robots for transportation applications.

This initiative is of great significance. During the WRC 2025, Chairman Zhang Anqiang stated against the backdrop of the deep integration between AI and embodied intelligence, the cooperation between Duolun Technology and EngineAI goes beyond capital alignment. For one thing, it embodies the company’s foresight for the intelligent transformation of mass transportation. For another, it is a key move to strengthen upstream-downstream synergy and boost strategic upgrading.

Since its inception in 1995, Duolun Technology has established its five key business systems with smart vehicle administration, smart transport, smart driver training, smart vehicle inspection and new energy. This investment enhances the company’s capabilities in scenario-specific adaptation and OEM manufacturing of humanoid robots for driving, road safety and traffic management, and advances the R&D and industrial application of humanoid robots in the mass transportation area, thus gradually applying them in AI-powered traffic management services and intelligent vehicle inspection.

This initiative fosters complementary synergy with the IMU service provided by Bynav, a partially-owned affiliate of Duolun Technology. Bynav’s multi-source fusion precision positioning and navigation technology delivers real-time motion and pose data for humanoid robots in terms of perception, control, navigation and stability, ensuring their balance, positioning accuracy and reliable motion execution in dynamic conditions, thereby boosting their adaptability in complex scenarios.

Looking ahead, China's 15th Five-Year Plan centers on a new digital policing paradigm of full-domain perception, AI-driven decision-making and precise execution, aiming to build a new modern policing system brimming with police robots, which brings more markets for Duolun Technology. Chairman Zhang further stressed that the company will employ EngineAI’s “open-source hardware + ecosystem profit sharing” model to develop scenario-specific terminal solutions for transportation and perfect its entire layout in humanoid robots. (Qi Hening)