China Raises the Bar for Humanoid Robot Companies Seeking IPOs

By Michael Adeleke

China’s securities regulator has implemented tougher rules, making it harder for humanoid robot startups to go public in the country. China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) is now expecting these firms to meet key standards before listing.

What China regulators are now asking for

The CSRC has given informal guidance, laying out three conditions for humanoid robot companies hoping to list, CNBC reported.

First, companies need to show they have steady revenue backed by commercial orders. Secondly, their financial losses need to be shrinking, with regulators reportedly requesting a three-year forecast showing that metric. 

Third, companies need to own the core technology, such as a robotic “brain” or functioning robotic hands, rather than relying on outside suppliers.

It was also reported that companies might only need to meet two of these three conditions to go public. However, it’s still unclear whether any of the current crop of startups can meet the conditions.

As a result, expectations have dropped, with reports suggesting that only a small handful of these companies, or possibly none at all, will end up making it to public markets.

This comes at a time when a large number of companies are in line to go public. At least two dozen humanoid-related “embodied AI” startups have filed to list in Hong Kong. 

Hong Kong has allowed tech companies to file for IPOs confidentially since May 2025, but mainland Chinese companies still need approval from the CSRC before they can list shares there.

Why the sudden shift from regulators?

The new rules can be traced back to what happened with Unitree, one of the top names in China’s humanoid robot industry.

Unitree benefited from a fast-tracked path to list its shares in Shanghai on August 19, which coincided with the World Robot Conference in Beijing. On its first day of trading, the stock soared over 460%. Since then, the stock has been on a downward spiral, nearly cutting its value in half as of press time.

Ubtech, another humanoid robotics company listed in Hong Kong, has also struggled. Its shares have dropped more than 40% so far this year. The company reported an operating loss of 279 million yuan or $41.57 million for the first half of the year.

Despite the turmoil in the stock market, capital has kept its pace into the sector. China has well over 100 companies working on humanoid robots, with investment in the sector hitting 47.09 billion yuan, or about $6.95 billion, in the second quarter of this year. 

That’s more than double what was invested in the first quarter, and more than six times higher than the same period last year.

Investors grow more selective, not more cautious

Executives and investors shared that the new rules do not mean Beijing is turning away from humanoid robotics as an industry. They instead highlight it as a shift to wanting proof that these companies can deploy their products at scale and turn technical demos into sellable products.

Ruiying Zhao, a senior research analyst at S&P Global Market Intelligence, called the change a move from “blanket euphoria to selective rationality,” with attention being paid to whether a company’s commercial results justify its high valuation.

Overall fundraising in China has been picking up. Mainland Chinese companies have raised $148.9 billion through share sales and convertible offerings so far in 2026, up 59% from the same period last year. Technology companies accounted for 41% of that total.

Source:: China Raises the Bar for Humanoid Robot Companies Seeking IPOs