- Yangtze River Delta robotics firms unveiled embodied AI products spanning robots, components and industrial applications at WAIC 2026
- The launches highlight the industry’s shift from technical demonstrations to real-world deployment and commercialization
Robotics companies from China’s Yangtze River Delta unveiled a wave of new products at the 2026 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), highlighting advances across robot form factors, core components and real-world applications.
A total of 208 embodied AI products and more than 300 physical robots were exhibited at this year’s conference, held on July 17-20.
Industry participants increasingly describe 2026 as the first year of large-scale deployment, with companies shifting away from showcasing general-purpose capabilities toward robots optimized for specific tasks and environments.
This shift comes as the competitive focus, many observers argue, is moving from hardware to intelligence.
Robot designs evolve
One of the most notable launches came from PrimeBot (启元机器人), the consumer robotics brand under Swancor Advanced Materials (上纬新材), which unveiled the PrimeBot T1 (启元T1). The T1 is positioned as the world’s “first transformable personal robot,” the Shanghai-based startup claimed.
Built on a unified architecture, it can autonomously switch between a wheeled humanoid configuration and a quadruped without human intervention.
Humanoid robotics pioneer Agibot subsidiary Agiquad (智元酷拓) partnered with Chongqing Haochen (重庆昊辰) in showcasing what it called the world’s first riding robot.
Debuted without a formal name yet, the machine is said to be capable of carrying payloads of up to 75 kilograms across challenging terrain. Deliveries is expected to begin in September in small batches.
Humanoid startup Fourier (傅利叶) expanded its GRx lineup with the GRW wheeled dual-arm robot, capable of carrying payloads of up to 16 kilograms for healthcare and logistics applications.
Run Robotics (润科巨能), a joint venture between Fourier and new energy supplier Jiangsu Runyang Technology (润阳科技), introduced a “centaur” robot combining four wheels, four articulated legs and dual robotic arms for industrial environments such as steel mills, nuclear facilities and oilfields.
Hangzhou’s Unitree (宇树科技) also showcased its rideable transforming mech GD01, which switches between humanoid and quadruped modes.
Core components mature
Beyond complete robots, suppliers highlighted progress in domestically developed components. Companies including Leaderdrive (绿的谐波) and Agilink (临界点) presented harmonic drives, dexterous hands and motion-control systems.
Suzhou-based Changing Tech (知行机器人) showcased robotic hands already adopted by several leading embodied AI developers, while Agilink launched the OmniHand 3 Ultra-M, featuring 20 active degrees of freedom and integrated vision-touch sensors in each fingertip.
Expanding deployment
Commercial deployment was another major theme. Beijing-based Realman Robotics (睿尔曼智能) introduced two wheeled humanoid robots connected through its GLN remote operation network.
This rollout enabled operators at a Beijing data center to control robots at the Shanghai exhibition hall with millisecond-level latency, including performing an entire tea-making process.
Ant Group’s Lingbot demonstrated a smart pharmacy where three different robot types shared a common AI brain to complete tasks collaboratively.
StepFun (阶跃星辰) and Dexmal (原力灵机) jointly staged a 15-hour challenge in which six robots cooperated to assemble more than 80,000 building blocks continuously.
Regional supply chain strengthens
The exhibition also highlighted the growing integration of the Yangtze River Delta’s robotics supply chain.
Twenty-six companies from Suzhou, including Elite Robotics (艾利特) and UniX AI (优理奇), exhibited products ranging from collaborative robots to humanoids.
Companies from Hangzhou’s Binjiang District showcased a complete AI ecosystem spanning robotics, computing and software platforms.
Meanwhile, Shanghai’s Pudong New Area highlighted a local ecosystem of more than 130 embodied AI companies and China’s first dedicated embodied AI supply chain platform.
Why it matters for global readers
For international readers, the showcase illustrates how China’s robotics industry is evolving from exporting individual products to exporting manufacturing capabilities and industrial ecosystems.
Rather than competing primarily on cost, Chinese robotics companies are increasingly leveraging integrated supply chains, specialized components and application-specific solutions.
As embodied AI enters what many in the industry describe as its first year of deployment, the emphasis is shifting from laboratory demonstrations to commercially viable systems designed for real-world use.
