China’s main humanoid robot policy is a set of guiding opinions issued by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology in November 2023. The ministry’s official explanation, published on November 2, 2023, describes it as a plan made over three years with a five-year outlook. It sets checkpoints for 2025 and 2027. The explanation lists no unit, sales or price targets.

The 2025 goals

By 2025, according to the ministry, China was to have an initial innovation system for humanoid robots; breakthroughs in what it calls the robot’s “brain,” “cerebellum” and “limbs”; a secure supply of core components; complete robots at an internationally advanced level and in batch production; and demonstration use in special environments, manufacturing and everyday public services. It also aimed for two to three ecosystem companies with global influence, a group of specialized smaller firms, and two to three industrial clusters.

The 2027 goals

The 2027 goals are broader and harder to measure: significantly stronger innovation, a secure and reliable industrial and supply chain, an internationally competitive ecosystem, overall strength at a world-advanced level, scaled development, richer applications, and products deeply integrated into the real economy. Nothing in the explanation promises a household robot by 2027.

Where robots are meant to work

The plan names three kinds of use. The first is hazardous and harsh environments. The second is manufacturing, with consumer electronics and cars singled out and a call for demonstration production lines and factories. The third is daily life and key sectors: medical care and housekeeping, plus agriculture and logistics, with sorting, handling and delivery among the target skills.

Checking the 2025 checkpoint

Some of the 2025 goals can now be compared with company data. Batch production has happened at least at Unitree, which reported more than 5,500 humanoid shipments in 2025, according to China Daily’s account of its prospectus. The goal of two or three dominant ecosystem companies looks further off. In November 2025 the National Development and Reform Commission counted more than 150 humanoid robot companies in China, more than half of them startups or cross-sector entrants, and warned against a glut of similar products.

Other goals, such as deep integration into the real economy, have no stated metric. That makes them hard to call met or missed, and it is one reason production announcements and policy goals tend to get blurred together in coverage.

The NDRC said it will work on industry standards, evaluation systems and entry and exit rules for the sector. Published evaluation standards would give the 2027 goals something measurable. Until then, progress is best tracked company by company: units shipped, named customers and the tasks robots perform.