China has unveiled a standard framework for humanoid and embodied intelligence at the annual meeting of the Humanoid and Embodied Intelligence Standardization Technical Committee in Beijing's E-town.

The newly issued 2026 edition of Humanoid and Embodied Intelligence Standard System is described as the country's first comprehensive, top-level standard design covering the entire industrial chain and full lifecycle of humanoid robotics and embodied intelligence.

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Structured around six areas — foundational technologies, brain-inspired computing and intelligent processing, hardware components, integrated systems, applications, and safety and ethics — the framework aims to guide the sector as it accelerates engineering and commercial deployment. It was drafted with input from research institutions, enterprises and industry users.

The technical committee was established in December 2025 by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology to coordinate standard development across core technologies, components, systems and safety governance.

According to figures released by the ministry in January, China has more than 140 humanoid robot manufacturers and over 330 product models. The sector has been seeing a shift from laboratory prototypes to industrial competition and scenario-based deployment.

As production expands, industry leaders say unified standards, such as task definitions, evaluation systems and safety standards, are becoming increasingly important.

"To enable robots to truly work in real-world scenarios, industry-wide standards are indispensable," Wang Xingxing, vice-chair of the committee and founder of Unitree Robotics, said.

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Peng Zhihui, AgiBot co-founder and also a vice-chair of the committee, said standardization would help accelerate industrial adoption.

"Standardization is not merely a technical specification, but an accelerator for industrial implementation," he said.

"The breakthrough of humanoid robotics will come from ecosystem-wide collaboration."

The meeting also released high-quality development initiatives on identity management and industrial safety, and a list of key standard projects, and hosted a roundtable discussion on accelerating industrial development.