9th China Robot Summit Opens in Hangzhou with Five Zones Covering Hardware to Scenarios
The 9th China Robot Summit opened on Sept 17 at Hangzhou Future Sci-Tech City. Its theme is “Smart-connected new ecosystem, empowering all scenarios: intelligent and qualitative transformation in the robot+ era.” The event is one of China’s major robotics gatherings and brings together makers, researchers, and application-side players. The summit has set up five exhibition zones: humanoid robots and embodied intelligence, industrial robots, service and special robots, medical robots, and the robotics industry chain. This zoning covers a complete chain from robot bodies to components and from industrial to medical applications.
The agenda includes embodied intelligence and physical AI, humanoid robot testing and certification, biomimetic robots, elderly care robots, and large models with hardware. Discussions range from foundational hardware and core models to application scenarios and capital enablement. The agenda therefore links upstream components, core algorithms, deployment scenarios, and investment. The mix suggests the summit is addressing the entire innovation chain rather than isolated products.
On-site exhibits are more concrete than the agenda. Exhibits photographed by Xinhua reporters include Deep Robotics’ all-terrain wheeled-legged robot, a wheel-legged composite agile mobile platform, a small humanoid robot, an ultra-lightweight collaborative robot, an instrument-playing robot, and special robots for different application scenarios. The instrument-playing robot, for example, demonstrates dexterity and control rather than a mass-market product. These displays give a clearer sense of what is moving from prototypes toward practical use.
The wheel-legged composite form is appearing more frequently at recent exhibitions. It places the efficiency of wheeled mobility and the obstacle-crossing ability of legged locomotion on the same platform, responding to demand for both speed and passability in complex terrain. The format has been adopted by several quadruped and humanoid makers to balance speed and rough-terrain mobility. The ultra-lightweight collaborative robot responds to human-robot coexistence in industrial settings; reducing weight improves collision risk and deployment flexibility. A robot playing an instrument on site, placed in the service and special robot zone, points to exploration of robotics in cultural and entertainment scenarios.
The testing and certification topic deserves separate attention. One agenda item is humanoid robot testing and certification. That this topic entered the main forum agenda shows rising industry attention to standardization. For humanoid robots to enter factories, homes, and public spaces, safety standards and testing methods must come first. Without a unified testing and certification system, buyers cannot determine whether a robot can operate safely in a specific scenario, and insurance companies lack a basis for risk assessment. Certification would also give insurers and buyers a shared basis for risk and performance comparisons.
Hosting the summit in Hangzhou is related to Zhejiang’s local robotics industry base. Hangzhou has gathered more than 700 robotics-related enterprises. In 2025, the embodied intelligence industry cluster’s output value reached 106.8 billion yuan, and domestic market shares in quadruped robots and humanoid robots reached 80% and 50%, respectively. These figures illustrate the concentration of the local supply chain. The local concentration helps explain why the summit is held in Hangzhou and why standards discussions have practical grounding.
By placing exhibition zones and agenda topics in the same venue, the summit allows those working on hardware, models, scenarios, and standards and certification to see what each other is doing at the same time. The co-location is intended to shorten the distance between component suppliers, model developers, integrators, and end users. The phrase “robot+ era” corresponds to the stage in which technology moves from single-point breakthroughs to multi-scenario coverage.