A bird's-eye view of Wuba Intelligent Tech's outdoor testing and training ground in Shuangpu town. [Photo/WeChat account: gh_2624d2e6cf16]

A comprehensive robotics hub is taking shape in Hangzhou, positioning the city as a national leader in humanoid and embodied intelligent robotics.

Since late 2025, a series of key projects have been launched in Xihu district, including the Yangtze River Delta's first humanoid robot pilot testing platform in Cloud Town, an outdoor robot testing and training ground in Shuangpu town, and the Zhejiang branch of the National Robot Testing and Evaluation Center.

Together, they form what officials describe as a robotics "global home port" integrating testing, certification, pilot production and training.

At the 100-hectare outdoor test site, robots undergo rigorous trials across simulated urban streets, industrial stairways and disaster zones. Indoors, precision facilities subject machines to extreme temperatures and motion-capture analysis to refine mobility, manipulation and environmental perception.

The pilot testing platform, operated with support from Zhejiang University and industry partners, has already served more than a dozen companies nationwide, bridging the critical gap between laboratory research and mass production.

Hangzhou is home to over 200 robotics-related enterprises, including Unitree Robotics and Deep Robotics, and has been approved as a national specialty industrial cluster for embodied intelligent robots.

Officials estimate the sector's total output could exceed 50 billion yuan ($7.25 billion) by 2027, with humanoid robot production surpassing 20 billion yuan.

As China's humanoid robotics market is projected to grow rapidly by 2030, Hangzhou is accelerating its efforts to become a global nexus connecting technology innovation, industrialization and future intelligent applications.

A trainee from Wuba Intelligent Tech trains a humanoid robot with motion caption technology. [Photo by Cao Jian/WeChat account: hzstcj]