China's defence sector has markedly increased research and procurement related to humanoid robots, with momentum rising notably in 2025 and 2026. Reuters reviewed more than 100 Chinese military procurement documents, scientific papers, patents, official publications and industry materials and concluded that PLA-affiliated institutions are testing technologies against battlefield requirements, buying systems for training, and exploring how machines could operate alongside soldiers.
Demonstrations and the industrial base
Public demonstrations have highlighted the technological progress: at the Humanoid Robot World Games, machines ran, jumped, boxed and danced, and some robots reached sprint speeds on par with human sprinters over 100 metres. Two days after the event, the PLA Daily urged researchers to accelerate the transfer of advanced technologies from laboratories to military training grounds where "robot fighters" may need to be trained.
Industry capacity is significant: Bank of America Global Research estimated that Chinese manufacturers accounted for about 95 percent of global humanoid robot shipments in 2025, providing a large domestic industrial base on which the PLA could draw. Reuters did not find evidence that China has fielded an armed humanoid robot; current systems still face limits such as high energy consumption and reduced reliability outside controlled environments.
Military scenarios and experimental plans
Researchers at the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) Xi'an test centre modelled an urban assault in a paper published in August 2025. They proposed assigning six "combat robots" into two assault teams composed of humanoids, robot dogs or other unmanned vehicles working with soldiers to clear a building room by room. The authors envisaged technologies that might be available within five to ten years, but the paper did not specify what weapons robots might carry, the rules for using force, or how encounters with civilians would be handled.
The Eastern Theatre Command produced an AI montage showing humanoids and quadruped military robots attacking Taiwan in a hypothetical conflict, underlining that some PLA bodies are exploring how humanoid systems might fit into urban combat and other complex operations.
Purchases, funding and systems
The PLA issued a tender in May 2025 to purchase humanoid robots with deployment and technical training included. Four months later, another procurement sought systems for intelligent sensing and precise manipulation for humanoid platforms. In June 2026 the military allocated roughly $300,000 for a system to collect and label data from cameras, radars and motion sensors for humanoid robots; the programme must also document the types of terrain the machines can traverse.
State-owned defence giant China North Industries Group Corporation (Norinco) unveiled a humanoid robot called Fuxi in August; it is intended for guard duty, all-weather reconnaissance, intelligent patrolling and hazardous tasks. Norinco's teleoperation system allows a human operator to control the robot's movements, avoiding the present challenge of fully autonomous decision-making.
Technical, legal and ethical hurdles
Significant technical and operational obstacles persist. Aaron Johnson, a mechanical engineering professor at Carnegie Mellon University, says the battlefield's unpredictability presents a particularly severe test for robots. Juo‑Min Chou of Taiwan's Institute for National Defense and Security Research argues that the humanoid form could be advantageous in confined, complex interior spaces—buildings, tunnels, or ship interiors—if balance, sensing and endurance improve.
Legal and ethical issues are also acute. The laws of war require distinction between civilians and combatants and prohibit attacking the wounded or those surrendering. The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that autonomous weapons may struggle to reliably interpret signs of surrender, which often require assessing context, behaviour and intent. The U.S. Army requires legal reviews and realistic testing for autonomous weapons systems; China’s Ministry of National Defence stated in March that AI-enabled weapons should remain under human control.
Wang Yonghua of the Academy of Military Sciences identified substantial unsolved problems in humanoid mobility, sensing and intelligence as recently as November last year. He argued that technological breakthroughs, cheaper manufacturing and industrial-scale production will be necessary for widespread military adoption; if these conditions are met, he warned, humanoid robots could "flood the battlefield."
Why it matters
Humanoid robots could change how urban combat and hazardous missions are conducted, potentially reducing direct risks to human soldiers. But technical maturity, endurance, reliability, legal frameworks and ethical norms will determine what roles such machines can realistically play. The acceleration of research and procurement in China means that questions about military use of humanoid systems could move to the forefront of national security and international law debates before all technical and normative issues are resolved.
