China's first automated humanoid robot manufacturing line with an annual capacity of 10,000 units went into operation on Sunday in Foshan City, south China's Guangdong Province.
This marks a major step forward in China's efforts to achieve mass production of humanoid robots, a strategic sector underlined in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2026) for economic and social development.
The line, featuring 24 digitalized, precision assembly processes, can produce a humanoid robot every 30 minutes on average, boosting the efficiency by over 50 percent compared with traditional manufacturing methods.
A total of 77 procedures are in place to test the safety performance of the components and finished units, ensuring the stability and reliability of each robot rolling off the line.
The line also features high flexibility, capable of mixed-model and multi-unit assembly.
Line to produce 10,000 humanoid robots annually operational in Guangdong
With the Pinglu Canal set to open within the year, the new river-sea shipping corridor is poised to reshape the logistic landscape for the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and southwest China while spurring industrial and infrastructural upgrades, as its economic ripple effects have already spread beyond the region.
The Pinglu Canal, currently under construction in south China's Guangxi, stretches more than 134 kilometers, aiming to link the Xijiang River, a major waterway in southwest China, with ports in the Beibu Gulf.
Regarded as the shortest and most economical and convenient waterway route from Guangxi and southwest China to the region of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), the project is already beginning to generate growing economic spillover effects.
In Pingtang Village, located at the canal's starting point, local residents are seeking to leverage the area's geographic advantage by building a cultural and tourism brand as the "first village of the canal," hoping to give the local economy a fresh start.
Moreover, the canal's benefits are extending to more regions and industries.
At the Xijiang Heavy Industry shipbuilding base, about 110 kilometers from the canal's starting point, the construction of a 5,000-ton river-sea direct shipping demonstration vessel for the Pinglu Canal has completed several key procedures.
The new generation of ships, designed to support the canal's core transport capacity, features greener and smarter technologies.
"The ship is equipped with an LNG clean-energy power system as well as seven functional modules including an intelligent engine room, reducing carbon dioxide emissions by 23 percent and sulfur compounds by 99 percent. The Pinglu Canal will not only change the shipping routes, but also drive the transformation and upgrading of our shipbuilding industry. This is an unprecedented opportunity," said Wei Mingliu, assistant general manager of the shipbuilder.
Meanwhile, Qinzhou Port, located at the canal's sea outlet, has completed renovations of multiple berths to meet demands for large-tonnage, multi-cargo and high-efficiency multimodal transport which is soon to emerge after the canal opens.
In addition, nearby ports are also accelerating upgrades of port infrastructure and cargo distribution systems.
"After the Pinglu Canal opens, it will rewrite the history of inland shipping in Guangxi and southwest China that relies on 'detours through Guangdong to reach the sea', reshape the regional cargo transport pattern, and greatly expand the service radius of the Beibu Gulf Port, enabling its leap from a port to a 'transportation hub' in overall capacity," said Yu Shuoxian, an engineer from Qinzhou automated container terminal.
In fact, the canal's influence has already extended beyond Guangxi.
In a petrochemical industrial park less than three kilometers from Qinzhou Port, a new plant is being built by a new energy company from southwest China's Sichuan Province. It is expected to add 300,000 tons of annual capacity upon completion next year.
According to a senior executive, the company is attracted by the logistics cost advantage brought by the Pinglu Canal.
"Qinzhou Port is the nearest seaport outlet port to the Sichuan-Chongqing region. Our raw materials mainly come from the Sichuan-Chongqing region, but our products are primarily sold to Europe. After the Pinglu Canal opens, both raw materials and products can be transported by waterway. Just in terms of raw material transportation costs, it is expected to drop directly by 10 percent to 20 percent, which directly enhances our market competitiveness," said Xia Diqiang, CFO of the company.
In addition to Sichuan, companies from Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou and other southwestern regions within the canal's reach are accelerating their entry into the canal's prime shipping route.
Bulk cargo shipped via the Pinglu Canal directly to the Beibu Gulf and onward to global routes is expected to significantly reduce logistics costs.
At the same time, industrial coordination is also taking shape. Port-adjacent, water-oriented industries including AI, next-generation information technology, modern green chemical engineering, and nonferrous metals are being planned along the canal route.
Authorities in Guangxi said they are strengthening industrial cooperation with eastern coastal regions and provinces along the New International Land-Sea Trade Corridor, a key logistics network connecting China's western regions to global markets, promoting integration of cross-border industrial and supply chains, and fully leveraging the Pinglu Canal's comprehensive benefits as a backbone project of the corridor.
Ports, shipbuilders, industries race to seize opportunities from Pinglu Canal construction
