China's STAR Composite Index closes higher Tuesday

The STAR Composite Index, which reflects the performance of stocks on China's sci-tech innovation board, closed 0.80 percent higher at 2,264.31 points on Tuesday.

The STAR 50 Index, which tracks the 50 largest stocks listed on the board that also meet certain liquidity requirements, closed 0.77 percent higher at 2,009.73 points.

The sci-tech innovation board, commonly known as the STAR Market, was inaugurated in June 2019 at Shanghai Stock Exchange. It is designed to support companies in the high-tech and strategic emerging sectors.

Chinese robot maker Unitree Robotics made its debut on the Shanghai Stock Exchange's sci-tech innovation board, or STAR Market, on Wednesday, with shares surged 629.44 percent to open at 1,100 yuan (about 161.99 U.S. dollars).

The Hangzhou-based company is offering about 40.45 million shares at 150.8 yuan (about 22.2 U.S. dollars) each, corresponding to a price-to-earnings ratio of 219.23 times, according to its prospectus.

Unitree said the funds raised will go toward intelligent robot model development, robot hardware R and D, new product development and manufacturing base construction, as the business moves from robot manufacturing toward building a broader ecosystem for high-performance general-purpose robots.

Unitree's listing comes as China's robotics sector gains global prominence. Chinese companies accounted for nearly 70 percent of global quadruped robot sales in the first half of 2026, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

Market forecasts point to continued growth. Global humanoid robot shipments are projected to exceed 510,000 units by 2030, growing at a compound annual rate of about 95 percent, according to International Data Corporation, a market researcher.

Founded in 2016, Unitree has emerged as one of China's leading robotics firms, specializing in the development of quadruped and humanoid robots, with fully self-developed core components including motors, reducers, controllers and LiDAR.

Its humanoid robot shipments surpassed 5,500 units in 2025, ranking first globally with a 32.4 percent share of the world market, according to a 2025 humanoid robot market research report.

Benefiting from the gradual expansion of downstream application scenarios for humanoid robots and sustained market demand, the company posted revenue of about 1.15 billion yuan (about 170 million U.S. dollars) in the first half of 2026, up 48.54 percent year on year.