China's Unitree launches IPO process amid humanoid robotics boom

Chinese robotics company Unitree Robotics has launched its initial public offering (IPO) process for a listing on Shanghai's STAR Market, as the country's humanoid robotics industry continues to gain momentum.

According to an announcement released on Thursday, the firm based in Hangzhou in east China plans to issue 40.45 million shares, representing 10 percent of its enlarged share capital. The offering will combine strategic placement, offline institutional subscription and online public subscription.

The preliminary price inquiry is scheduled for Aug. 5, while online and offline subscriptions will begin on Aug. 10, Unitree said, without disclosing the trading debut date.

After the listing, Unitree founder Wang Xingxing and related parties will hold 31.29 percent of the company's shares and 65.31 percent of its voting rights.

Founded in 2016, Unitree Robotics has emerged as one of China's leading robotics firms, specializing in the development of quadruped and humanoid robots. In 2025, its humanoid robot shipments surpassed 5,500 units, ranking first globally.

Benefiting from robust demand for embodied artificial intelligence and continued expansion of its business operations, Unitree expects revenue for the first half of 2026 to reach between 1.052 billion yuan (about 155.73 million U.S. dollars) and 1.128 billion yuan, representing a year-on-year increase of 35.62 percent to 45.41 percent.

Gaining widespread attention after its humanoid robots performed at China's Spring Festival Gala, Unitree filed its IPO application on March 20, and obtained regulatory registration approval 104 days later, a record-breaking timeline for STAR Market listings, which underscored regulators' recognition of the strategic importance of embodied intelligence, analysts have noted.

This IPO move reflects a broader trend in China as embodied AI and humanoid robots move closer to large-scale commercialization. Two other firms, Leju Robot and Deep Robotics, had their listing applications accepted in May.

China has identified the robotics industry as a key frontier for gaining a strategic technological edge. In the first half of 2026, China-developed quadruped robots accounted for nearly 70 percent of global sales, according to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

International Data Corporation, a market researcher, forecasts that global shipments of humanoid robots will exceed 510,000 units by 2030, implying a compound annual growth rate of almost 95 percent.

China's Unitree launches IPO process amid humanoid robotics boom

The death toll from the Ebola outbreak affecting five provinces in the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has risen to 1,521, according to a bulletin released Thursday by the country's health authorities.

As of July 28, the DRC had recorded 3,442 confirmed cases, including 1,521 deaths and 615 recoveries, while 797 patients remained in isolation or were hospitalized, the bulletin said.

The case fatality rate stood at 44.2 percent, while 78.3 percent of identified contacts were under monitoring. Response operations are underway across the five affected provinces of Haut-Uele, Ituri, North Kivu, South Kivu and Tshopo.

In Ituri, however, response efforts were disrupted by a strike involving medical workers demanding payment of two months of outstanding wages.

Neighboring Uganda, which declared the end of its Ebola outbreak earlier this week, has continued to provide support to Ituri, including ambulances and laboratory facilities for rapid testing.

On Wednesday, Uganda deployed mobile laboratories staffed by Ugandan medical personnel to Kasenyi, a border town on the shores of Lake Albert in Ituri Province, to facilitate the rapid screening of suspected Ebola cases.

Ebola death toll in DR Congo tops 1,500: official