China Accelerates Humanoid Robot Deployment to Counter Workforce Decline

China faces a projected loss of 37 million working‑age people over the next decade, with the United Nations estimating the labour‑force could fall to about 300 million by the end of the century. In response, the government is rapidly expanding the use of humanoid robots in manufacturing and services. A robot‑life‑cycle management platform was launched in May 2025 by the Hubei Provincial Humanoid Robotics Innovation Centre under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, registering more than 28 000 units across 200 models. Investment in robotics reached US$3.4 billion in the first five months of 2025, surpassing the total 2024 spending and outpacing U.S. investment by 42 percent. Authorities aim to integrate robots into supply‑chains by 2027 and target a domestic market value of 300 billion yuan by 2035. Analysts project a need for up to 24 million humanoid units by the mid‑2030s, roughly 4 % of the current Chinese labour pool, to offset an estimated 60 % of the anticipated workforce shortfall. While adoption is accelerating, a recent survey indicated only 23 % of buyers were satisfied with their robots, highlighting ongoing challenges in hardware reliability and software capability.