China Raises IPO Bar for Humanoid Robot Startups as Valuation Concerns Grow

The reported guidance comes as more than two dozen humanoid-related “embodied AI” companies have filed for Hong Kong listings. Mainland companies seeking to list in the city also require approval from the CSRC. Sources said expectations have now fallen to only a handful — or potentially none — of the current applicants successfully reaching public markets.

Under the reported criteria, humanoid companies would need sustainable revenue supported by commercial orders, demonstrate narrowing losses — potentially through a three-year forecast — and possess important proprietary technology such as robotic control systems or hands. One source indicated companies may need to satisfy two of the three requirements. The CSRC has not publicly confirmed the reported guidance.

The increased scrutiny follows the high-profile August listing of Unitree, one of China’s best-known humanoid robotics companies. Unitree raised about 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) and its shares surged more than 460% on their Shanghai debut, closing at 845 yuan. By Monday, however, the stock had fallen to 459.65 yuan, nearly half its first-day closing price.

Commercialization remains a central challenge for the industry. Unitree founder Wang Xingxing said shortly after the IPO that widespread commercial applications beyond demonstrations such as dancing robots could still be years away. Hong Kong-listed rival Ubtech has also fallen more than 40% this year and reported a first-half operating loss of 279 million yuan.

Those challenges contrast with the enormous amount of capital entering the sector. China now has more than 100 humanoid robotics companies as Beijing promotes “embodied AI” as part of its broader technology strategy. Investment reached 47.09 billion yuan in the second quarter, more than twice the first-quarter level and over six times the amount recorded a year earlier, according to Xiniu.

Questions about valuations extend beyond robotics to China’s broader AI industry. Rhodium Group recently estimated that Chinese AI companies generate only around 10% of the revenue produced by U.S. leaders Anthropic and OpenAI. Its analysis also found significantly higher valuation-to-revenue ratios at some Chinese startups, including Moonshot and DeepSeek, compared with their U.S. counterparts.

The tougher IPO environment could shift investor attention from technological demonstrations and fundraising momentum toward measurable commercial performance. For China’s humanoid startups, the next stage may depend increasingly on proving that robots can generate recurring revenue, reduce losses and differentiate themselves through proprietary technology — rather than relying primarily on expectations surrounding the broader AI boom.