CHINA'S Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) announced Saturday the establishment of a standards development committee for humanoid robots and embodied intelligence, aiming to better regulate the industry and foster its long-term growth.

Jiang Lei, chief scientist of the Shanghai-based National and Local Co-Built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center and a member of the committee, stated that the industry urgently requires standardization in areas such as embodied data, task execution capabilities, core component interfaces, simulation and testing, as well as safety and ethics. He emphasized that these standards are crucial for ensuring product compatibility, safety, and large-scale deployment.

Jiang added that the divergent technological approaches currently adopted by various enterprises have hindered the widespread application of such products. The standards committee is tasked with setting unified safety and ethics baselines, implementing oversight based on specific scenarios and development stages, and embedding safety considerations directly into technical standards.

Key industry figures, including Wang Xingxing, chairman of Unitree, and Jiao Jichao, vice president of UBTECH, have been selected as committee members.

Ke Jixing, deputy head of the MIIT, noted that China's humanoid robot and embodied intelligence industry has developed rapidly. The establishment of the committee comes at a crucial time and will further enhance the industry’s competitiveness, he said.

During the 14th Five-Year Plan period (2021-25), China's humanoid robot industry achieved rapid and leapfrog development.

Xu Xiaolan, president of the Chinese Institute of Electronics (CIE), explained that humanoid robots integrate multiple cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), chips, sensors, materials, and software.

The industry is transitioning rapidly from the technology validation phase to large-scale commercialization in 2025. The global embodied intelligence market is projected to reach 19.525 billion yuan ($2.78 billion) this year, with China accounting for nearly half of the total. Earlier this year, the CIE forecast that China's humanoid robot market could reach 870 billion yuan by 2030.(SD-Agencies)