Shanghai sets a target of 8,000 humanoid robots working in its factories by 2028

Shanghai will aim to have 8,000 humanoid robots working in factories by 2028, under an action plan for new-generation intelligent manufacturing launched at the opening of the 26th China International Industry Fair on October 12, 2026, The Paper reported. The plan has four major projects and 19 key tasks, including 500 advanced smart factories and an industrial-robot density of 600 per 10,000 workers by 2028.

Why it matters: most Chinese humanoid targets so far have been about production. This one is about deployment, in a named city, with a date.

What else is in the Shanghai plan?

The humanoid figure is one line in a broader factory-automation plan. The Paper lists full smart-factory coverage for the city’s key manufacturers, 10 vertical-domain large models, 2,000 AI application scenarios in manufacturing and 300 high-level AI agents by 2028. The plan sets the scale of Shanghai’s AI-enabled smart manufacturing equipment industry at more than RMB 200 billion and its system integration industry at RMB 100 billion. The city currently has two national leading-level and 28 national excellence-level smart factories, and a system integration industry above RMB 60 billion.

The plan was announced with the Shanghai Industrial Map 2026, which names 30 industrial clusters each targeting RMB 100 billion or more. Reports we reviewed did not name the issuing department or publish the plan’s full text.

How big is 8,000?

Small against output, large against deployment. China’s industry ministry said in July that national humanoid production was on track to top 100,000 units in 2026; our shipments tracker follows the company counts. Much of that output goes to research, education and pilots: at Unitree, research and education buyers accounted for 73.6% of humanoid revenue in the first nine months of 2025, according to its prospectus. Our factory deployments tracker shows how few are on production lines doing paid work, and how many of those are counted in dozens.

For comparison, Korea plans to deploy 200,000 robots by 2030, across all robot types, and to buy more than 1,700 in 2027. Shanghai’s target is specific to humanoids and to factories.

What does the target not say?

It does not define what counts as entering a factory: a robot on a paid production task, a pilot, or a unit used for data collection would all fit the phrase. It also does not say who pays. Shanghai has not published subsidy terms in the reports we reviewed, and the definition will decide whether the target measures adoption or procurement. China’s first national humanoid standards, effective April 2027, may give buyers a common specification to count against.