China's military is systematically building the foundation to deploy humanoid robots in combat, according to a Reuters investigation that reviewed more than 100 Chinese military procurement notices, academic studies, patents, government records, and defense-company materials1,3,6,7.
Two days after August's World Humanoid Robot Games, where a humanoid ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds, the People's Liberation Army's official newspaper called for researchers to accelerate the transfer of cutting-edge robotics technologies from laboratories to military training grounds. Separately, on September 8, 2026, Unitree released a video claiming its humanoid robot UnifoLM-X2-1.0 had achieved fully autonomous fighting for the first time2.
The Reuters review found that China's work on military humanoid robots gained momentum in 2025 and 2026, with research concentrated on perception, manipulation, and training data. Chinese manufacturers accounted for about 95% of global humanoid robot shipments in 2025, according to Bank of America Global Research, giving the People's Liberation Army broad access to commercial hardware.
Researchers at National University of Defense Technology described a hypothetical assault scenario in an August 2025 paper: six "combat robots," including humanoids, robot dogs, and unmanned vehicles, would split between two assault teams to clear an enemy-occupied building floor by floor and room by room. The authors projected that equipment for such scenarios could be ready within five to ten years.
Norinco's Fuxi humanoid robot can perform sentry duty, all-weather reconnaissance, and intelligent patrols, according to company materials. Norinco's teleoperation system allows a human operator to control the robot remotely rather than relying on full autonomy.
Procurement records reveal concrete spending. In May 2025, the People's Liberation Army issued a tender to purchase a humanoid robot, including installation and technical training. In June 2026, the PLA budgeted about $300,000 for a system to collect and label camera, radar, and motion data for humanoids.
A July 2025 PLA Daily article argued that humanoid missions could eventually evolve "from supporting combat toward primary combat" and discussed robots firing on a living target verified by a human. In December 2025, PLA Eastern Theater Command released an AI-generated montage depicting military robots overwhelming Taiwan's defenses in a hypothetical future conflict.
Reuters found no evidence that China has deployed an armed humanoid with an operational People's Liberation Army unit. Wang Yonghua, a researcher at Academy of Military Sciences, wrote in a November commentary that humanoids face unresolved problems in movement, perception, and intelligence, and that technological breakthroughs, lower production costs, and industrial-scale manufacturing would be necessary before widespread military adoption. China's defense ministry said in March that AI-powered weapons should remain under human control.
The U.S. Army launched a competition in 2025 to develop "militarized humanoid capabilities" that could eventually operate alongside soldiers, with as much as $1.25 million available for follow-on contracts. Malcolm Davis of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute said humanoid robots are not currently practical battlefield systems but could become so within five to ten years. The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that autonomous weapons could struggle to recognize surrender.
ANALYSIS The convergence of China's dominant commercial humanoid manufacturing base with active military procurement and doctrinal writing creates a pipeline that no other country currently matches in breadth, even as deployed battlefield capability remains years away.