On New Year’s Eve, February 16, 2026, when people across the country were immersed in the spirit of reunion, the machinery field ushered in the hottest topic of the year.
On the stage of CCTV’s Year of the Horse Spring Festival Gala, four groups of domestic robots collectively dominated the screen, ranging from language sketches to martial arts performances, from singing and dancing to participating in micro-films, completely breaking the inherent perception that “robots can only show off their skills” and becoming the most eye-catching “hardcore protagonist” of the Spring Festival Gala.
At the same time, the industrial truth behind the Spring Festival Gala robots was simultaneously exposed. Yushu Technology’s humanoid robot topped the global sales list, and overseas orders are scheduled until May. Adding to the recent multiple benefits of the machinery industry, China’s mechanical intelligent manufacturing is starting a new year and a new journey with a new attitude.
Different from the “guest appearance” of robots in previous years, this year’s Spring Festival Gala can be called a “special show for domestic robots”. Four domestic brands, Songyan Dynamics, Yushu Technology, Magic Atom, and Galaxy General, compete on the same stage, covering the four core programs of sketches, martial arts, song and dance, and micro-films. Every performance can be called a “god”, making netizens say “This is the display of China’s intelligent manufacturing”!
The most groundbreaking one is the Songyan Power Robot, which partnered with Cai Ming and Wang Tianfang in the skit “Grandma’s Favorite” and became the first humanoid robot to participate deeply in a language program in the history of the Spring Festival Gala.
Different from the simple action display in the past, this robot has roles, lines, and body interactions. It can capture the actor’s movements and tone in real time, accurately complete delicate actions such as handing things and supporting people, and can even catch the “baggage” thrown by the actor. The high-precision sensing system equipped with it has zero lags and zero errors throughout the process. It uses technology to interpret the warmth of “family companionship” and also proves the maturity of domestic robot interaction technology.
What set the audience ablaze was the robot performance of Ushu Technology. As an “old contestant” participating in the Spring Festival Gala for the third time, this year it teamed up with Henan Tagou Martial Arts School to bring “Martial Arts BOT”, abandoning the dance display in previous years and directly challenging Chinese martial arts.
16 Yushu G1/H1 humanoid robots, with 0.001-second servo response and millimeter-level movement accuracy, move in sync with martial arts champions, kicking, punching, horse stance, and flying in one go. The steel body performs Chinese Kung Fu that combines strength and softness. The queue is neat, the momentum is like a rainbow, and there are no mistakes in the whole process.
It is reported that the localization rate of the core components of this robot exceeds 85%, and the technical strength behind it has already achieved global leadership.
In addition, the Magic Atomic Robot danced with singers such as Chen Xiaochun and Yi Yangqianxi to “Building the Future with Intelligence”. Multiple machines collaborated to complete difficult formation changes, and the accuracy of their movements surpassed that of human dancers; the Galaxy Universal Robot participated in Shen Teng and Ma Li’s New Year’s short film, equipped with a self-developed embodied intelligence system, capable of autonomous decision-making and sensing emotions, becoming a warm “character in the drama”, marking the transition of China’s embodied intelligence from “being able to do things” to “being able to empathize”.
It is worth noting that these four groups of robots are all independently developed in China, and none of their core components, control systems, or large models rely on foreign technology. This is also the first time that “all Chinese-made robots” appeared on the same stage at the world’s top party, breaking the technological monopoly of foreign humanoid robots and demonstrating the confidence and strength of China’s intelligent mechanical manufacturing to more than 200 countries and regions around the world.
The wonderful performance on the Spring Festival Gala stage is just a microcosm of the explosion of the domestic robot industry.
On the eve of the Spring Festival Gala, Yushu Technology announced its latest performance and brought great news: in 2025, its actual shipments of humanoid robots exceeded 5,500 units, and its total mass production exceeded 6,500 units, ranking first in global humanoid robot shipments, while the world’s second-place shipment volume was less than half of it. This is also the first time that domestic robots have taken the lead in the high-end humanoid robot track.
What is even more encouraging is that domestic robots are not only technically superior, but also more competitive in price.
The standard version of Yushu G1 is priced at 39,999 yuan, which is close to 40,000 yuan per unit. Compared with overseas products with the same performance, which can easily cost hundreds of thousands or hundreds of thousands, the price is directly reduced by two-thirds.
Today, European and American university laboratories, German and Japanese industrial companies, and customers in the Middle East are queuing up to purchase. Stanford University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are purchasing in bulk for scientific research. Overseas orders have been scheduled until May 2026. Many agents have taken the initiative to increase the proportion of advance payments. Domestic robots that were “stuck by foreign countries” in the past have now become “hot meat” in the global market.
The rise of Yushu is supported by an entire mature domestic machinery supply chain.
At present, 26 A-share listed companies have entered the Yushu supply chain. Zhongli De and Green Harmonic provide reducers, Wolong Electric Drive supplies joint modules, and Obi Zhongguang provides 3D vision solutions. From core components to complete machine manufacturing, the entire chain is independently controllable.
What is even more noteworthy is that Yushu has realized “robots making robots”, deploying self-developed robots on production lines to achieve automated mass production, and continuous improvement in yield and production capacity. This maturity of the industrial ecology is an advantage that other countries cannot replicate in a short period of time.
In addition to the industry enthusiasm brought by the Spring Festival Gala robots, the machinery industry has also received many major benefits recently, from data recovery to policy support, which fully demonstrates the vitality of the industry and adds more “confidence” for the New Year.
Previous data showed that in January 2026, my country’s excavator sales reached 18,708 units, a year-on-year surge of 49.50%, setting a new high for the same period since 2021. Among them, 9,985 units were exported, a year-on-year increase of 40.50%, and the export volume hit a record high for the same period in history. Non-excavation categories such as loaders also recovered simultaneously, with a year-on-year increase of 48.5%, marking a comprehensive recovery of the construction machinery industry.
Innovative strength also continues to increase. By the end of 2025, my country’s machinery industry has more than 500 individual champion companies in the manufacturing industry and more than 5,000 “little giant” companies that specialize in new technologies. In 2024, the machinery industry-related R&D funding will reach 763.56 billion yuan, an increase of 47.7% from 2020. The intensity of R&D investment is higher than the national average level of industry and manufacturing, and the independent controllability of core technologies continues to improve.
In addition, Daqing Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd. announced that the Ping An 6H well achieved a daily footage of 1,010 meters and a mechanical penetration rate of 63.44 meters per hour, setting new records for daily drilling footage and mechanical penetration in the Sichuan and Chongqing exploration area of the Daqing Oilfield, demonstrating a technological breakthrough in the field of petroleum machinery in my country.
From the robot “actors” on the Spring Festival Gala stage, to the world’s best-selling domestic equipment, to the skyrocketing sales of construction machinery and record-breaking drilling technology, this New Year’s Eve, China Machinery used hard-core displays to tell the story of its leap from a “mechanical power” to a “mechanical power”.
Behind these hot spots is the in-depth work of countless scientific researchers, the collaborative efforts of the domestic supply chain, and the continuous breakthroughs of China’s intelligent manufacturing.
The New Year begins a new journey. With policy escort, technology iteration, and market explosion, the domestic machinery industry will surely usher in a broader space for development. More “Intelligent Made in China” mechanical equipment will go abroad and go global, writing a new era chapter for Chinese machinery.
