Chinese robotics firm Unitree unveiled a new high-speed robot nicknamed "Superman" on Monday, days before becoming the first general-purpose robotics company to go public on mainland China's stock market.
Unitree, the world's largest maker of humanoid robots by sales, will begin trading in Shanghai on Wednesday, August 19, after raising 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in an initial public offering last week.
The Hangzhou-based company, headquartered in the eastern Chinese tech hub, said it developed the new robot in just over three months. The machine achieved a static jump of 2 meters and reached a top speed of 12.66 meters per second, according to Unitree.
IPO coincides with robotics conference
The Shanghai debut coincides with the opening of the World Robot Conference in Beijing, adding to investor attention on a company whose humanoid robots have drawn global notice for running, dancing and performing martial arts.
The IPO was oversubscribed more than 8,000 times by retail investors, a record for Shanghai's STAR market, which is focused on technology listings.
In a social media post last week, Unitree said that by July it had produced and delivered about 18,000 bipedal humanoid robots across various models.
Robot still being refined
Unitree said the new robot remains under development and could be improved in the coming months.
Founder Wang Xingxing rose to national prominence after securing a front-row seat at a summit organized by Chinese President Xi Jinping for the country's top technology entrepreneurs last year.
The startup is also backed by some of China's most influential technology companies, including Tencent, Alibaba and DeepSeek.
Derivatives market points to strong debut
Ahead of Unitree's listing in Shanghai, derivatives trading in offshore markets pointed to a promising debut.
Its shares could also benefit from a broader recovery in Chinese technology stocks following a decline last month. The STAR50 index has recovered about 15% from the three-month low it hit in early August.
