China's Unitree unveils 'Superman' robot as fervour builds ahead of Shanghai debut
A staff member places a Unitree's R1 humanoid robot back in its seat at a Unitree store in Beijing, China, August 1, 2026. — REUTERS
China's Unitree on Monday unveiled a new high-speed robot it dubbed "Superman", days before becoming the first general-purpose robotics company to list on mainland China's stock market.
Unitree, the world's biggest humanoid-robot maker by sales, will start trading in Shanghai on Wednesday after raising 6.1 billion yuan ($905 million) in an initial public offering last week.
The company, based in the eastern Chinese tech hub of Hangzhou, said it developed the new robot in just over three months. It achieved a standing jump of two metres and reached a top speed of 12.66 metres per second.
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.
- Standing high jump: 2 meters
— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 17, 2026
- Top speed: 12.66 m/s (0.85 m leg length)
These are the performance figures for Chinese manufacturer #Unitree’s new robot, “Superman,” which surpasses both corresponding human world records. The company told the Global Times in a statement that the… pic.twitter.com/NtnH15Z8YH
The IPO was more than 8,000 times oversubscribed by retail investors, a record for Shanghai's tech-focused STAR Market.
In a social-media post last week, Unitree said it had cumulatively produced and delivered about 18,000 bipedal humanoid robots across multiple models as of July.
Derivatives market points to strong debut
Unitree said the robot remained a work in progress and could be improved further in the coming months.
Founder Wang Xingxing gained national prominence after securing a front-row seat at a summit hosted by Chinese President Xi Jinping for leading technology entrepreneurs last year.
The startup is also backed by some of China's most influential technology companies, including Tencent, Alibaba, and DeepSeek.
Read: China unveils living AI — robots work, drive and interact
Ahead of Unitree's Shanghai listing, derivative trading in offshore markets has pointed to a strong debut.
Its shares may also benefit from a broader recovery in Chinese technology stocks following last month's selloff.
The STAR50 Index has rebounded about 15% from a three-month low hit in early August.