--- title: "UBTECH's Zhou Jian let a humanoid ring the HKEX bell, then aimed at the home" date: 2026-10-05 category: Builders site: NeuroAI canonical: https://neuroai.site/a/na-people-zhou-jian-ubtech-humanoid language: en --- # UBTECH's Zhou Jian let a humanoid ring the HKEX bell, then aimed at the home > Zhou Jian founded UBTECH in 2012 and listed it in Hong Kong in 2023, sending the Walker humanoid to ring the exchange's opening bell. On December 29, 2023, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange's 132-year-old bell was struck by something with no pulse. A humanoid robot named Walker S stepped forward, raised a mallet, and rang the open — standing next to the man who built the company, Zhou Jian (周剑). It was the first time in the exchange's history that a robot, not a celebrity or a banker, rang the bell. The message was deliberate: the age of the humanoid (人形机器人) had, in the view of its biggest Chinese backer, arrived. ## A robot that rang its own IPO UBTECH (优必选) was founded in Shenzhen in March 2012. More than eleven years later it listed on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange under code 9880.HK, pricing the offer at HK$90 a share and raising more than HK$1 billion (≈ US$130M). At listing the company was valued near HK$38 billion. The detail that made headlines was the robot at the bell — a first in the exchange's history. Zhou Jian, chairman, executive director and CEO, used the moment to repeat the founding line: "let smart robots into every household" (让智能机器人走进千家万户). ## Three arenas, one bet UBTECH does not aim at a single product. Zhou Jian frames the humanoid (人形机器人) as useful in three places: - **Industrial manufacturing** — the first large-scale use, where robots take repetitive line work. - **Commercial services** — greeters, guides, and logistics helpers. - **Home companionship** — the longest-term, hardest, and potentially largest market. Of the three, Zhou Jian argues manufacturing will be the first to scale: a factory's tasks are repeatable and its floors are forgiving compared with a cluttered living room. Commercial service robots are the fastest to deploy today, while the home remains the prize that no one has yet cracked. The company reports having sold over 760,000 robots, served more than 900 enterprise customers, and reached 50-plus countries. It holds 1,800-plus patents and says R&D ate 56.5% of revenue across 2020 to mid-2023. ## The money behind the machine The numbers show a company spending heavily to stay ahead. In 2022 UBTECH recorded revenue above ¥1 billion (≈ US$141M / HK$1.1B), with R&D at 42.5% of revenue and a net loss of ¥987 million (≈ US$139M / HK$1.09B). Its high-end Walker series carries an average price near ¥6 million (≈ US$0.85M / HK$6.6M), while basic education robots sell for under ¥15,000 (≈ US$2,100 / HK$16,500). Heavy R&D and no profit yet are the cost of the lead, Zhou Jian argues. The company has begun pilots with new-energy vehicle and electronics makers, testing Walker-class robots on real assembly lines — the kind of unglamorous, repeatable work where a humanoid (人形机器人) can first earn its keep. ## Why a humanoid is the hard end of robotics A wheeled cleaner is easy; a two-legged robot that can grasp, balance, and reason is the Everest of the field. Walking is largely solved, but dextrous hands, reliable vision in messy homes, and the common sense not to knock over a cup are not. Zhou Jian's bet is that industrial floors, with their repeatable tasks, are the training ground that will eventually pay for the home robot — a classic "enterprise-first, consumer-later" path. ## The wider field UBTECH is not alone. Globally, Tesla's Optimus and a wave of Chinese humanoid (人形机器人) startups are racing the same goal, and the MIIT guideline explicitly aims to grow two or three globally influential Chinese firms. The real contest is less about who rings a bell first and more about who ships reliable robots to real factories at a price plants will pay. ## Riding a national wave UBTECH's listing landed weeks after China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a guideline for the humanoid robot (人形机器人) industry, targeting an innovation system by 2025 and two or three globally influential humanoid firms. The China Institute of Electronics has projected the domestic humanoid market could reach about ¥870 billion (≈ US$122B / HK$957B) by 2030. Zhou Jian is positioning UBTECH to be one of the names that target names. ## Honest limitations UBTECH is not yet profitable, and its headline humanoids remain extraordinarily expensive — a ¥6 million price tag puts the Walker far from any living room. The 2030 market forecast is an industry projection, not a settled fact, and humanoids still face real gaps in dexterity, cost, and trust. Figures here come from the company's IPO disclosures and filings; independent audits of long-term viability are not yet in, and a robot that rings a bell is a long way from one that earns its keep in a home. ## What readers can do now - **If you run a factory**, track UBTECH and peer Walker-class deployments in auto and electronics lines — that is where the first real payoff is landing. - **If you invest**, read the prospectus and note the losses before the hype; the humanoid story is a multi-year one. - **If you just want a robot at home**, start with today's available education and service robots; a capable home humanoid (人形机器人) is still years, not months, away. --- Published by NeuroAI (https://neuroai.site/) — https://neuroai.site/a/na-people-zhou-jian-ubtech-humanoid Free to quote with attribution and a link to the original.