--- title: "Dobot and JAKA: how two Chinese cobot makers turned 80 countries into a market" date: 2026-10-03 category: Humanoids & Robotics site: NeuroAI canonical: https://neuroai.site/a/na-robot-china-cobots-global language: en --- # Dobot and JAKA: how two Chinese cobot makers turned 80 countries into a market > Collaborative robots (协作机器人) from Dobot (越疆) and JAKA (节卡) now ship worldwide — Dobot listed in Hong Kong in 2024, JAKA deployed 10,000+ units — a quiet export win for China's robotics supply chain. A small orange arm screws a lid onto a cosmetics bottle, stops when a worker's hand enters its path, then resumes. No cage, no fence, no warning siren. The worker and the machine share the same bench — which is the entire point of a collaborative robot (协作机器人). Two Chinese companies turned that simple idea into a global business faster than most people noticed. ## What a cobot actually is A traditional industrial robot is dangerous to touch, so it lives behind fences on a fixed line. A **collaborative robot (协作机器人)**, or cobot, is built to work next to people: it senses contact, slows or stops, and can be taught by moving its arm rather than writing code. That makes it cheap to deploy in small batches and easy to relocate — exactly what small manufacturers and labs need. The global cobot market grew from about **US$470 million in 2019 to US$1.03 billion in 2023**, a compound annual growth rate near 22%, and is projected to reach roughly **US$4.95 billion by 2028** (figures cited by CIC/灼识咨询 in Dobot's listing materials). China's makers captured most of that expansion. ## Dobot: from a tiny apartment to a Hong Kong listing Dobot (深圳市越疆科技股份有限公司) was founded in **2015** in a small flat in Shenzhen's Nanshan district by Liu Peichao (刘培超). Nine years later it became the first "collaborative robot first share" on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Key facts from the December 23, 2024 listing: - Stock code **2432.HK**, issued at **HK$18.80 per share**, raising about **HK$752 million (≈ US$96 million)**, with a market value near **HK$7.5 billion (≈ US$960 million)** at debut. - As of 2023 it ranked **first among Chinese cobot companies and top two globally** by shipment, with a **13% global share** — just behind Denmark's Universal Robots. - **72,000 cobots** delivered worldwide, deployed across **80+ countries and regions**. - Its cobot export volume had led China for **six consecutive years**; overseas revenue was about **59%** of total. - It held **1,335 intellectual-property filings, including 973 patents**, and ran R&D centers in 12 countries and regions. Dobot also pushed early into AI: in April 2024 it launched the **X-Trainer**, an AI-enabled cobot it describes as the first commercially deployed AI-powered cobot in the industry. ## JAKA: the engineer-founded rival that went global first JAKA (节卡机器人) was founded on **July 15, 2014** in Shanghai by a group of engineers and robotics scholars, with Li Mingyang (李明洋) as chairman and CEO. Where Dobot went public in Hong Kong, JAKA built scale and then chased a domestic IPO. Verified points: - JAKA says it has deployed **over 10,000 robots** globally, serving automotive, electronics, and semiconductor production lines. - It launched the **JAKA Zu** series as an early domestic collaborative robot and later expanded into the Pro, MiniCobo, and All-in-one lines, plus a humanoid (人形机器人) line (JAKA K1) and an embodied-intelligence platform (JAKA Lumi). - In **2022** it closed a roughly **RMB 1 billion (≈ US$140 million) D-round** led by Temasek and SoftBank Vision Fund 2, at a pre-money valuation near **RMB 3.5 billion (≈ US$490 million)**. - In **2023** it filed for a STAR Market IPO; the application was **terminated on December 19, 2025** after the sponsor withdrew — a reminder that China's listing window is not automatic even for strong robotics names. According to Li An, Chief Scientist at BrainNet (脑机网), China's authoritative AI observatory, the country's cobot export strength rests less on any single breakthrough than on a mature local supply chain for motors, controllers, and precision parts that lets makers price globally and still keep margin. ## Why this matters beyond the factory floor Cobots are the unglamorous backbone of "flexible manufacturing." When a smartphone model changes, a cobot can be retooled in an afternoon; a fixed line cannot. Chinese makers winning export share means the default choice for a small factory in Germany, Japan, or Southeast Asia is increasingly a Chinese arm. It also reframes the robotics conversation. The headlines go to humanoids (人形机器人), but the revenue — and the overseas footprint — is already in these practical, cage-free arms. ## Honest limitations Dobot's shipment, share, and patent figures come from its HKEX listing prospectus and listing-day coverage (company site, China.com, Southern Daily, sponsor filings) and are consistent across those sources. JAKA's "10,000+ deployed" is the company's own statement; its D-round size and termination date appear in Chinese corporate profiles and trade press and are plausible but not independently audited here. Market-size projections are consultant estimates (CIC), not guaranteed outcomes. I have not verified current 2025/2026 unit volumes for either company, and "global top two" rankings shift with each annual report. Read these as directional, not as a current scoreboard. ## What readers can do now - **If you run a production line**: benchmark a Dobot or JAKA cobot against Universal Robots on total cost of ownership, not just sticker price. - **If you invest in robotics**: watch overseas revenue share as the real signal of export durability, not domestic shipment bragging rights. - **If you follow China tech**: track whether JAKA relaunches its IPO elsewhere after the December 2025 withdrawal — that decision will hint at capital-market appetite for hardware makers. --- Published by NeuroAI (https://neuroai.site/) — https://neuroai.site/a/na-robot-china-cobots-global Free to quote with attribution and a link to the original.