--- title: "XAG's Farm Robots Reach 70 Countries as China's Second-Biggest Agri-Drone Maker Eyes a Hong Kong IPO" date: 2026-11-05 category: Humanoids & Robotics site: NeuroAI canonical: https://neuroai.site/a/na-robot-xag-agri-drone-global language: en --- # XAG's Farm Robots Reach 70 Countries as China's Second-Biggest Agri-Drone Maker Eyes a Hong Kong IPO > Guangzhou-based XAG has turned agricultural drones and farm robots into a profitable global business, with revenue of 1.17 billion yuan in 2025 and a reported Hong Kong listing in the works. A rice farmer in Arkansas, a soybean grower in Brazil and a cotton farmer in Xinjiang share a problem: fewer young hands to spray, seed and scout their fields. Increasingly, the machine they turn to comes from the same city — Guangzhou, home of XAG (极飞科技), China's second-largest agricultural drone maker by revenue after DJI. Now the company's decade-long bet on farm automation is showing up in its books, and reportedly in a listing plan. ## Key takeaways - XAG, the world's second-largest agricultural drone maker by revenue after DJI, turned profitable in 2025 on revenue of about 1.17 billion yuan (≈ US$165 million / HK$1.28 billion). - Its machines operate in more than 70 countries, overseas sales are about 36 percent of revenue, and the 2026 X Series automates the full drone turnaround in roughly three minutes. - A reported Hong Kong IPO would fund the compliance-and-distributor grind that actually wins farm markets. ## From loss-maker to profit, with the world as its market XAG was founded in 2007 and pivoted to agriculture in 2013. According to figures cited around its reported Hong Kong listing plan, revenue grew from 614.5 million yuan in 2023 to about 1.17 billion yuan (≈ US$165 million / HK$1.28 billion) in 2025, with the company swinging from a 132.8 million yuan loss to a 123.8 million yuan profit. Agricultural drones accounted for about 87.6 percent of 2025 revenue. The global footprint is the deeper story. XAG says its products now operate in more than 70 countries, supporting food producers on about 140 million hectares of farmland. Overseas revenue reached 419 million yuan in 2025, about 35.9 percent of the total. The Financial Times, which profiled the company, noted that its latest models have even received US sales approval despite restrictions on Chinese drones. - Founded 2007 in Guangzhou; agriculture pivot in 2013 - Products in 70+ countries, about 140 million hectares supported - 2025 revenue ≈ US$165 million; first meaningful profit - Overseas share: about 36 percent of revenue - Reported to be preparing a Hong Kong IPO ## What the machines actually do on the farm XAG's product line reads like a farm's hiring list. Agricultural drones carry tanks up to 85 liters and spray, spread seed or granular fertilizer, and survey fields. Unmanned ground vehicles (农业无人车) haul and top-dress between crop rows. Autopilot retrofits turn a farmer's existing tractor into a self-driving one. Sensors and farm-management software tie it together. The 2026 X Series launch showed where this is heading: a full turnaround loop with no human in it. An X100 or X150 drone lands on the XA1 drone station, where the LM1 smart liquid mixer recharges it, refills the spray tank, cleans the system and launches it again — in about three minutes. The company also added the RM80, an electric four-wheel-drive autonomous mower for orchards and field margins. The economics are the pitch. XAG says a large drone's per-acre operating cost is a small fraction of a crewed crop helicopter's, and co-founder Justin Gong has argued that full autonomy — the station handles charging and refilling, so no trained pilot is needed on site — removes the biggest adoption barrier: the shortage of licensed drone pilots. ## Why a Chinese drone maker worries about Brazil, Arkansas and Osaka alike Farm labor shortages are structural everywhere: aging rural populations in Japan and China, tight seasonal labor in the Americas, water constraints pushing precision application. Drones and robots answer with less chemical and water use per acre, which is also why regulators — from Tokyo to Washington — scrutinize them. XAG has spent years doing unglamorous localization: research stations across Latin America, Africa, Europe and Asia; compliance certification in the US, Japan, Australia, Switzerland and the UK; distributor partnerships such as the XAG THAILAND brand program with CP Group; and prescription-map integration with Swiss mapping firm PIX4D, first deployed in the US. The company says it has trained more than 160,000 operators and technicians through its academy network — the human infrastructure layer that keeps the flying fleet working. A Hong Kong listing, as reported by international media citing company plans, would fund the next round of exactly this kind of market-by-market grind. ## Honest limitations - The 2023–2025 revenue, profit and overseas-share figures circulate via media reports around the reported listing plan; without a publicly available prospectus, they cannot be independently audited. - The Hong Kong IPO is reported, not confirmed — no filing date or listing document has been cited here, and plans can change or stall. - Impact statistics (yield gains, water savings, hectares covered) are company-reported and methodology is not published. - US sales approval for the latest models does not erase broader US restrictions and scrutiny of Chinese-made drones; the policy environment remains a real business risk. - Drones reduce some labor demand while creating new skilled work (pilots, service techs); effects vary sharply by region. ## What readers can do now - If you farm or advise farms, run a season-long cost trial on one crop block before scaling: the claimed savings hinge on field size, crop and local service availability. - If you follow agritech listings, watch Hong Kong exchange filings rather than media reports for the actual IPO documents and audited numbers. - If you work in rural services, drone operation, maintenance and data services are emerging as year-round rural jobs — several countries now license agricultural drone pilots. --- Published by NeuroAI (https://neuroai.site/) — https://neuroai.site/a/na-robot-xag-agri-drone-global Free to quote with attribution and a link to the original.