During the World Humanoid Robot Games in China, machines ran, boxed and danced, showcasing their growing technological capabilities. Shortly after the event, the PLA Daily, the press organ of the People's Liberation Army, called for a faster transfer of modern solutions from laboratories to military training grounds.
Reuters analyzed over a hundred Chinese military purchase announcements, scientific papers, patents, official publications and materials from defense companies. The documents show that interest in the military use of humanoids has increased significantly in 2025-2026.
Works in buildings, tunnels and ships
One of the analyses, prepared in August 2025 by researchers of the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT) test center in Xi'an, presents an urban combat scenario. It involves the use of six combat robots - humanoids, robot dogs or unmanned vehicles - cooperating with soldiers while clearing an occupied building, floor by floor and room by room.
The authors predicted that the equipment needed to implement such a concept may be available within five to ten years. However, they did not specify the rules for the use of force, the type of weapons or the manner in which robots should act towards civilians.
According to Juo-Min Chou from Taiwan's National Security and Defense Research Institute, advances in maintaining balance, recognizing the environment and endurance may make humanoids useful in buildings, tunnels and inside ships in the future. At the same time, for simpler logistic and reconnaissance tasks, wheeled, tracked and four-legged robots may remain cheaper and easier to implement.
Military publications include scenarios for gradually expanding the tasks of humanoids. An article published in July 2025 in "PLA Daily" indicated that their role may evolve from supporting combat operations to direct participation in combat. The issue of a situation in which a robot could receive permission to open fire on a human previously verified by the operator was also raised.
In December, the Chinese military's Eastern Theater Command published AI-generated footage depicting a hypothetical future conflict around Taiwan. In the video, humanoid and quadrupedal robots supported operations against the Taiwanese defense.
Tenders and data for machine training
In May 2025, the Chinese army announced a tender for the purchase of a humanoid robot along with installation and technical training. Four months later, another proceeding, related to NUDT, sought an intelligent perception and precision operation system for a humanoid robot.
Reuters did not determine whether the tenders had been awarded or which entities could receive the orders.
In June 2026, the army was to allocate approximately PLN 300,000. dollars for a system for collecting and describing data from cameras, radars and motion sensors. The data was to include, among others: area where robots can move. This shows that the interest of Chinese military structures is not limited to mechanical structures alone, but also includes systems of perception, object manipulation and machine learning.
The Chinese arms industry is also involved in the development of humanoid systems. In August, the state-owned company Norinco presented the Fuxi robot, described as a full-scale machine capable of performing guard duty, reconnaissance in all conditions, intelligent patrolling and carrying out particularly dangerous tasks.
According to Fuxi's materials, it can work with a remote control system. The operator would direct the humanoid from a distance, reducing the need for the machine to make independent decisions. This is important because the autonomy of operation in an unpredictable environment remains one of the biggest problems in modern robotics.
Technology still has limitations
Reuters emphasizes that it has found no evidence of the operational use of armed humanoids in units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. Current structures are energy-intensive and unreliable outside of controlled demonstrations. The battlefield presents them with much more difficult challenges - from complex terrain to unpredictable human behavior.
Experts also pay attention to legal and ethical issues. The law of armed conflict requires distinguishing between soldiers and civilians and protecting the wounded and those who surrender. The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that autonomous systems may have difficulty reliably assessing such situations because they depend on context, behavior and human intentions.
The Chinese Ministry of Defense declared in March that weapons using artificial intelligence should remain under human control. At the same time, researchers associated with the Chinese army indicate that after a technological breakthrough, a decline in production costs and the launch of large-scale production, humanoid machines may become a common element of military equipment.
