In the first half of 2025, China exported 94,200 industrial robots valued at USD 746 million, marking a year-on-year increase of 59.74%. This followed strong performance in 2024, when full-year exports reached USD 1.13 billion, a 43% rise that elevated China to second place globally by market share.
This export growth reflects broader upgrades in China’s manufacturing capabilities. China became the world’s largest industrial robotics market in 2013, overtaking Japan, though domestic manufacturers then held only about one-quarter of the market. By the first quarter of 2025, Estun Automation had outpaced foreign brands in local shipments, becoming the first Chinese firm to lead the domestic industrial robot solutions segment.
Success at home marks only the beginning. Chinese robotics companies are now pushing into international markets, where industrial robots are being integrated into essential production lines across multiple sectors due to their stability, precision, and cost-efficiency.
Among the Chinese firms preparing for IPOs in Hong Kong, three stand out: Estun Automation, Zhaowei Machinery & Electronics, and RobotPhoenix. These three companies are pursuing globalization through innovation, overseas acquisitions, localized manufacturing, and distribution expansion.
This article reviews their operations, financials, and globalization strategies. Unless otherwise stated, all data is drawn from company prospectuses.
Estun Automation: A national robotics contender
Founded in 1993 and listed in Shenzhen since 2015, Estun Automation leads among Chinese industrial robot solution providers, according to Frost & Sullivan. In early 2025, it became the first local firm to surpass foreign competitors in domestic shipments.
Estun develops core automation components and motion control systems in-house, supporting clients in various sectors. Its product lineup includes general-purpose and specialized robots—for arc welding, harsh environments, cleaning, bending, stamping, and palletizing—along with application-specific software. Estun integrates these with core components to deliver smart manufacturing systems.
Revenue totaled RMB 3.88 billion (USD 543.2 million), RMB 4.65 billion (USD 651 million), and RMB 4 billion (USD 560 million) in 2022, 2023, and 2024, respectively. The decline in 2024 was attributed to weaker demand in photovoltaics and heavy industry, industry-wide slowdowns, and intensified competition. Industrial robots and smart systems consistently accounted for over 70% of revenue, with 92.7% generated through direct sales in 2024.
Net profits over the same period were RMB 180 million (USD 25.2 million), RMB 130 million (USD 18.2 million), and a loss of RMB 810 million (USD 113.4 million). Gross margins fell from 32.9% in 2022 to 28.3% in 2024. The 2024 loss included a RMB 360 million (USD 50.4 million) impairment on intangible assets and goodwill, mainly tied to underperformance in heavy industry. Its top five clients accounted for 25.1% of 2024 revenue.
Estun’s global strategy includes both organic growth and acquisitions. Key deals include its 2017 acquisition of UK motion controller firm Trio and its 2020 purchase of Germany-based Cloos, which expanded its presence in mid- to high-end arc welding. Overseas markets contributed 34.2% of revenue in 2024, with a 32.4% international gross margin, which is higher than the 26.2% recorded domestically.
As of December 31, 2024, Estun operated 75 service locations worldwide, with manufacturing bases in Germany and a new Polish plant under construction. Its R&D operations are headquartered in Nanjing, supported by centers in Germany, the UK, the US, and elsewhere. It employed 1,032 R&D personnel as of end-2024, with R&D spending reaching 12.5% of revenue that year.
Estun will use the IPO proceeds to expand production capacity, invest in upstream and downstream partnerships, advance R&D, enhance global services, repay loans, and for general corporate purposes.
From 2020–2024, the global industrial robot solutions market grew from USD 14.7 billion to USD 25.4 billion, with a 14.6% CAGR (compound annual growth rate). The market is projected to reach USD 51.8 billion by 2029, driven by growth in the automotive, electronics, and battery sectors, with China expected to be a key contributor.
Zhaowei: Scaling miniature precision systems
Founded in 2001 and listed in 2020, Zhaowei Machinery & Electronics is China’s top provider of miniature transmission and drive systems, and ranks fourth globally, according to Frost & Sullivan.
The company targets smart vehicles, embodied robotics, consumer technology, healthcare, and advanced manufacturing. Its products include servo motors, drum motors, and dexterous robotic hands.
Revenue grew from RMB 1.15 billion (USD 161 million) in 2022 to RMB 1.52 billion (USD 212.8 million) in 2024. Gross margins ranged from 28.9% to 31.2%, and net profits increased to RMB 230 million (USD 32.2 million) in 2024, with a net margin of 14.8%.
Smart vehicles were the primary revenue source, contributing 58.7% in 2024. Consumer and healthcare technologies made up another 32%. Zhaowei’s top five clients accounted for 46.6% of 2024 revenue, with average client relationships spanning over eight years.
International sales contributed 13.9% of revenue in 2024. Zhaowei serves leading automakers and component suppliers in both China and abroad, and supplies drive systems to companies in robotics and extended reality (XR) sectors.
The company plans to build facilities in Southeast Asia and Europe to reduce delivery times, improve logistics, and align with global expansions of its clients, particularly electric vehicle makers. It also aims to increase production of XR components for international rollouts.
R&D spending remained stable at over 10% of revenue. As of March this year, Zhaowei employed 513 R&D staff (21.5% of its workforce) and held 382 patents.
Zhaowei will direct the IPO funds toward R&D, capacity expansion, global partnerships, and marketing, as well as working capital needs.
The global miniature transmission and drive systems market grew from RMB 78.2 billion (USD 10.9 billion) in 2020 to RMB 111.3 billion (USD 15.6 billion) in 2024. It is projected to reach RMB 204.9 billion (USD 28.7 billion) by 2029. China’s domestic market is expected to grow at 17.3% annually, reaching RMB 72.6 billion (USD 10.2 billion) by 2029.
In China, the market grew from RMB 20.3 billion (USD 2.8 billion) in 2020 to RMB 33.2 billion (USD 4.6 billion) in 2024. It is projected to reach RMB 72.6 billion (USD 10.2 billion) by 2029, growing at a CAGR of 17.3%.
RobotPhoenix: Gaining ground in light industry robotics
Founded in 2012, RobotPhoenix ranked fifth among Chinese suppliers of industrial robots for light industry in 2024, according to Frost & Sullivan. It is one of the few Chinese firms offering end-to-end coverage across the robotics value chain.
Its product suite includes parallel robots, SCARA (selective compliance assembly robot arm) robots, AMRs (autonomous mobile robots), AGVs (automated guided vehicles), wafer handling systems, and controllers. These are tailored to applications such as sorting, inspection, pick-and-place, and packaging in sectors including consumer electronics, automotive components, healthcare, and semiconductors.
The company used a direct sales model to serve 275 clients in 2024, up from 69 in 2022. Consumer electronics contributed 45.8% of revenue in 2024.
RobotPhoenix reported revenues of RMB 270 million (USD 37.8 million) in 2024, up from RMB 160 million (USD 22.4 million) in 2022. Gross margins rebounded to 26.5% in 2024, after dipping to 18.3% in 2023. Net losses narrowed to RMB 70 million (USD 9.8 million) in 2024.
The company’s top five clients contributed 50.1% of revenue in 2024, down from 83.3% in 2022, indicating diversification.
As of end-2024, RobotPhoenix reported having agents in seven countries, with exports reaching over 20 regions. Overseas revenue accounted for 9.5% of total sales.
The company is establishing a Hong Kong subsidiary and hiring R&D talent to strengthen global innovation capacity. It is also building a Vietnam subsidiary to better serve Southeast Asian clients.
IPO proceeds will support RobotPhoenix’s R&D, capacity building, overseas expansion, supply chain investments, and working capital. The company holds 271 authorized patents and runs an R&D team comprising 38% of its workforce.
China’s light industry robotics market grew from RMB 12.3 billion (USD 1.7 billion) in 2020 to RMB 20.9 billion (USD 2.9 billion) in 2024, and is projected to reach RMB 43.8 billion (USD 6.1 billion) by 2029.