According to Zhitong Finance APP, on January 7th, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council issued the "Opinions on Deepening the Reform and Development of Retirement Services," which proposed accelerating the development and application of retirement Technology and informationization. Researching the establishment of major national technology projects related to retirement services, focusing on promoting the research, development, and application of technologies and products such as humanoid robots, Brain-computer Interface, and AI.

It is reported that "humanoid robots" can assist elderly people in various aspects such as care, rehabilitation, companionship, and housework by simulating human appearance and behavior, while also providing psychological and emotional support, improving the quality of life of the elderly, and reducing the burden on society and families. In recent years, with the support of technologies such as AI, the CSI Old-Age Industry Index is developing towards intelligence and digitalization, and smart retirement products like retirement robots are gradually integrating into daily life.

In September 2024, Tencent's Robotics X Laboratory launched a humanoid robot named "Xiao Wu." Xiao Wu features a legged wheel-foot composite design, large tactile skin, dexterous multi-fingered hands, and advanced functionalities for safe human-machine physical interaction. In experimental scenarios, Xiao Wu successfully performed tasks such as fetching express delivery for the elderly and helping the elderly get out of bed. According to Tencent's Robotics X Laboratory, Xiao Wu needs further iteration of its software and hardware capabilities, and is currently more of a prototype, requiring time to truly enter retirement homes.

In August 2022, UBTECH's smart health care solution was implemented globally. On June 8th, 2023, UBTECH Technology and Meidi's Chinese subsidiary, Meidi Retirement Services (Shanghai) Co., Ltd., announced a joint venture to establish UBTECH Health Technology (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. The goal is to empower the health and retirement industry with AI and robotic technology, jointly creating world-class health and retirement service robots and solutions.

Data shows that since its establishment in Japan in 1999, Meidi has been deeply engaged in the health and retirement care field for more than 20 years, integrating institutional retirement, community retirement, and home-based retirement services. As of April 2023, Meidi operates over 336 health and retirement service institutions in Japan, ranking first in the field of the most challenging care, which is cognitive impairment care, in terms of operational bed count, and has rich experience in caring for, preventing, and intervening in cognitive impairment.

In China, UBTECH's smart health care solution has been implemented in various retirement operations and medical institutions, including Shenzhen Shekou China Merchants Guan Yi Home, Shanghai Songjiang Xinkai Nursing Home, Hong Kong University Shenzhen Hospital, and TaiShan Sanatorium in ShanDong Province.

According to data from the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), the market size of the retirement robot market in China was approximately 3.8 billion yuan in 2020, accounting for 12% of the service robot market. The Forward Industry Research Institute predicts that by 2029, the market size of retirement robots in China will reach 15.9 billion yuan.

Wanlian Securities stated that 2024 will be an acceleration year for the development of humanoid robots, and 2025 is expected to mark the year of commercialization and mass production. The continued investment of tech giants such as Tesla, OpenAI, and Huawei in the humanoid robot industry is expected to drive rapid iteration and breakthroughs in the industry, bringing dawn to mass production and large-scale application of humanoid robots, with commercialization on the horizon. As the trend of social aging intensifies and labor costs rise, the market demand for humanoid robots is growing daily, and humanoid robots are expected to form a new XINXINGCHANYE, gradually shifting from B-end to C-end, resulting in a huge market space.

Related concept stocks:

UBTECH (09880): With its self-developed full-stack technology for humanoid robots, UBTECH Technology is leveraging intelligent robots as a carrier and AI technology as the core to launch an "Hardware + Software + Services + Operation" AI robot smart eldercare solution targeted at the smart eldercare field. Since establishing a research and development center in North America in 2019 and officially launching its AI robot smart eldercare Global Strategy in 2022, UBTECH Technology has collaborated with more than 20 well-known enterprises and institutions, including Zhaoshang Guanyi, Lecheng Retirement, National Pharmaceutical Health, Ankangtong, and Jiao Ke Yuan, to create a new ecosystem for smart eldercare.

Tencent (00700): On September 24 last year, Tencent Robotics X Lab announced the launch of its fifth-generation robot, Xiaowu (The Five), marking new progress in robot technology in human-computer interaction and autonomous task execution. Xiaowu features a four-legged wheel-foot composite design, large-area tactile skin, multi-finger dexterous hands, and safe human-machine physical interaction capabilities. In experimental scenarios, Xiaowu successfully executed tasks such as fetching express deliveries for the elderly and helping them get out of bed.

MicroPort Robotics (02252): The company is a leading enterprise in China's surgical robot industry, with its laparoscopic surgical robots and orthopedic surgical robots having been approved for sale domestically and abroad, achieving large-scale sales.