# Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center

> Source: https://aiwiki.ai/wiki/beijing_humanoid_robot_innovation_center
> Updated: 2026-06-23
> Categories: Humanoid Robots, Research Organizations, Robotics Companies
> From AI Wiki (https://aiwiki.ai), a free encyclopedia of artificial intelligence. Quote with attribution.

The **Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center** (BHRIC; Chinese: 北京人形机器人创新中心), also registered as **Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics Co., Ltd.** and commercially branded as **X-Humanoid**, is a Chinese national research entity specializing in [embodied AI](/wiki/embodied_ai) and general-purpose [humanoid robot](/wiki/humanoid_robot) development. Founded on November 2, 2023 in Beijing's Yizhuang district (Beijing Economic-Technological Development Area, or E-Town), it was China's first provincial humanoid robot innovation platform and was elevated in October 2024 to the **National and Local Co-built Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center**, one of two such national-level humanoid centers in China alongside Shanghai's [OpenLoong](/wiki/openloong) initiative.[1][2] Its [Tiangong](/wiki/tiangong) (天工, also romanized **Tien Kung**) humanoid robot won the world's first humanoid robot half marathon in April 2025, finishing the 21.0975 km course in 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 42 seconds.[3]

Beyond Tiangong, the center develops the [Tian Yi 2.0](/wiki/tian_yi_2.0) wheeled humanoid platform and the **Huisi Kaiwu** (慧思开物) universal embodied intelligence platform, and it has become one of China's most open-source-active humanoid labs, releasing the RoboMIND manipulation dataset, the Pelican-VL vision language model, and the full Tiangong hardware design. Tiangong 3.0 went on to win the inaugural Beijing Yizhuang Robot Warrior Challenge in April 2026, held in the same district where the center is headquartered.[4]

## Quick facts

| Item | Detail |
|------|--------|
| Chinese name | 北京人形机器人创新中心 |
| Founded | November 2, 2023 |
| Headquarters | Yizhuang (E-Town), Beijing |
| Brand | X-Humanoid |
| CEO / General Manager | Xiong Youjun |
| Registered capital | 460 million yuan (May 2025) |
| National status | National and Local Co-built Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center (Oct 2024) |
| Key shareholders | [Xiaomi](/wiki/xiaomi) Robotics, [UBTECH](/wiki/ubtech), Jingcheng Machinery and Electronics, Beijing Yizhuang Robot Technology Industry Development |
| Flagship product | Tiangong / Tien Kung humanoid series |
| First funding round | ~$100 million (about 700 million yuan), February 2026 |

## When was the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center founded?

The Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics Co., Ltd. was established on November 2, 2023 as part of China's national strategy to accelerate humanoid robot development. It was the country's first provincial-level humanoid robot innovation center, jointly sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Government and enterprises across the robot, components, and large model value chain.[1]

The principal partners are [Xiaomi](/wiki/xiaomi) Robotics, [UBTECH](/wiki/ubtech) Robotics, Jingcheng Machinery and Electronics (Beijing City Electric Machinery), and the Beijing Yizhuang Robot Technology Industry Development Company, with technical participation from the Institute of Automation of the [Chinese Academy of Sciences](/wiki/chinese_academy_of_sciences).[2] At founding, registered capital was 300 million yuan; it rose to 350 million yuan later in November 2023 when Beijing Yizhuang Robot Technology Industry Development joined, and reached 460 million yuan in May 2025.[1]

In April 2024, the center unveiled the first generation of Tiangong on stage at a Beijing E-Town event as the world's first full-size purely electric-driven humanoid robot capable of running. The initial version moved at around 6 km/h.[5] An upgraded version later in 2024 doubled that to roughly 12 km/h, with stable cruising around 10 km/h.[6]

On October 24, 2024, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) approved the center's elevation to a National and Local Co-built Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center, placing it alongside the Shanghai center as one of two national-level humanoid platforms in China.[2] In November 2024, the center released the full Tiangong hardware design package as open source, including mechanical schematics, control algorithms, and a simulation environment.[7]

In March 2025, it launched the **Huisi Kaiwu** universal embodied intelligence platform, described in Chinese state media as the world's first universal embodied AI platform supporting multiple robot bodies and task scenarios.[8] A month later, on April 19, 2025, the Tiangong Ultra variant ran the 21.0975-kilometer Beijing E-Town humanoid half marathon in 2 hours 40 minutes 42 seconds, finishing first against 20 competing teams including Unitree's G1, Leju's Kuavo, and Noetix's N2.[3][9][10]

On February 10, 2026, the center officially unveiled the Embodied Tiangong 3.0 (Embodied Tien Kung 3.0), with a public press release the following week on February 16. Days before the launch, X-Humanoid closed its first external funding round at about 700 million yuan (around $100 million).[11][12] The Tiangong 3.0 launch was accompanied by an expanded open-source release covering hardware blueprints, the **Pelican-VL** vision language model, the **RoboMIND** teleoperation dataset, the world model, motion control framework, training toolchains, and the ArtVIP simulation asset library.[13][14]

In April 2026 the center won the inaugural Beijing Yizhuang Robot Warrior Challenge on April 18. Tiangong 3.0 completed obstacle, pendulum, and barrier-breaching tasks fully autonomously without teleoperation or pre-recorded scripts, earning the highest score and the Warrior Intelligent Mobility Award.[4]

## Who owns and runs the center?

The BHRIC is jointly built by the Beijing municipal government, MIIT, and a consortium of robotics enterprises.

| Shareholder / partner | Role |
|----------------------|------|
| [Xiaomi](/wiki/xiaomi) Robotics | Complete robot systems and consumer-robotics expertise |
| [UBTECH](/wiki/ubtech) Robotics | Humanoid robot OEM partner |
| Jingcheng Machinery and Electronics | Industrial automation, core mechanical components |
| Beijing Yizhuang Robot Technology Industry Development | State-backed industrial fund and zone operator |
| Institute of Automation, [Chinese Academy of Sciences](/wiki/chinese_academy_of_sciences) | Algorithm and embodied AI research input |
| MIIT and Beijing Municipal Government | National and regional oversight (national designation Oct 2024) |

Xiong Youjun serves as CEO and general manager. He is a well-known figure in Chinese humanoid robotics and has been a public spokesperson at events including the World Robot Conference and the Boao Forum.[15] Describing the gap the center is trying to fill, Xiong said at the March 2025 Huisi Kaiwu launch: "Embodied AI is still in its infancy. The industry is in need of a universal intelligent platform that is compatible with different body types and scenarios, and can perform general tasks."[8] The center's chief technology officer, Tang Jian, framed the technical priority around the robot's controller: "It is vital for a humanoid robot to have a 'brain,' the part capable of natural interaction, spatial perception, understanding of intention, hierarchical planning, and error reflection."[8]

## Tiangong (Tien Kung) series

The Tiangong line is the center's flagship full-size bipedal humanoid platform. The Chinese name 天工 references the Ming-dynasty technical encyclopedia *Tiangong Kaiwu*, a nod to Chinese craft tradition.

| Model | Launch | Height | Weight | Top speed | Notable capabilities |
|-------|--------|--------|--------|-----------|----------------------|
| Tiangong 1.0 | April 27, 2024 | 1.63 m | 43 kg | ~6 km/h | First full-size pure-electric humanoid to run on stage; visual recognition, voice interaction, object handling[5] |
| Tiangong 2.0 | Late 2024 | 1.63 m | ~43 kg | ~12 km/h | Doubled running speed; stable cruise around 10 km/h; first to be fully open sourced (Nov 2024)[6][7] |
| Tiangong Ultra | April 2025 | 1.80 m | 52 kg | Endurance-tuned | Won world's first humanoid robot half marathon, 2h 40m 42s over 21.0975 km[3][9] |
| Tiangong 3.0 (Embodied Tien Kung 3.0) | February 10, 2026 | 1.69 m | 62 kg | High dynamic | 43 degrees of freedom; full-body control with tactile feedback; parkour-style 1 m vault; millimeter-level manipulation; powered by Huisi Kaiwu[11][13][14] |

Tiangong 1.0 used a 48 V / 15 Ah battery and an onboard compute system rated for roughly 550 trillion operations per second, paired with high-precision IMUs, 3D vision sensors, and six-axis force sensors at the wrists and ankles.[5] Tiangong Ultra completed the April 2025 half marathon at roughly 7.6 km/h, with three to four battery hot swaps; of the 20 teams that started the race, it was the only one to break the 3-hour mark.[3][10] Ren Yawei, a representative of the National and Local Co-built Embodied AI Robotics Innovation Center, said the team had "previously optimized our battery-swapping technology to enable rapid replacements, keeping each swap within about three to four minutes."[9] Xiong Youjun, who led the Tiangong Ultra team, called the result a milestone in its own right: "Simply participating in this event and successfully completing a half-marathon is a heroic achievement in itself."[3]

Tiangong 3.0, unveiled in February 2026, is the most capable variant. Public demos showed it clearing a 1-meter-high block with a one-handed vault, kneeling and bending in confined spaces, and turning small knobs with millimeter-level precision. The center describes it as the first full-size humanoid robot capable of touch-interactive, high-dynamic whole-body control, integrating whole-body motion control with tactile interaction across the entire body.[11][13] X-Humanoid said Tiangong 3.0 is built to be "more open and easier to use," with ROS2, MQTT, and TCP/IP support so that "users can work on secondary development without restructuring the underlying technology," and it is scheduled to enter mass delivery in the second half of 2026.[13][14]

## Tian Yi wheeled humanoid

Alongside the bipedal Tiangong line, the center develops the [Tian Yi 2.0](/wiki/tian_yi_2.0) wheeled humanoid platform, which combines a humanoid upper body with a wheeled mobile base for warehouse and industrial settings.

| Model | Type | Key features |
|-------|------|-------------|
| [Tian Yi 2.0](/wiki/tian_yi_2.0) | Wheeled humanoid | Powered by Huisi Kaiwu; autonomous bin picking and material handling; took first and second place in a material-handling competition[16] |

Both Tian Yi 2.0 and the Embodied Tiangong 2.0 are deployed on an unmanned production line at a Foton Cummins engine plant, where they autonomously handle bin pickup, transport, and placement across different shelf heights and container types.[16]

## What is the Huisi Kaiwu platform?

The **Huisi Kaiwu** (慧思开物, literally roughly "wise thinking, opening things") platform launched on March 13, 2025 as the center's flagship software stack, billed by Chinese state media as the world's first universal embodied AI platform compatible with multiple body types: robotic arms, wheeled robots, and humanoid robots.[8] It is structured around two halves working together:

- A task planning **brain** driven by a large multimodal model that decomposes natural language instructions into sub-tasks.
- A data-driven skill execution **cerebellum** that converts those sub-tasks into low-level motor commands.

CTO Tang Jian summarized the design philosophy as lowering the barrier to entry: "The 'APP plus robot' model packages complex technical capabilities such as reasoning, planning and skill invocation into simple procedures, lowering the threshold for users."[8] The platform was described by Beijing Daily and Xinhua as the first universal embodied AI platform compatible with multiple body types: robotic arms, wheeled platforms, and bipedal humanoids.[8][17] In May 2026, the center introduced an upgraded variant called the Wise KaiWu Agent, which adds global scene perception and a dynamic memory system, allowing robots to evolve from passive task execution toward proactive task handling.[17]

## Is the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center open source?

The center has built a reputation as one of the more open-source-friendly large humanoid labs in China. The flagship effort is the **Open X-Humanoid** GitHub organization, which hosts hardware schematics, training environments, and AI models.

| Project | Released | What it includes |
|--------|----------|------------------|
| Tiangong open hardware release | November 2024 | Full mechanical design files, control algorithms, and simulation environment for the original Tiangong[7] |
| **TienKung-Lab** | 2024 | Direct IsaacLab workflow for legged robots, with reinforcement learning training scripts[18] |
| **RoboMIND** | December 2024 | Multi-embodiment teleoperation dataset: 107,000 trajectories across 479 tasks and 96 object classes, plus about 5,000 real-world failure demonstrations; covers Tien Kung (about 19,000 trajectories), Franka Panda, AgileX Cobot Magic V2, and UR-5e robots; co-developed with [Peking University](/wiki/peking_university) and the [Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence](/wiki/baai)[19] |
| **Pelican-VL 1.0** | November 2025 | Open-source vision language brain models for embodied AI, with parameter scales from 7B to 72B, developed by the center's WFM System Group[20] |
| **ArtVIP** | February 2026 | Simulation asset library bundled with the Tiangong 3.0 platform release[14] |

The RoboMIND paper defines the dataset as "a dataset containing 107k demonstration trajectories across 479 diverse tasks," gathered through human teleoperation across four robot embodiments and released under the Apache 2.0 license.[19] By late 2025 the RoboMIND dataset had exceeded 15,000 downloads across Hugging Face and other platforms and had been adopted by researchers at [Tsinghua University](/wiki/tsinghua_university), the University of Hong Kong, and other universities.[2][19]

## How does the Beijing center differ from the Shanghai OpenLoong center?

China runs two national-level humanoid robot innovation centers in parallel rather than a single one. The differences are easy to mix up, so the comparison below lays them side by side.

| Aspect | Beijing center (BHRIC / X-Humanoid) | Shanghai center ([OpenLoong](/wiki/openloong)) |
|--------|------------------------------------|--------------------------------|
| Founded | November 2, 2023 | December 2023 |
| National designation | National and Local Co-built Embodied Intelligent Robot Innovation Center (Oct 2024) | National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robot Innovation Center (May 2024) |
| Flagship robot | Tiangong / Tien Kung | Qinglong (青龙, Green Dragon) |
| Brand identity | X-Humanoid | OpenLoong community |
| Notable open source | Tiangong hardware, RoboMIND, Pelican-VL, ArtVIP | Qinglong hardware, Suzaku brain, Xuanwu control |
| Training infrastructure | Yizhuang facilities, partner factories | Building a 1,000-robot heterogeneous training base by 2027 |

Both centers have their own MIIT designation and operate as peers. The Beijing center leans into embodied intelligence, full-body control, and competition-style demos such as the half marathon and Robot Warrior Challenge, while the Shanghai center focuses on a shared open-source humanoid platform and a large-scale data collection base.[2][21]

## Industrial deployments and partnerships

The center pairs research with on-site factory deployments. Disclosed partnerships include:

| Partner | Use case |
|---------|----------|
| Foton Cummins | Unmanned engine production line; Tiangong 2.0 and Tian Yi 2.0 do bin picking, transport, and placement[16] |
| China Electric Power Research Institute | High-voltage power facility inspection scenarios[15] |
| Bayer | Pharmaceutical and consumer health manufacturing tasks[15] |
| Li-Ning Group | Sports apparel manufacturing and warehouse operations[15] |

Chinese state media in 2026 reported additional pilots with cement maker Sinoma International and several auto manufacturers.[15]

## How is the center funded?

For the first two years after founding, the BHRIC operated primarily on its registered capital and government-linked support. In February 2026, it closed its first external commercial financing round, raising about 700 million yuan (approximately $100 million) alongside the Tiangong 3.0 launch, with proceeds earmarked for R&D scaling and commercial deployment.[12] The round drew a mix of public and private capital, including the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund, Yizhuang State-owned Assets Investment Co., Ltd., and the Beijing High-end and Sophisticated Fund.[12] Its main shareholder companies are themselves backed by major Chinese investors: [Xiaomi](/wiki/xiaomi) is a publicly listed conglomerate, [UBTECH](/wiki/ubtech) is listed in Hong Kong, and the Yizhuang holding companies are part of Beijing's state asset network.

## Significance

The BHRIC is one of two national-level humanoid robot innovation centers in China and consistently appears near the top of Chinese rankings of humanoid robot companies by output and visibility, reflecting the priorities of the broader [Chinese AI industry](/wiki/china_ai). Its open source approach with Tiangong, RoboMIND, and Pelican-VL has made it one of the more visible Chinese humanoid initiatives on the global stage. Coverage in PBS, CGTN, Xinhua, China Daily, and Interesting Engineering has tracked its half marathon win, Robot Warrior Challenge run, and Tiangong 3.0 launch as marker events for Chinese humanoid robotics in 2025 and 2026.[3][4][13] MERICS identified the Beijing center as a key node in China's embodied AI strategy in its 2025 report, noting that the dual-center model in Beijing and Shanghai represents China's preferred bet on coordinated state-industry consortia.[21]

## See also

- [Tiangong](/wiki/tiangong)
- [Tian Yi 2.0](/wiki/tian_yi_2.0)
- [OpenLoong](/wiki/openloong)
- [Humanoid robot](/wiki/humanoid_robot)
- [Embodied AI](/wiki/embodied_ai)
- [UBTECH](/wiki/ubtech)
- [Xiaomi](/wiki/xiaomi)
- [Artificial intelligence in China](/wiki/china_ai)

## References

1. Baidu Baike. "Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center Co., Ltd." baike.baidu.com/en/item/Beijing%20Humanoid%20Robot%20Innovation%20Center%20Co.,%20Ltd./34085.
2. CMRA. "Overview of the latest development of the six major humanoid robot innovation centers in China." cnmra.com.
3. Global Times. "Beijing hosts world's first humanoid robot half-marathon; Home-developed Tien Kung Ultra crowned champion." April 19, 2025. globaltimes.cn/page/202504/1332429.shtml.
4. PR Newswire / Robotics Tomorrow. "X-Humanoid's Embodied Tien Kung 3.0 Wins Beijing Robot Warrior Challenge with Fully Autonomous Run." April 20, 2026.
5. CGTN. "China releases world's first electric running humanoid robot 'Tiangong'." April 28, 2024.
6. Global Times. "Chinese company unveils humanoid running robot with large-scale commercial potential." April 2024.
7. Global Times. "World's first electric running humanoid robot 'Tiangong' open sourced, to accelerate robots into human life." November 2024.
8. Xinhua. "World's first universal embodied AI platform launched in Beijing." March 13, 2025. english.news.cn/20250313/e08556d55e6c49ffbe9bfb863aa85278/c.html.
9. Xinhua. "Xinhua Headlines: Ready, set, robot! Beijing hosts world's first humanoid half marathon." April 19, 2025.
10. CGTN. "Tiangong Ultra wins world's first-ever humanoid robot half marathon in Beijing." April 19, 2025.
11. Humanoids Daily. "Beijing's Newest Humanoid: Tiangong 3.0 Breaks Cover with Parkour and Open-Source Ambitions." February 2026.
12. The AI Insider. "China's X-Humanoid Raises $100M in First Funding Round." February 5, 2026. theaiinsider.tech/2026/02/05/chinas-x-humanoid-raises-100m-in-first-funding-round/.
13. Interesting Engineering. "TienKung 3.0 humanoid robot achieves industry-first full-body control." February 2026. interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/x-humanoid-robot-with-touch-motion-control.
14. PR Newswire. "X-Humanoid Introduces Embodied Tien Kung 3.0, a More Open and Practical Humanoid Robotics Platform." February 16, 2026.
15. China Daily. "Riding AI uptrend, humanoid robotics taking a leap in Beijing." June 19, 2025.
16. Interesting Engineering. "Marathon-winning Tiangong humanoid robot is working..." 2025.
17. OhSem. "New Breakthrough In Embodied Intelligence: X-Humanoid Wise KaiWu Agent Gives Robots Real Awareness And Real Capability." May 2026.
18. Open-X-Humanoid GitHub. "TienKung-Lab: Direct IsaacLab Workflow for Legged Robots." github.com/Open-X-Humanoid/TienKung-Lab.
19. arXiv. "RoboMIND: Benchmark on Multi-embodiment Intelligence Normative Data for Robot Manipulation." arXiv:2412.13877. December 2024. arxiv.org/abs/2412.13877.
20. arXiv. "Pelican-VL 1.0: A Foundation Brain Model for Embodied Intelligence." arXiv:2511.00108. November 2025.
21. MERICS. "Embodied AI: China's ambitious path to transform its robotics industry." 2025.