China's online sales of embodied AI robots rose 22.6% in nine months, commerce ministry says

Sales of embodied AI robots on China's major e-commerce platforms rose 22.6% year on year in the first three quarters of 2026, and sales of powered exoskeletons rose 46.4%, China's Ministry of Commerce said on Oct 23 in a statement by the head of its consumption promotion department, citing the ministry's own commerce big-data monitoring.

Smart glasses sales on the same platforms more than doubled (up 1.1 times) over the period. The ministry gave growth rates only, not unit numbers or sales values, and did not define which products count as embodied AI robots.

The robot figures sat in a wider review of consumption: retail sales of consumer goods grew 1.1% in January to September, and final consumption contributed 46.7% of GDP growth. MEKAWIRE context: the consumer data follows the nine-ministry opinion of Oct 19 that pushes embodied AI into retail and logistics, and Unitree founder Wang Xingxing's reported claim on Oct 22 of 10,000 to 20,000 G1 humanoids built since 2024 (Unitree explainer).