Unitree and AgiBot are among more than 900 Chinese companies heading to Berlin for IFA 2026, which opens Friday and will feature the first catwalk walk by humanoid robots in the show's history.

China built 84.7% of the world's humanoids last year

IFA, one of Europe's oldest and largest consumer technology trade shows, traces its roots back to 1924 and has long served as a showcase where Asian manufacturers court European retail buyers. The trade show runs from September 4 to 8 at Messe Berlin under the banner "The Future Is Now." More than 1,900 brands from 49 countries will participate, and over 220,000 visitors are expected across 27 halls.

"Robots on the Runway" is scheduled for September 5 at 12:45 p.m. on the Creator Stage. Bipedal machines will strike poses, dance, and demonstrate sensor-based navigation and motor control.

IFA Berlin said its innovation zone, IFA Next, has grown to roughly 300 exhibitors this year. Unitree, AgiBot, EngineAI, and DEEP Robotics will appear alongside Astrall Dynamics and AiMOGA.

A separate RoboCup showcase will pit robot soccer teams against one another, hosted by Humboldt University's Team Berlin United.

Chinese participation has swept IFA for years, but 2026 marks a record. Of the companies exhibiting, 932 are Chinese — nearly half the total and about 200 more than a year ago, by one published count. The group includes appliance giants such as TCL, Hisense, and Xiaomi.

"When design, engineering, production and testing are all happening within the same ecosystem, ideas naturally move from prototype to product much faster," said Leif Lindner, CEO of IFA Management. He pointed to China's manufacturing scale, heavy investment, and fully integrated supply chain.

According to Cryptopolitan, China built 84.7% of the roughly 17,000 humanoid robots shipped worldwide in 2025. Domestic sales are on track to double to 28,000 units this year.

TÜV Rheinland signed off on Chery's Mornine for EU sale

Lindner also mentioned NEURA Robotics, a German company that closed a funding round of up to $1.4 billion. Immediately after the runway show, it will deliver a keynote titled "From Europe, for the World: Building the Ecosystem for Physical AI." Its presence points to the show's broader framing of European players positioning themselves against Chinese manufacturing scale.

AiMOGA's Mornine, produced by a unit of Chinese automaker Chery, has full EU CE certification covering machinery safety, radio equipment, and cybersecurity, signed off by German testing house TÜV Rheinland. That makes it the first humanoid to receive approval for both hardware and software under EU rules, and it is already working in car dealerships in more than 30 countries. Certification under the EU's Machinery Directive and radio-equipment rules has been a key hurdle for humanoid makers seeking to sell into Europe, which is why the TÜV Rheinland sign-off matters for other manufacturers watching from the show floor.

Lindner described the certification as "the transition from a technology demonstration to a product that's ready for commercial deployment in Europe."

According to Cryptopolitan, Unitree has set an August 10 subscription date for its Shanghai IPO at a valuation of almost 42 billion yuan, or about $5.7 billion. That would make the Hangzhou-based firm the first major humanoid producer to list on the Chinese mainland, a listing that will be watched as a test of investor appetite for the humanoid robotics sector.

Unitree's revenue was $250 million in 2025, with adjusted profit of $87 million and net profit up 674% year over year. Its G1 robot has been selected by Nvidia as the cornerstone of the Isaac GR00T research platform.