In early December this year, the Ministry of Education of China confirmed that seven leading universities – including
- Jiao Tong University in Shanghai,
- Institute of Technology in Beijing and
- Zhejiang University
– submitted applications for mobilisation the world's first undergraduate programs in humanoid intelligence (‘embodied AI’).
New directions are of a nature Interdisciplinary and labour marketplace oriented.
Peking University programme provides for admission 120 students per yearof which 50 to be straight on the labour market – in companies specified as Huawei, BYD, Xiaomi, ByteDance, Tencent, China Aerospace or BAIC.
Building an educational base for talent is crucial for the improvement of the industry: the humanoid intelligence sector experiences the largest human resources deficit in Chinese technology history. According to Liepin's report, average salary experts in this field 333 400 RMB per year (i.e. 170 1000 PLN per year)And algorithm engineers make money 25 000–90 000 RMB per period from PLN 12 to 45 000 per month. During the ZHONGGUANCUN 2025 forum, the forum under the auspices of the Council of the State of the PRC announced offers even above RMB million per year No luck.
It is estimated that approximately 1 million specialists are missing.
Current programmes endure from fragmentation – AI, mechanics, control and electronics are taught separately, without integration. Missing, too. actual applicable scenarios and modern laboratories.
Hence, the decision to make a fresh direction: it is to combine Artificial intelligence, mechanical engineering, computer science, control and electronics In coherent, engineering program focused on humanoid robots.
It is worth noting that many programme managers are start-ups founders in this field (e.g. Qiongche Intelligence, Fourier Intelligence). This guarantees “direct integration of the academic environment into industry” – students will have access to real investigation and production tasks.
China is so not just investing in robots – they make the full ecosystem of people who design, build and program them. In the era erstwhile the US and Europe proceed to treat humanoid intelligence as academic research, China makes her Main direction of method education.
It is not only a improvement of education – it is simply a strategical preparation for future dominance in the robotic industry.
Sources
- The Paper – "首批具身智能本科专业来了 剑指行业‘不缺钱但缺人’困境", 10 December 2025:
https://m.thepaper.cn/newsDetail forward 32075576 - Nature – “China’s push for humanoid AI talent heats up”, December 2025
- McKinsey – The Future of Work in Robotics, November 2025
- IEEE Spectrum – “Why China is Betting large on Undergraduate Humanoid AI Programs”, December 2025
Author: 梁安基 Andrzej Z. Liang, 上海 Shanghai, 中国 China
Email: [email protected]
Editorial: Leszek B.
Email: [email protected]
