Chinese startups are racing to solve one of the hardest problems in robotics: creating fully dexterous robotic hands. These hands are essential to transform humanoid robots from dancing gimmicks into practical tools for daily life. Human hands, with their complex neurological instructions and precise choreography, have never been truly replicated by machines—until now.
The Challenge of Robotic Hands
Human hands are exceptionally complex, requiring intricate coordination for tasks like tying shoelaces or buttoning a shirt. Elon Musk, whose company Tesla makes the Optimus humanoid, noted that hands represent the 'majority of the engineering difficulty of the entire robot.' Zhou Yong, founder of LinkerBot, one of China's leading dexterous hand companies, says making a robotic hand is 'one hundred times more difficult' than making a humanoid. 'Its dexterity is 10 times that of other body parts, but its volume is only one tenth,' he explains.
China's Advantages in Manufacturing
China's robust manufacturing supply chain, honed by the electric vehicle industry, provides components like lithium-ion batteries and miniaturized motors at scale. Pan Yunzhe, founder of Shenzhen-based Wuji Technology, says sourcing parts in China is far easier than in the US, where he graduated in 2018. 'It was really impossible to do hardware in the United States because the supply chain problem is just so constraining,' he notes. LinkerBot, founded in 2023, now produces about 5,000 hands per month and aims to double that, targeting a $6 billion valuation. Zhou envisions mass-market prosthetic hands for amputees at $1,000 each, a fraction of the current tens of thousands of dollars.
Software: The Tougher Problem
While hardware advances are accelerating, controlling robotic hands remains a major hurdle. Nathan Lepora, a professor of robotics and AI at the University of Bristol, says, 'The challenge of making these hands is getting solved now. Controlling them, now that's a whole different game… nobody knows how to do that.' Startups are using teleoperation—where humans control hands remotely—to collect data for training spatial intelligence models. This process can require hundreds of hours to teach a simple task like packing groceries. Wuji Technology's flagship product, the Wuji glove, is a sensor-filled wearable that captures movement, pressure, and touch data, critical for tasks like cracking an egg without crushing it.
China's Robotics Boom
China has registered over 1 million robotics companies, with 2025 registrations up 40% from the previous year. The dexterous hand industry surpassed 50 billion yuan ($7.4 billion) in 2025, up from 13 billion yuan in 2024, according to Chinese media. Beijing has emphasized 'embodied AI' in development plans, with Qiushi journal stating that 'embodied-intelligence robots' are among sectors 'opening up new trillion-yuan markets.' However, the International Federation of Robotics concluded in September that 'true multipurpose humanoids are far off yet.'
Future Vision
Zhou dreams of a factory where robotic hands build more robotic hands, creating a self-perpetuating loop with minimal human input. 'We are not creating robots to replace labour,' he says. 'We are creating robots so that humans can live a better and more prosperous life.' Additional research by Lillian Yang and Yu-chen Li.
