China has set its sights firmly on cultivating a deeper reservoir of robotics expertise, signaling the nation’s determination to accelerate its technological self-reliance and global competitiveness. To achieve this ambitious objective, some of its most prestigious universities are gearing up to inaugurate a new undergraduate major called “embodied intelligence,” a rapidly emerging interdisciplinary domain that seamlessly integrates artificial intelligence with robotics. This field is dedicated to building machines capable of perceiving, reasoning, and interacting with the world in ways that resemble human cognition and sensory-motor coordination.
According to a notice issued in November by the Ministry of Education, seven elite Chinese institutions—including Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, Beijing Institute of Technology, and Xi’an Jiaotong University—have formally applied to introduce this innovative program. These universities occupy the upper echelons of China’s engineering and computer science ecosystem, renowned for producing world-class research and technological talent. Several belong to the C9 League, a consortium often described as China’s answer to the Ivy League, representing the pinnacle of academic excellence in science and technology. Zhejiang University, located in eastern China and celebrated for its research prowess, is particularly noteworthy as the alma mater of DeepSeek’s founder and an increasing number of entrepreneurs spearheading the nation’s thriving artificial intelligence startup scene.
The Ministry of Education explained that the newly established major is part of a broader national strategy designed to supply the skilled workforce required for what it terms “future industries.” These sectors encompass embodied intelligence, quantum information technology, and next-generation communications infrastructure, all of which are viewed as fundamental to China’s technological modernization. In a separate directive released in June, the ministry advised universities to carefully recalibrate and “optimize their program offerings” in alignment with state strategies, emerging market demands, and the swift pace of scientific innovation.
The embodied intelligence industry in China is projected to experience explosive growth in the coming years. According to a report republished by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the market value could reach approximately 5.3 billion yuan (around 750 million U.S. dollars) within the current year alone. Forecasts by the Development Research Center of the State Council paint an even more dynamic picture: by 2030, the industry’s value could surge to 400 billion yuan, and by 2035, it may surpass the trillion-yuan threshold. Such projections illustrate both the enormous economic potential and the urgent talent demand driving universities to invest heavily in related education and research. The Beijing Institute of Technology underscored this point in its application, estimating a nationwide shortage of roughly one million qualified professionals in embodied intelligence—a gap the new major aims to close.
If approved by the education authorities, the discipline will become one of the newest additions to China’s expanding higher education landscape, further diversifying the nation’s science and technology curriculum. China’s momentum in artificial intelligence and robotics development, however, did not materialize overnight. For several years, universities have been laying the groundwork for this integration. Shanghai Jiao Tong University already hosts a “Machine Vision and Intelligence Group” within its School of Artificial Intelligence, conducting pioneering research on perception and autonomous decision-making. Meanwhile, Zhejiang University runs a “Humanoid Robot Innovation Research Institute,” which focuses on designing advanced humanoid robots capable of performing physical tasks—such as movement and object manipulation—with dexterity and precision surpassing human ability.
The nation’s technology sector mirrors this academic enthusiasm. Leading Chinese corporations are racing to catch up with, and in certain areas compete head-to-head against, their global counterparts in robotics and automation. In a notable example, Ant Group—an affiliate of the Alibaba conglomerate—unveiled its humanoid robot, R1, in September. The unveiling immediately prompted comparisons to Tesla’s Optimus, highlighting China’s commitment to staying at the forefront of next-generation robotics design and commercialization. Across the Pacific, U.S. institutions such as Stanford University, Carnegie Mellon University, and New York University already offer specialized courses and laboratories dedicated to robotics and AI, suggesting that China’s new major aims not only to fill domestic skill gaps but also to assert parity with leading international programs.
The design of the proposed “embodied intelligence” major places particular emphasis on employability and industry readiness. At the Beijing Institute of Technology, planners intend to admit 120 undergraduates per year. Of these, about seventy are expected to continue into advanced graduate studies, while roughly fifty will enter the workforce directly upon completing their degrees. The university’s documentation further delineates prospective career pathways. Graduates are anticipated to be recruited by a range of employers—from state-owned giants such as Norinco and the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation to major private enterprises like Huawei, Alibaba, Tencent, ByteDance, Xiaomi, and BYD. These placements exemplify the strong link between higher education and the evolving needs of national industries.
The curriculum itself, as outlined in university proposals, introduces students to an extensive spectrum of coursework. Subjects include multimodal perception and data fusion—teaching how varied sensory inputs can be synthesized into coherent machine understanding—embodied human-robot interaction, which explores intuitive communication between humans and machines, and machine learning for robotics, focusing on adaptive algorithms that enable robots to learn from experience and improve over time. Collectively, these courses aim to produce graduates with both the theoretical foundation and the practical expertise to push China’s robotics revolution forward, advancing the frontier of machines that not only think but also act in the physical world.
Sourse: https://www.businessinsider.com/china-embodied-intelligence-major-universities-robotics-talent-ai-zhejiang-2025-12
