According to Humanoid Lecture Hall, Zhang Yueming, Chief Scientist of Beijing Zhitong Precision Transmission Technology and Professor at Beijing University of Technology, pointed out in a recent media interview that the "first half" of domestic substitution for core components of domestic industrial robots has concluded. The small and medium load fields, represented by RV reducers, have basically achieved domestic substitution. However, in high-end scenarios with heavy loads such as automobile manufacturing, foreign brands still occupy 80% to 90% of the market share. "The focus of competition in the second half will shift from 'whether we have it' to 'whether it is strong enough', and the outcome depends on whether we can master the right to define independent technology routes."
The latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology shows that from January to May 2026, the revenue of robot enterprises above designated size in China exceeded 90 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 26.9%, marking the 13th consecutive year as the world's largest industrial robot market. As the "joints" of industrial robots, RV reducers account for 30% to 35% of the total machine cost, and their performance directly determines the accuracy and lifespan of the robots.
Zhang Yueming revealed that the industry has long had two routes: "reverse engineering and measurement" and "forward R&D". Zhitong Technology chose to carry out nearly 10 years of industry-university-research collaboration with Beijing University of Technology, abandoning the imitation path, and conducting full-chain forward development from tooth profile theory, modification models to underlying processes. Currently, its products have achieved benchmarking against international giants such as Nabtesco in core indicators such as transmission accuracy, backlash, and transmission error, and are exported to Europe in batches.
Zhitong Technology is currently researching and deploying gear transmission joint modules with completely independent intellectual property rights. Zhang Yueming emphasized that this move is no longer confined to the logic of "import substitution", but aims to define a new category that has no precedent overseas.
Analysts believe that as the domestic market share of independent brand industrial robots exceeds 50%, core component enterprises urgently need to complete the leap from "usable" to "leading" through heavy-load condition verification and basic theoretical innovation. Meanwhile, the policy side also needs to guide complete machine manufacturers to build a safe and stable domestic supply chain ecosystem.