AsianFin -- As China’s humanoid robot sector prepares for mass adoption, a quiet technological race is taking place in the background: equipping machines not just with motion, but with touch, balance, and perception. At the centre of this evolution lies a deceptively thin material—flexible tactile sensors—now emerging as a strategic frontier in embodied artificial intelligence.
Hanwei Technology, a Shenzhen-listed company best known for its dominance in China’s gas sensor market, is positioning itself at the heart of this shift. Having entered the field of tactile sensing earlier than most domestic peers, Hanwei is one of the few Chinese firms with mass production capabilities for “electronic skin,” sensors capable of imitating the sensitivity of human touch. Its latest models are thinner than 0.3mm and can detect forces as light as 0.1 kPa—ten times more sensitive than the average human skin threshold.
These sensors are already being trialled across robotic limbs by several Chinese manufacturers, enabling machines to detect shape, texture, and pressure in real time—vital for tasks like grasping fragile objects. In a recent broadcast by CCTV, Hanwei’s technology was showcased through smart gloves and insoles that translated subtle physical movements into live visual data, underscoring the readiness of the product, if not yet the market.
“Motion control is only the beginning. Perception and decision-making are the next leap,” said Li Junlan, research manager at IDC China. “Sensor innovation will define the next stage of humanoid capability.”
Founded in 1998 and publicly listed since 2009, Hanwei is expanding far beyond gas detection. Its product lines now include not only flexible tactile sensors, but also MEMS-based inertial sensors for balance and motion control, laser-based photoelectric modules, and even olfactory sensing systems, or “electronic noses.”
Together, these represent a push into full-body robotic perception, from fingertip tactility to postural awareness and environmental sensing. “Vision sensors mean robots are no longer blind,” said Yan Qianhang, vice-president at Frees Fund, a venture capital firm. “But the other senses—touch, smell, proprioception—are still largely undeveloped.”
The company’s technological breadth includes piezoresistive, piezoelectric, capacitive, magnetic, and liquid-metal-based sensing—each suited to different body parts and use cases. Hanwei’s general manager Li Zhigang recently confirmed that while the company’s flexible sensor capacity is already in the tens of millions of units per year, the downstream robotics market remains at a prototyping stage, with most orders in small batches.
Still, momentum is building. In the first half of 2025 alone, China’s humanoid robotics sector recorded 87 funding rounds with disclosed financing of Rmb10.9bn, more than double the total raised in all of 2024, according to data from Gaogong Robotics Industry Research Institute (GGII). Analysts now expect the country to reach annual output of 5–6 million humanoid units by 2030, with the market size surpassing Rmb450bn.
That growth will fuel demand for sensors. GGII estimates the humanoid robot sensor market will grow at a compound annual rate of 61.6% over the next five years. Force sensors are expected to dominate with a projected Rmb58.5bn market by 2030, followed by vision (Rmb20bn), tactile (Rmb10.5bn), and attitude sensors, where Hanwei’s MEMS technology is already deployed in industrial robots and drones.
Despite its relatively fragmented structure—with nearly half of domestic sensor firms holding registered capital below Rmb2mn—the sector is quickly consolidating around companies with strong R&D pipelines. Around 85% of China’s sensor firms have been operating for more than five years, with a heavy concentration in scientific research and technical services.
“The sensor is the robot’s interface with the world,” said Li. “It will determine not just what robots can do—but how intelligently and safely they do it.”
To meet surging demand, Hanwei has begun construction on a new production line for flexible sensors through its subsidiary Suzhou Nengsida, which currently operates at full capacity. The new line is expected to come online in the second half of the year and significantly lift output.
As China's push into embodied intelligence accelerates, Hanwei’s multi-sensor strategy—rooted in industrial experience but tailored for a robotic future—offers a telling glimpse of the new supply chains now forming around human-like machines.
Whether it’s touch, smell, or balance, the robot of tomorrow may well be sensing the world through components made in Zhengzhou.
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