China Curbs Robotic Companies’ IPOs After Unitree’s Volatile Debut

The “window guidance” remain informal and CSRC has not responded over the report

After the volatile debut of humanoid industry leader Unitree Robotics, Chinese regulators are tightening approvals for humanoid startups planning to get listed as per a report by the Information on Wednesday.

The China Regulatory Commission (CSRC) has given an informal “window guidance” to investment banks and firms, lifting the bars for approving such startups, mandating that these companies prove that they can generate recurring revenue. They must also be on track to reduce their losses and achieve real innovation before approvals can be granted.

According to the report the strategy was changed after a funding frenzy in the private market, a long list of companies planning to launch their IPOs, and tanking shares of some of these companies such as Unitree.

Unitree, a Hangzhou based humanoid robot-maker, opened 629 per cent higher when it debuted in Shanghai’s Star Market, last month.The shares have dropped 45 per cent since then, wiping out 200 billion yuan in market value. Rival Robotera is also weighing a separate Hong Kong IPO

Chinese financial authorities didn’t reply to the request for comments on the report by Reuters.