At the  recently held 2026 Zhangjiang Embodied Intelligence Supply Chain Conference, a number of enterprises joined the Zhangjiang Robot Valley alliance, with a host of industrialization projects for embodied intelligent robots signed. Focusing on the emerging track of embodied intelligence, Zhangjiang is evolving from a source of innovation into an industrial hub.

In Zhangjiang, a town located in Shanghai's Pudong district, innovation in embodied intelligence is not confined to individual company labs. Technical bottlenecks are often overcome through brainstorming sessions in shared pantries.

Thanks to the industrial agglomeration effect where upstream and downstream partners work in the same building, R&D cycles have been greatly shortened. This highly efficient industrial ecosystem stems from the region's systematic planning for the industrialization of embodied intelligence.

For startups, supply chain coordination from scheme design to prototype manufacturing used to take at least one to two months. In Zhangjiang Robot Valley, the whole process can be completed within two weeks.

To accelerate robotics industrialization, Zhangjiang has unveiled an embodied intelligence supply chain platform, enabling precise cooperation matching for design, prototyping, and manufacturing of humanoid and embodied robots.

Hosting a large number of suppliers and buyers along the industrial chain, the valley provides ideal conditions for the platform's operation, said He Hongjun, head of Zhangjiang Robot Valley.

Zhangjiang's efforts go far beyond spatial agglomeration. At the supply chain conference, a large batch of orders for the platform was signed.

The platform has integrated resources from nearly 8,000 core enterprises in the embodied intelligence supply chain, enabling companies to achieve "one-day matching, three-day prototyping, and one-week trial production," He said.

The accelerated product iteration is not limited to complete machine manufacturers. Many companies along the supply chain are also speeding up. "In the first half of 2026, our dexterous hand shipments already exceeded the total for the entire year of 2025," said Wang Zhenkun, chief marketing officer of OYMotion Technologies.

He added that the lifespan of their self-developed dexterous hands has currently reached 500,000 air grasps, and the technical team is striving toward a target of two million grasps.

The implementation plan for the development of Shanghai's embodied intelligence industry, released in 2025, designates Zhangjiang as the core industrial carrier and calls for accelerated development of the full industrial chain of embodied intelligence.

At present, Zhangjiang is home to more than 130 enterprises along the embodied intelligence industrial chain, among which nearly 80 specialize in the humanoid robot sector. Centered on building a complete industrial chain for embodied intelligence, Zhangjiang covers over 70 percent of all segmented industrial sectors.

Centered on Zhangjiang, a high-end manufacturing cluster for embodied intelligence is taking shape within a 150-kilometer radius.