Zoomlion reported revenue of RMB 27.14 billion (US$4.04 billion) for the first half of 2026, an increase of 9.2% year on year. At the same time, the Chinese construction and industrial machinery manufacturer is expanding its activities in robotics and embodied AI. Humanoid and other robots have now been validated and deployed in nearly 20 manufacturing scenarios at its own facilities. Zoomlion does not disclose how much revenue its robotics activities currently generate.
International operations remained the company’s largest source of revenue. Overseas revenue increased 12.5% to RMB 15.54 billion (US$2.31 billion), representing 57.25% of total revenue. Net cash generated from operating activities rose 38.1% to RMB 2.42 billion (US$360.1 million).
Net profit attributable to shareholders fell to RMB 2.10 billion, approximately US$313 million, from RMB 2.76 billion a year earlier. The decline came despite higher revenue and was affected by foreign-exchange losses. Zoomlion recorded a substantial shift from foreign-exchange gains in the first half of 2025 to losses in the first half of 2026.
The company’s traditional machinery businesses still account for the bulk of its sales. Earthmoving, mining, aerial work platform and agricultural machinery generated combined revenue of approximately RMB 12.5 billion (US$1.86 billion), around 46% of total revenue. Zoomlion is also investing in electric equipment, autonomous mining vehicles and AI technologies.
Robots move into industrial applications
Embodied intelligence is becoming a more visible part of that technology strategy. Through its subsidiary ZValley Technology, Zoomlion is developing robots as well as the AI and software needed to operate them. At the World Robot Conference in Beijing in August, the company showed the bipedal Z01 humanoid, the wheeled Z03 humanoid and the D15 and D40 quadruped robots.
Zoomlion is targeting industrial tasks rather than positioning the robots primarily as general-purpose demonstrations. At the conference, the Z03 picked materials, sorted irregularly shaped objects and carried out rearview-mirror pre-assembly. The Z01 demonstrated the handling and organisation of wire harnesses. These are tasks where conventional automation can be difficult because objects, positions or handling requirements can vary.
According to Zoomlion, its robots have now been validated across nearly 20 manufacturing scenarios at Zoomlion Smart City and have been deployed in active manufacturing environments. The company is also using these applications to collect operational data for further development of its AI models.
Zoomlion does not report a separate revenue figure or order backlog for the robotics business. It is therefore not yet possible to determine how much robots are contributing financially to the company’s overall growth.
One AI platform for different machines
Alongside the robots, Zoomlion is developing a software layer intended to apply related AI technologies across different types of machinery. Its Robot Ops platform covers data collection, model training, simulation, validation, deployment and operation. It is designed to support humanoid robots, conventional industrial robots, construction machinery and autonomous vehicles.
The company is also developing ZBrain, an embodied intelligence system intended to make conventional industrial robots less dependent on fixed programming. After receiving a task instruction, the system is designed to perform detection, planning, execution and verification autonomously.
This connects Zoomlion’s AI development directly with its existing industrial operations. For now, the half-year results show that revenue growth is still primarily coming from the company’s established machinery businesses and international sales. Its robotics activities are moving from product development toward deployment inside its own manufacturing operations, but their financial contribution has yet to be disclosed.
