Unitree Technology (SSE: 688836) has agreed to build a robotics joint venture with a manufacturing arm of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the parent company of PetroChina (HKEX:
Unitree Technology (SSE: 688836) has agreed to build a robotics joint venture with a manufacturing arm of China National Petroleum Corporation (CNPC), the parent company of PetroChina (HKEX: 0857; SSE: 601857).
The agreement is Unitree’s first big deal with a state-owned partner since the U.S. labeled it a Chinese military firm and moved to block its robots from the U.S. market.
A filing from the Beijing Administration for Market Regulation shows that Unitree Technology (SSE: 688836) has signed a deal with China Petroleum Corporation (CNPC) and Beijing Fanjie Intelligent Technology to build a robotics company.
CNPC’s Kunlun Manufacturing and its partner, Kunlun Capital, will own 60% of the new company while Unitree and Beijing Fanjie Intelligent Technology will each own 20%. All three will share control.
The new company has not finished its business registration, and its name and location have not been announced. What is known is that the public comment period on the deal runs from November 4 to November 13.
The venture will make industrial robots with built-in AI to handle tasks in flammable and toxic areas that would be dangerous for humans. These locations include oil and gas sites, refineries, storage sites, emergency response, fuel and charging stations, and overseas projects.
Unitree already sells the B2-Ex, which is an explosion-proof four-legged robot for gas-gathering stations, production zones and chemical tank farms. The deal could give it access to live energy sites, where it can collect real operating data.
Notably, Kunlun Capital was a strategic investor in Unitree’s Shanghai stock market debut and bought 903,290 shares, or 2.23% of the strategic placement. The company listed on August 19 and raised 6.1 billion yuan, about $900 million. DeepSeek and a state oil giant were also among the backers.
The Pentagon added Unitree to its 1260H list of companies it says support China’s military on June 8, bringing the list to 188 names. On July 28, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) put foreign-built advanced robots on its Covered List, a national security list the agency has also used against Huawei and ZTE (SZSE: 000063; HKEX: 0763).
In December 2025, House Homeland Security Chairman Andrew Garbarino and Select Committee on China Chairman John Moolenaar sent a letter to the Pentagon asking it to classify Unitree, DeepSeek and others as Chinese military companies.
The letter mentioned a Unitree robot dog fitted with a rifle that Chinese troops used in the “Golden Dragon 2024” drills with Cambodia.
In June, the same group introduced the GUARD Act, which would screen and possibly ban robots made by U.S. rivals. Moolenaar said Unitree and other Chinese robot makers were “cheating against American robot makers” with the help of state subsidies.
The FCC rule has already changed Unitree’s position in the U.S. The company told investors that its six best-selling models passed FCC authorization before the rule took effect, so they can still be sold. They are the G1, H2 and R1 humanoids and the Go2, B2 and A2 four-legged robots.
New models will be blocked unless they get an exemption, Cryptopolitan reported.
Overseas sales made up more than 40% of Unitree’s revenue in each reporting period, but the U.S. share fell to 13.3%. A venture controlled by a PetroChina parent that also aims at overseas growth gives U.S. critics a new target.
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