Driven by the Chinese government's strong determination to secure dominance in 'physical artificial intelligence (AI),' the China humanoid robot market is experiencing rapid growth. This is why ETFs investing in the China humanoid robot market, which boasts world-class technology, massive demand, and proactive government policy support, are attracting attention.
On September 1, Samsung Asset Management announced that the 'KODEX China Humanoid Robot' ETF has recorded 107 billion won in net assets. Listed in May, the KODEX China Humanoid Robot is the first China humanoid robot-themed ETF in Korea and was the first to surpass 100 billion won in net assets.
The KODEX China Humanoid Robot ETF optimizes its investment allocation by analyzing the actual importance of core components required to build a humanoid robot, in addition to investing in completed humanoid robots such as UBTECH and Dobot. Its underlying index is the Solactive China Humanoid Robotics Index, which invests in 20 companies within the China humanoid robot value chain. The ETF is highly responsive to news related to the Chinese government's support policies for humanoid robots, mass production, commercialization, and large-scale supply contracts.
The performance of the KODEX China Humanoid Robot ETF has also been on the rebound. Its one-month return is 9.0%, and its three-month return is 18.3%. Recently, as the Chinese government announced plans to implement large-scale support policies for the humanoid robot industry over the next five years and showcased its technological prowess by hosting major international robotics events, the ETF's returns have soared. Compared to the end of July, the KODEX China Humanoid Robot ETF's return was 11.7%, which is 3.38 percentage points (P) higher than the 8.32% return of the CSI300 Index, the representative index of the Chinese market, over the same period.
On July 31, the State Council of China announced the 'AI+ Initiative,' unveiling large-scale policy support for industries applying AI technology. As part of 'AI+,' Shanghai also announced an Embodied AI industry development plan, increasing the likelihood that 'AI+' will be presented as a core policy direction in the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030), which begins next year.
On August 8, the world's largest World Robot Conference was held in Beijing. This was followed by the world's first Humanoid Robot Olympics, also held in Beijing from August 15 for three days, drawing global investors' attention to China humanoid robots. Investment demand for the China humanoid robot industry is rising as leading Chinese robot companies such as Unitree and UBTECH sign large-scale supply contracts and Unitree pursues an initial public offering (IPO).
Lee Kahyun, a manager at Samsung Asset Management, stated, "With the Chinese government designating 'humanoid robots' as the next-generation super-gap industry to be intensively fostered over the next five years, powerful policy initiatives are being concentrated on this theme," adding, "We expect to see a success story in China humanoid robots similar to that of electric vehicles in the past."
She continued, "As the Chinese humanoid robot industry is entering the stage of mass production and distribution, investors can participate in the rapidly growing Chinese humanoid robot industry through the KODEX China Humanoid Robot ETF."
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