Lei Jun thanks Wang Xingxing — “Thank you for giving us the opportunity to invest in Yushu five years ago”

Event

Lei Jun of Xiaomi (小米) publicly thanked Wang Xingxing (王兴兴), founder of Yushu Technology (宇树科技), after Wang brought Yushu’s latest robot to Xiaomi’s March 19 spring product launch to support the new Xiaomi SU7. At the event, Lei posed for photos with Wang and told the audience that this year marks Yushu’s tenth anniversary and “thank you for giving us an opportunity to invest in Yushu five years ago,” it has been reported that. Reportedly, online viewers also asked whether Xiaomi was moving into consumer robots; Lei replied that Xiaomi has been working on robots for six years and considers itself a leading player in the field.

Company background

Yushu Technology (宇树科技) was founded in August 2016 with registered capital of about RMB 364 million. Its registered business scope includes research and development of intelligent robots, industrial robot manufacturing and service/consumer robot production. Public shareholder records show Yushu is co‑owned by Wang Xingxing, HanHai Information Technology (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. — a subsidiary of Meituan (美团) — and Astrend IV (Hong Kong) Alpha Limited, an entity associated with Lei Jun’s Shunwei Capital.

Wider context

Why does this matter beyond a product launch? China is pushing to cultivate domestic capabilities in advanced robotics and AI as geopolitical tensions and Western export controls on key semiconductor and AI hardware have tightened. Xiaomi’s visible ties to Yushu underline a broader industry trend: consumer electronics groups and venture investors are backing robotics startups to accelerate homegrown supply chains and product ecosystems. It has been reported that Xiaomi frames these investments as efforts to help the whole robot industry grow, not just to build individual products.