China launched its first urban management enforcement pilot program featuring collaboration between human officers and a humanoid robot, marking another step in the country’s push to move embodied AI systems from experimental demonstrations into real-world public operations.

The pilot program began at the Zhangjiang AI Innovation Town in Shanghai’s Pudong District, deploying Lingxi X2, the humanoid robot developed by the Shanghai-based firm AgiBot, to assist officers with routine urban management tasks, such as legal education, policy explanation, and answering questions from street vendors.

The initiative combines drones, human officers, and humanoid robots into a coordinated enforcement system designed to improve efficiency while keeping humans in charge of legal decisions.

Drone system detects violations in real time

According to the company, the process begins with an intelligent drone monitoring system that identifies violations involving street-side merchants. The drone then relays real-time information to patrol officers and the nearby Lingxi X2 humanoid robot.

AgiBot said the robot can clearly explain management requirements and relevant legal provisions, and respond quickly to merchants’ questions during on-site interactions. In the field operation model, drones handle front-end monitoring and live transmission of information; officers remain responsible for legal assessment and enforcement actions, while the robot performs auxiliary tasks such as legal promotion and policy interpretation.

“For frontline enforcement officers, this represents an effective enhancement of our capabilities,” Pan Weijia, a Pudong official, noted.

Asked whether robot-assisted urban management enforcement could become routine, Pan said that the bureau would focus more on practical performance evaluation rather than simply expanding deployment numbers. AgiBot emphasized that the robot is not intended to replace human officers. Instead, the humanoid machine will be used as as a new type of “intelligent assistant” designed to improve communication and reduce repetitive workloads.

Handling repetitive tasks

The robot’s main strengths include its extensive knowledge base and its ability to provide objective explanations during interactions with merchants. “Robot participation allows repetitive and procedural tasks to be performed more thoroughly and completely — such as clearly explaining street-front business regulations, storefront responsibility requirements, and relevant legal provisions, while providing immediate responses to merchant questions,” the firm said.

The company added that the model enables faster problem detection and more varied communication approaches that merchants may find easier to accept. The deployment reflects a broader trend across China to move humanoid robots beyond controlled demonstrations and into operational environments where they can perform useful tasks alongside humans.

Expanding on embodied AI

Experts believe the Shanghai pilot represents a major milestone in the commercialization of embodied AI systems in public administration.

“This human-robot collaborative enforcement practice in Shanghai demonstrates China’s active push to transition humanoid robots from merely being able to ‘move’ toward being able to ‘work effectively’ — driving the large-scale application of embodied intelligence robots to create tangible productivity value,” said Pan Helin, a member of the Expert Committee for the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology. Helin told the Global Times on Sunday that the pilot program is expected to lay the groundwork for expanding similar systems into additional public service scenarios.