(Yicai) Feb. 12 -- Shares in Miracle Automation Engineering surged as much as 5 percent today after the Chinese automated equipment supplier said that it is linking arms with robot maker Galbot to form the firm's second humanoid robot joint venture that will produce industrial robots tailored for specialized applications in automotive and lithium battery factories.

Miracle’s share price [SHE:002009] closed up 3.8 percent today at CNY16.11 (USD2.20). Earlier in the day it hit CNY16.30.

Miracle is setting up an equal JV with Beijing-based Galbot with a registered capital of CNY3.6 million (USD492,476), the Wuxi-headquartered firm said yesterday. The JV will focus on developing embodied AI robots and solutions for use in vehicle and electric car battery manufacturing.

This latest venture follows Miracle’s success with its first robot JV, established with Ubtech Robotics in August 2023. The humanoid robots developed by this tie-up, in which Miracle owns a 22 percent stake and Shenzhen-based Ubtech the rest, have already started test training at a number of new energy vehicle makers’ factories, including BYD and Zeekr. Deliveries are expected to start this year, Miracle said.

Galbot specializes in developing smart robots for a wide range of commercial and household applications. It launched its first wheeled bionic robot, the Galbot G1, in June last year, which is capable of handling a number of complex scenarios.

Editor: Kim Taylor