According to overseas media, Tesla has begun buying components from China for the humanoid robots it builds in the United States.
As the world’s largest maker of humanoid robots, China’s component supply will help Tesla speed up the production ramp of its Optimus line at the Fremont factory in California.
The report says that in mid September Tesla’s robotics team began auditing three auto-parts suppliers in Ningbo, a port city in eastern China. The three are Junye Electronics, Tuopu Group and Sanhua Auto Controls.
Before the audit, the three firms had already received orders from Tesla for humanoid parts, including joint modules, actuators and precision structural components. Once they pass checks on production-line performance and compliance with relevant rules and standards, they will begin volume production.
During the China trip the Tesla robotics team also visited firms in Hangzhou, Shanghai and other cities in the region.
In January Tesla said it would stop building the high-end Model S saloon and the Model X crossover and use the freed space at its California plant for an Optimus assembly line. Tesla began trial production of Optimus last year, and turning to Chinese suppliers underscores China’s pull in global robotics, with both advanced technology and cost competitiveness.
In Automotive News’ 2026 ranking of the world’s top 100 auto-parts suppliers by original-equipment sales, Junye Electronics, Tuopu Group and Sanhua Auto Controls ranked 29th, 57th and 100th.
All three already supply Tesla’s electric cars and are also vendors to leading humanoid makers such as Agibot and Unitree Robotics.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original Gasgoo report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience. The full original (in Chinese) is at https://www.gasgoo.com/apps/50640d4b55d5cba175fb84f15d679f19/robot/news/70473152-%E6%9B%9D%E7%89%B9%E6%96%AF%E6%8B%89%E7%BE%8E%E5%9B%BD%E4%BA%A7%E4%BA%BA%E5%BD%A2%E6%9C%BA%E5%99%A8%E4%BA%BA%E9%87%87%E8%B4%AD%E4%B8%AD%E5%9B%BD%E9%9B%B6%E9%83%A8%E4%BB%B6/.