Xiangjiang Laboratory and Range Group Sign Agreement to Jointly Establish Embodied Intelligent Robotics Innovation Research Institute
2025-07-31
Recently, the work advancement meeting and signing ceremony for the joint establishment of the Embodied Intelligent Robotics Innovation Research Institute by Xiangjiang Laboratory and Range Group were held in the Zhiyuan Lecture Hall on the 6th floor of the Xiangjiang Building. Attending the meeting were Academician Chen Xiaohong, Secretary of the CPC HUTB Committee and Director of the Xiangjiang Laboratory; Liu Ping, Member of the CPC Leading Group and Vice Mayor of the Hengyang Municipal People's Government; Zhou Chaonan, Chairwoman of Range Group; Liu Guoquan, Executive Deputy Director of the Xiangjiang Laboratory; Hou Junjun, Deputy Director of the Xiangjiang Laboratory and Vice President of HUTB; Zhang Zhonghui, Member of the Party Working Committee and Deputy Director of the Management Committee of Hengyang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone; and other relevant personnel.
Academician Chen Xiaohong delivered a welcome speech at the meeting. She stated that in recent years, Hengyang City has anchored its goals for high-quality development, achieving remarkable results in economic growth and industrial upgrading, particularly in the rapid development of related industries such as the digital economy and artificial intelligence. Range Group, as a leading domestic provider of digital technology solutions, has deep expertise in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, big data, and cloud computing, boasting solid technological accumulation and practical experience. As the first of Hunan Province's four major laboratories to be unveiled, the Xiangjiang Laboratory has established a comprehensive "1456" construction framework. It has developed a collaborative development model involving its headquarters, universities, and industrial alliance enterprises under the "integration of computing power, algorithm, computing basis and computing network" framework. The laboratory has established an integrated scientific and technological innovation system comprising innovation research institutes, R&D centers, regional innovation centers, artificial intelligence social laboratories, and PI teams led by academicians and experts. The laboratory has released a total of 24 scientific and technological innovation products labeled "Xiangjiang No. 1" to "Xiangjiang No. 24." The signing between the Xiangjiang Laboratory and Range Group marks the entry of their powerful collaboration into a substantive phase. Through this partnership, they aim to empower Hengyang to build a hundred-billion-yuan embodied intelligent industry cluster and jointly cultivate "elderly tech benchmark" products that possess both market competitiveness and industrial demonstration value.
Vice Mayor Liu Ping spoke at the meeting, introducing the comparative advantages of Hengyang City's humanoid robotics industry development. He stated that the powerful collaboration between the Xiangjiang Laboratory and Range Group is not only a landmark achievement in implementing the Hunan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and the People’s Government of Hunan Province's major decisions and deployments to build a "4×4" modern industrial system and seize new tracks in future industries but also a significant milestone for Hengyang in developing new quality productive forces and constructing a modern industrial system. Hengyang will, with the utmost sincerity, the best policies, and the finest services, fully ensure all support efforts to promote at the earliest the fruitful outcomes of Hengyang's humanoid robotics industry.
Chairwoman Zhou Chaonan delivered a speech at the meeting. She stated that Range Group will fully leverage its core strengths, persistently strengthen, optimize, and expand the intelligent computing industry, adhere to its original aspiration of serving the nation through industry, strive to promote the transformation and industrialization of scientific and technological achievements, and build core competitiveness for industrial development. She introduced the company's preliminary achievements and strategic vision from aspects such as promoting the entry of intelligent agents into households, improving the iterative upgrading of the intelligent agent industry, and building an intelligent agent service system. She stated that the company will ensure resource investment and support, joining forces with the Xiangjiang Laboratory to jointly realize the beautiful vision of intelligent agent elderly care service robots entering ordinary households.
Relevant personnel from both sides engaged in in-depth discussions on advancing the cooperation matters.
Academician Chen Xiaohong delivered a concluding speech at the meeting, congratulating on the successful signing of the cooperation agreement. She expressed hope that both parties would deepen the synergy of their advantages to serve the broader development goals, focus on collaborative innovation to forge an industrial engine, promote the transformation of research into production to activate the innovation ecosystem, and jointly create a Hunan model of "two-way pursuit and two-way empowerment" between universities and enterprises, writing an era report on industry-education-research collaborative innovation.
During the signing segment, witnessed by guests including Academician Chen Xiaohong, Vice Mayor Liu Ping, and Chairwoman Zhou Chaonan, Hou Junjun, Deputy Director of the Xiangjiang Laboratory, and Zhu Jianguo, Senior Advisor of Range Group, signed the agreement on behalf of both parties, eliciting warm applause from the audience.
After the signing ceremony, Vice Mayor Liu Ping, Chairwoman Zhou Chaonan, and their delegation visited the Xiangjiang Laboratory's scientific research achievements exhibition hall, expressing high praise for the laboratory's research achievements and innovative strengths.
Range Group is a listed company in China specializing in providing artificial intelligence computing power infrastructure. It has invested RMB1 billion in the Hengyang High-Tech Industrial Development Zone to build the Xinzhiren Perception Experience Center and is currently focused on researching, developing, and producing high-performance humanoid companion Xinzhiren robots. These robots can provide thoughtful all-round home services and hold broad market prospects.
Currently, Hengyang City is accelerating the layout and prioritizing the development of the humanoid robotics industry as one of its two major future industries. This collaboration between the Xiangjiang Laboratory and Range Group marks a significant step forward for the laboratory in the transformation and industrialization of technological achievements in embodied intelligent robotics. Both parties will jointly create a brighter future for the development of Hengyang City's humanoid robotics industry, collaboratively build a highland for embodied intelligent technology innovation and application demonstration, and contribute to realizing the beautiful blueprint of "Three Highlands, Four New Missions."
(Written by Chao Jinwen and Photo by Ling Haotian)
