Siemens & Alibaba Cloud Partner to Build China Industrial AI Ecosystem | Robotics Focus

BEIJING – Siemens China and Alibaba Cloud announced an expanded partnership today to build a cloud-based industrial artificial intelligence ecosystem, as the German engineering giant unveiled 26 recent products tailored for the Chinese market.

The collaboration, revealed at the inaugural Real Meets Digital summit in Beijing, will integrate Siemens’ simulation software portfolio with Alibaba Cloud’s computing infrastructure, providing Chinese customers with computer-aided engineering (CAE) capabilities on an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) basis, according to Siemens China.

“Siemens has been an indispensable part of China’s industrial ecosystem for a long time,” said Xiao Song, country chairman, president, and chief executive of Siemens China. “In the industrial AI era, only a robust ecosystem can truly unlock AI’s boundless potential.” He emphasized the demand to deepen cooperation with cloud providers like Alibaba Cloud to combine Siemens’ global technology with local Chinese innovation.

The partnership extends beyond simulation, with both companies exploring the integration of Alibaba’s Qwen AI models into Siemens’ product lifecycle management platforms. This move aims to enhance engineering processes and accelerate innovation for Chinese firms, according to a joint statement. Alibaba’s Damo Academy recently introduced a new RISC-V processor optimized for cloud infrastructure workloads, potentially bolstering the computing power available for these applications.

Siemens is similarly actively seeking partnerships with Chinese robotics companies, including Unitree Technology and Galbot, to leverage advancements in embodied intelligence. Xiao Song noted the current lack of sufficient data for training robots, a challenge Siemens hopes to address with its broad industrial data sets. “Siemens covers a very wide range of industries with its data, which holds significant value for emerging sectors,” he said.

Unitree Technology, a leading Chinese robotics firm, is focused on developing robot training in simulated environments before deploying them in real-world production settings. “Training in simulated environments will definitely turn into a future trend,” said Wang Xingxing, founder, Chairman, and CEO of Unitree, at the summit. The company plans to concentrate on improving the richness of robot movements over the next six months, a critical factor for industrial applications.

The expanded partnership between Siemens and Alibaba Cloud builds on a previous agreement to bring advanced industrial simulation software to the cloud, announced in March 2026. The move reflects a broader trend of international technology companies collaborating with Chinese firms to tap into the country’s rapidly growing AI market and industrial base.