The Chinese endoscopic surgical robot industry is positioned at the early stage of the penetration curve, with domestic manufacturers achieving near-parity in hardware performance and gaining a differentiated lead in remote surgery. Current public procurement data in China has already surpassed imports, while overseas expansion is opening a second growth curve, signaling that leading companies are entering a period of commercial returns. Investors are advised to track domestic and international installation volumes along with utilization rate improvements, focusing on the dual themes of strong earnings visibility and outperforming overseas expansion.

The profitability model has been validated by Intuitive Surgical through its "razor and blades" approach, with clear and replicable growth pathways in product upgrades, indication expansion, and regional penetration. As the global pioneer in endoscopic surgical robots, Intuitive Surgical had over 12,000 systems in use worldwide by 2025, completing more than 20.4 million cumulative procedures. In 2025, the company generated USD 10.065 billion in revenue (up 21% year-on-year), with recurring revenue rising to approximately 84% of total revenue. Reviewing its growth trajectory: 1) Product upgrades: the dV5 model (equipped with force feedback functionality) increased its share of new installations from 24% in 2024 to 51% in 2025, driving up average selling prices and improving per-system utilization; 2) Indication expansion: the primary surgical specialty shifted from urology to gynecology and general surgery, with general surgery now accounting for 60.5% of U.S. procedure volumes; 3) Regional expansion: while the U.S. market has matured with marginal growth slowing, low-penetration markets such as Europe, Japan, South Korea, and India are taking over, with particularly strong performance in South Korea and India in 2025. In March 2026, the company completed the acquisition of an exclusive distributor in Southern Europe, converting over 470 installed systems into direct operations and shifting its European model from distribution to direct management.

The overseas blue ocean market has become a key growth driver for Chinese companies, while domestic pricing support is further boosting growth. In 2025, overseas installations accounted for a significantly larger share of new systems for MicroPort MedBot and Shenzhen Edge Medical compared to domestic installations. The export value of surgical robots has also surged in recent years, with overseas markets contributing the majority of current installation momentum. Meanwhile, domestic penetration remains extremely low, with China's robotic-assisted endoscopic surgery penetration rate at just 0.7% in 2024 (compared to 21.9% in the U.S.), indicating vast room for expansion. The market is projected to reach RMB 33.7 billion by 2035, with single-port systems growing faster. Policy support is multi-dimensional: 1) Allocation permits: as of the end of February 2026, over 480 permits under the "14th Five-Year Plan" had been issued, with fewer than 80 remaining. The quota for the "15th Five-Year Plan" is expected to be further relaxed; 2) Standardized procurement: the provincial-level procurement framework implemented in July 2026 emphasizes "quality at a fair price and prevention of unhealthy competition," suggesting manageable price reductions. Domestic manufacturers with comprehensive local service and consumable offerings are relatively well-positioned; 3) Standardized pricing: in January 2026, the National Healthcare Security Administration issued guidelines for nationwide coefficient-based pricing based on the degree of robot involvement. Local implementation has been smooth, with benchmark prices for the highest tier (e.g., tertiary hospitals) typically ranging from RMB 15,000 to 16,000 per procedure, and remote surgery tiers reaching RMB 18,000 to 20,000. The establishment of these add-on price ranges is likely to lower the decision-making threshold for hospital procurement.

Chinese companies are accelerating their catch-up along the benchmark path, currently in a phase of "basic benchmarking, targeted pursuit, and differentiated leadership." Domestic leading models have achieved near-parity with the da Vinci system in core hardware parameters such as the number of robotic arms (4 arms) and degrees of freedom, while also offering a price advantage. This provides a solid product foundation for both domestic substitution and overseas expansion. The main gap lies in force feedback, though the dV5 model has already entered the CMDE innovation review process. In other differentiated tracks: 1) Remote surgery: Chinese companies hold a first-mover advantage, leveraging 5G communications infrastructure. The Toumai system has completed over 1,000 remote human clinical procedures (roughly half of the global total), and the Edge Medical system has completed over 500, both with a 100% success rate; 2) AI assistance: the industry is transitioning from L1/L2 assisted control to L3 supervised autonomy. Since 2025, Johnson & Johnson has partnered with Nvidia, and Medtronic has launched an AI-native operating room platform. On the domestic side, MicroPort has completed the world's first animal experiment using a large model for autonomous surgery, while Edge Medical has invested in the 4D world model company PrimalVerse. Both Chinese and international players are actively vying for leadership.

MicroPort MedBot is focusing on "remote surgery differentiation and overseas scaling," while Edge Medical is emphasizing "platform-based expansion and strong profitability." MicroPort MedBot's Toumai system has evolved through multiple generations, gaining multi-country approvals for remote surgery. In 2025, the company achieved revenue of RMB 551 million (up 114.2% year-on-year), with overseas revenue rising to 73% of total revenue and losses narrowing by 60.7% year-on-year. In the first half of 2026, the company turned profitable, with gross margins improving by over 15 percentage points compared to the same period last year, marking the start of a harvest phase. As of June 2026, the company had a global cumulative installed base exceeding 200 systems, with overseas economies of scale beginning to materialize. Edge Medical has built a platform matrix encompassing "multi-port, single-port, and integrated single-multi-port" systems. In 2025, the company reported revenue of RMB 456 million (up 184.8% year-on-year), with gross margins rising to 66.0%. As of the first half of 2026, the company had delivered 160 systems globally, with clinical procedures surpassing 20,000 cases, gradually entering a performance realization phase driven by "installation to procedure volume to consumable repurchase." In July 2026, the company invested in the 4D world model company PrimalVerse, positioning itself for foundational capabilities in "AI and surgical robotics."

Risk factors include: price reductions exceeding expectations in centralized procurement, slower-than-expected issuance of allocation permits and hospital procurement timelines, delays in overseas registration and commercialization, intensified market competition and product homogenization risks, the risk of outdated data used in the research report, and risks of third-party data distortion and deviations in market size estimates.