Johnson Electric (HKG:0179) unit JEA agreed to form two equity joint ventures with machinery firm Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry (SHA:600835, SHA:900925), a Wednesday Hong Kong bourse filing said.

The first JV firm will be incorporated in Shanghai and serve as a sales channel for products manufactured by the second joint venture.

JEA and Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry will hold a respective 49% and 51% equity interest in the JV, which will also support business development, R&D, application engineering, and customer service for humanoid robotic solutions in China.

The second joint venture, which will be incorporated in Shenzhen, will act as the engineering design, R&D, manufacturing base for humanoid robot hardware modules and hardware system integration solutions.

JEA will hold a 51% stake in this JV company, with Shanghai Mechanical & Electrical Industry owning the remaining 49%.

Each JV firm will have a registered share capital of 75 million yuan.

The agreement comes about as part of electro-mechanical component firm Johnson Electric's expansion strategy in the robotics sector.