New Observations on the Development of Artificial Intelligence in China
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With world-leading artificial intelligence experts and over 4.5 million graduates in related fields annually; continuously increasing policy support and funding, leading to rising AI adoption rates; globally advanced 5G mobile communication technology, equipment, and application innovations providing a solid foundation for infrastructure support...
Artificial intelligence is a key driver of the new wave of technological revolution and industrial transformation, profoundly changing how people produce, live, and learn. Facing the surging tide of AI, how can China consolidate its advantages in AI development and foster its continuous growth?
Strengthening the Foundation: Consolidating Advantages in AI Development
With the deepening of the new technological revolution and industrial transformation, technological innovation has become the main battlefield of international strategic competition. Science and technology have never influenced a nation's future as profoundly as they do today.
Since the 18th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, the Party Central Committee has accurately grasped the trends of the times, seized strategic opportunities for technological innovation, and made a series of important arrangements to promote AI development. China's AI technology has advanced rapidly, with increasingly abundant data and computing resources and expanding application scenarios.
Deep roots yield lush foliage. By strengthening basic research, enhancing infrastructure, and optimizing policy frameworks, China is consolidating its advantages in AI development and nurturing fertile ground for AI innovation.
At the level of basic research—
By anticipating major trends and making strategic moves, China is systematically advancing strategic-oriented basic research, frontier-oriented exploratory research, and market-driven applied research.
The AI Index Report released by Stanford University shows that China has world-leading AI experts, with nine of the top ten institutions in terms of total research paper output being Chinese. Companies like Tencent, Alibaba, and Huawei have ranked among the world's top ten in AI research.
At the infrastructure level—
China has built the world's largest fiber-optic and mobile broadband networks, the largest standalone 5G network, and has achieved leaps from 10Mbps to 100Mbps and then to gigabit speeds in fixed networks, as well as transitions from "3G breakthroughs" to "4G synchronization" and "5G leadership" in mobile networks.
From cities to rural areas, from base stations to fiber-optic networks, China continues to expand the coverage and depth of communication and internet infrastructure, steadily improving its foundation. These achievements have paved an "information superhighway" for the development and application of new AI technologies, accelerating China's AI progress.
At the policy level—
As early as 2017, China formulated and implemented the "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan," aiming to achieve world-leading levels in AI theory, technology, and applications by 2030 and become a global AI innovation hub.
In August 2022, the Ministry of Science and Technology and five other departments jointly issued the "Guidelines on Accelerating Scenario Innovation to Promote High-Level AI Applications for High-Quality Economic Development." Subsequently, the Ministry of Science and Technology released the "Notice on Supporting the Construction of New Generation AI Demonstration Application Scenarios"...
From the central government to local authorities, a series of policies and measures have been introduced, forming a comprehensive policy support system with both top-level design and specific measures, exploring new models and pathways for AI development.
"We are making continuous progress in the field of technology, leading the way in applying artificial intelligence and high-speed broadband to enhance corporate productivity, which is evident to all," said Dai Qionghai, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Chairman of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence. By seizing the major opportunities presented by technological revolutions and industrial transformations, China has been refining its top-level design and layout, driving the vigorous development of AI technology and industry.
"New AI technologies are the focal point of global technological innovation today and a strategic high ground we must capture," said Robin Li, Founder, Chairman, and CEO of Baidu. He believes that new AI technologies will powerfully drive the deep integration of the digital economy with the real economy, contributing wisdom and strength to support high-quality development.
Accelerating Applications: Fueling China's AI Growth
"Scale effects, a vast market, and rapid data feedback incentivize companies to continuously invest and iterate efficiently; rich application scenarios allow almost every industry to explore the possibilities of 'AI+'; and strong policy support, with various departments opening up scenarios and encouraging innovation, provides AI with ample opportunities," analyzed Hu Zhipeng, Senior Vice President of NetEase Group.
Hu Zhipeng noted that China excels at adopting new technologies to address the most pressing challenges through rapid commercialization. Over the years, this approach has yielded success in areas such as mobile payments and new energy vehicles.
In mobile payments, China is the world's largest cross-border e-commerce retail export economy and the largest e-commerce retail market. Moreover, China leads globally in internet, wireless broadband, and mobile terminal scale, having built information highways to key countries worldwide and the largest fiber-optic and mobile broadband networks.
In the new energy vehicle sector, China's production has surpassed 20 million units. In recent years, various departments have introduced over 70 supportive measures, with local governments tailoring policies to their specific needs. From implementing industrial technology innovation projects to establishing national manufacturing innovation centers for power batteries, these initiatives have clarified the direction for industrial development.
When these successful experiences are replicated in the AI field, they will profoundly impact economic development and industrial landscapes.
At the 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, over 30 large model teams showcased their creations with poetic Chinese names—such as iFLYTEK's "Spark," NetEase's "Fuxi," and Baidu's "ERNIE Bot"—paying homage to China's rich cultural heritage while vividly demonstrating AI's potential to benefit everyday life.
"Large models can bring convenience to ordinary people in various ways, such as helping them learn, edit articles, or generate plans. Therefore, the concentrated release of large models allows the public to quickly access, use, and understand them," said Sun Le, a researcher at the Institute of Software, Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Secretary-General of the Chinese Information Processing Society of China.
Beyond large models, new AI technologies are rapidly permeating industries, offering personalized shopping recommendations, weather predictions, mining production guidance, assisting programmers in coding, and aiding scientists in research.
The vast array of application scenarios serves as fertile "testing grounds" for China's AI development, where a multitude of new technologies, applications, and breakthroughs are flourishing.
"AI is a new frontier for human development," said Yu Youcheng, Deputy Secretary-General of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence. He emphasized the need to actively seize the innovation high ground in large model commercialization, promote the continuous emergence of AI applications, jointly mitigate risks, and enhance the safety, reliability, controllability, and fairness of AI technologies.
Strengthening Foundations: Mitigating AI's 'Growing Pains'
Looking at the world, the key to determining the "decisive factor" in artificial intelligence lies in core areas such as chips and computing power. It must be clearly recognized that China still faces many challenges in these aspects and needs to strengthen its internal capabilities to avoid "growing pains" and promote the safe and orderly development of AI.
Scientific and technological innovation must "face the frontiers of global science and technology, the main battlefield of the economy, the major needs of the country, and the health and well-being of the people." This is especially true for the development of AI technology. Industry experts generally agree that clarifying the strategic direction for advancing AI development is equivalent to installing a "new engine" for China's AI takeoff.
—Policy frameworks and foundational theories need further strengthening. Xing Huaibin, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Strategic Planning at the Ministry of Science and Technology, stated that as China's AI development enters a new phase, innovation policies tailored to new characteristics are needed. Leveraging scenario innovation and demand-driven approaches will create a virtuous cycle of mutual reinforcement with technological R&D.
—Talent is the most dynamic and proactive factor in innovation activities. E Weinan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of the Peking University International Center for Machine Learning, suggested that, looking ahead, resources must be allocated to frontline researchers who deliver tangible results. At the same time, an effective talent cultivation system is essential to nurture individuals with a deep understanding of both fundamental principles and practical challenges.
—Promoting AI innovation requires urgent optimization and breakthroughs in computing power. Dai Qionghai believes that AI has entered an era of interdisciplinary integration. Beyond extracting computing power from physics, we must also seek it from brain science. In the future, next-generation AI will require large-scale, multi-objective data platforms to fully unleash the empowering "leading goose effect."
As a "double-edged sword," how AI is utilized depends on human regulation. Zhao Zhiyun, Director of the Next-Generation AI Development Research Center at the Ministry of Science and Technology and Director of the China Institute of Science and Technology Information, emphasized that China must strengthen the coordination of resources and R&D efforts, accelerate basic research and technological innovation, actively participate in global AI governance, and promote the orderly development of AI.