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When a totalitarian government like the Chinese Communist Party’s (CCP) People’s Republic of China (PRC) issues “opinions” from the State Council, these should not be mistaken for optional policy musings. In practice, they function as directive roadmaps. Compliance is expected across every level of society, from ministries to enterprises to research institutions, and this guidance determines where investment will flow, which objectives will be measured, and what future benchmarks will define success.
Given the CCP’s track record over the last 15 years in following through on such actions (examples include Made in China 2025, Military-Civil Fusion, and Digital Silk Road initiatives), the issuance of this latest document, “Opinions of the State Council on Deepening the Implementation of the ‘Artificial Intelligence Plus’ Action” (an English translation is provided below) represents a clear indicator: AI+ will dominate China’s next phase of industrial and societal transformation, with profound global implications.
The PRC lays out its roadmap in four main parts, with detailed initiatives running through 2035.
This “AI Plus” action plan should be understood as a whole-of-society mobilization directive. Every sector of Chinese society, from agriculture and education to military-relevant domains like quantum science and intelligent logistics, is called upon to integrate with AI. The plan is long-term, stretching to 2035, with clear interim milestones (2027 and 2030).
For outside observers, the lesson is simple: watch where Beijing’s “opinions” direct attention. Past precedent shows that state-owned enterprises, venture capital flows, infrastructure investment, and academic research will orient in lockstep with these directives.
Unlike in democracies, where industry and government debate direction, China’s command-style governance ensures vertical integration of intent and execution. That means the West should expect follow-through, and prepare for impacts across economic competitiveness, technological standards, global governance, and national security.
Opinions of the State Council on Deepening the Implementation of the “Artificial Intelligence Plus” Action
Guofa [2025] No. 11
The People’s Governments of all provinces, autonomous regions, and municipalities directly under the Central Government, and all ministries, commissions, and directly affiliated agencies of the State Council:
In order to implement the “Artificial Intelligence +” action in depth, promote the extensive and in-depth integration of artificial intelligence with all industries and fields of the economy and society, reshape the paradigm of human production and life, promote a revolutionary leap in productivity and a deep-seated transformation of production relations, and accelerate the formation of a new form of intelligent economy and intelligent society with human-machine collaboration, cross-border integration, and co-creation and sharing, the following opinions are put forward.
I. General requirements
Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we will fully and accurately implement the new development concept, adhere to the people-centered development philosophy, give full play to my country’s advantages such as rich data resources, complete industrial system, and broad application scenarios, strengthen forward-looking planning, systematic layout, industry-specific policies, open sharing, and security and controllability, focus on science and technology, industry, consumption, people’s livelihood, governance, global cooperation and other fields, and implement the “Artificial Intelligence Plus” action in depth. A number of new infrastructure, new technology systems, new industrial ecosystems, new jobs, etc. will emerge, accelerating the cultivation and development of new quality productivity, enabling all people to share the fruits of artificial intelligence development, and better serving China’s modernization construction.
By 2027, China will pioneer the extensive and in-depth integration of AI with six key sectors, with the penetration rate of applications such as new-generation intelligent terminals and intelligent agents exceeding 70%. The core industries of the intelligent economy will rapidly expand, the role of AI in public governance will be significantly enhanced, and the open cooperation system for AI will continue to improve. By 2030, my country’s AI will fully empower high-quality development, with the penetration rate of applications such as new-generation intelligent terminals and intelligent agents exceeding 90%. The intelligent economy will become a key growth engine for my country’s economic development, promoting the inclusiveness of technology and the sharing of its achievements. By 2035, my country will fully enter a new stage of development in the intelligent economy and intelligent society, providing strong support for the basic realization of socialist modernization.
II. Accelerate the implementation of key actions
(1) “Artificial Intelligence +” Science and Technology
1. Accelerate scientific discovery. Accelerate the exploration of new AI-driven research paradigms and accelerate the process of major scientific discoveries from “0 to 1.” Accelerate the development and application of large scientific models, promote the intelligent upgrade of basic research platforms and major scientific and technological infrastructure, create open and shared high-quality scientific datasets, and enhance the processing of complex cross-modal scientific data. Strengthen the interdisciplinary driving role of AI and promote the integrated development of multiple disciplines.
2. Drive innovation in technology R&D models and improve efficiency. Promote the integrated and coordinated development of AI-driven technology R&D, engineering implementation, and product launch, accelerate the implementation and iterative breakthroughs of “from 1 to N” technologies, and promote the efficient transformation of innovative achievements. Support the promotion and application of intelligent R&D tools and platforms, strengthen technological collaborative innovation in areas such as AI and biomanufacturing, quantum technology, and sixth-generation mobile communications (6G). Use new scientific research results to support the implementation of scenario applications, and use new application needs to drive technological innovation breakthroughs.
3. Innovate research methods in philosophy and social sciences. Promote the shift of research methods in philosophy and social sciences toward a human-machine collaborative model, explore and establish new organizational forms for philosophy and social science research adapted to the era of artificial intelligence, and expand research horizons and observational perspectives. Conduct in-depth research on the profound impact and mechanisms of artificial intelligence on human cognition, judgment, and ethical norms, explore and develop a theoretical system for the application of intelligence for good, and promote artificial intelligence to better benefit humanity.
(2) Development of the “Artificial Intelligence +” Industry
1. Cultivate new models and new business formats for intelligent native technologies. Encourage qualified enterprises to integrate AI into strategic planning, organizational structures, and business processes, promote the intelligent development of all industrial elements, assist in the transformation and upgrading of traditional industries, and open up new tracks for the development of strategic emerging industries and future industries. Vigorously develop intelligent native technologies, products, and service systems, accelerate the cultivation of a group of intelligent native enterprises whose underlying architecture and operational logic are based on AI, explore new business models, and give rise to new intelligent native business formats.
2. Promote the intelligent development of all industrial factors. Promote the intelligent linkage of all industrial factors and accelerate the implementation of AI in all aspects of design, pilot testing, production, service, and operations. Focus on improving the AI literacy and skills of all employees and foster the development of more reusable expert knowledge across industries. Accelerate breakthroughs in industrial software innovation and vigorously develop intelligent manufacturing equipment. Promote intelligent collaboration across the industrial supply chain and strengthen adaptive supply and demand matching. Promote AI-driven production process optimization methods. Deepen the integrated application of AI and the Industrial Internet to enhance the intelligent perception and decision-making and execution capabilities of industrial systems.
3. Accelerate the digital transformation and upgrading of agriculture. Accelerate innovation in AI-driven breeding systems and support intelligent applications in agricultural fields such as planting and breeding. Vigorously develop intelligent agricultural machinery, agricultural drones, agricultural robots, and other intelligent equipment to enhance the intelligent perception, decision-making, control, and operation capabilities of agricultural production and processing tools, and strengthen platform-based and intelligent management of agricultural machinery and tools. Strengthen the application of AI in agricultural production management, risk prevention, and other areas to help farmers improve their production and management capabilities and levels.
4. Innovate new models for service industry development. Accelerate the evolution of the service industry from digitally enabled internet services to new intelligence-driven service models, expand business scope, and promote the intelligent and innovative development of modern service industries. Explore new models that combine unmanned and human services. Promote the widespread application of new-generation intelligent terminals and intelligent entities in software, information, finance, business, law, transportation, logistics, trade, and other fields.
(3) “AI+” consumption quality improvement
1. Expand new service consumption scenarios. Cultivate smart service formats with wider coverage and richer content, accelerate the development of native smart applications such as efficiency-enhancing and companionship-oriented ones, and support the development of new service portals such as smart assistants. Strengthen the construction of smart consumption infrastructure, improve the quality of life services such as entertainment, e-commerce, housekeeping, property management, travel, elderly care, and childcare, and expand new service consumption scenarios such as experiential consumption, personalized consumption, and cognitive and emotional consumption.
2. Cultivate new formats for product consumption. Promote the “intelligent connection of all things” through intelligent terminals, foster a smart product ecosystem, and vigorously develop a new generation of intelligent terminals, including intelligent connected vehicles, AI-powered phones and computers, smart robots, smart homes, and smart wearables, to create an integrated, all-scenario intelligent interactive environment. Accelerate the integration of AI with technologies such as the metaverse, low-altitude flight, additive manufacturing, and brain-computer interfaces, as well as product innovation, to explore new forms of intelligent products.
(IV) “AI+” People’s Well-being
1. Create smarter ways of working. Actively leverage the role of AI in creating new jobs and empowering traditional ones. Explore new organizational structures and management models that foster human-machine collaboration. Cultivate and develop innovative work models such as intelligent agents, and promote their application in jobs with labor shortages and high-risk environments. Vigorously support AI skills training to stimulate AI innovation, entrepreneurship, and re-employment. Strengthen employment risk assessments for AI applications, directing innovative resources toward areas with high job creation potential to minimize the impact on employment.
2. Promote more effective learning methods. Integrate AI into all elements and processes of education and teaching, creating new models of human-machine collaborative education and teaching, such as intelligent learning partners and intelligent teachers. This will promote a shift in education from a focus on knowledge transfer to one focused on enhancing competence, accelerate the implementation of tailored teaching for all students on a large scale, improve education quality, and promote educational equity. Build intelligent, situational, interactive learning models to promote more flexible, resource-rich, and autonomous learning. Encourage and support the public’s active acquisition of new AI knowledge and technologies.
3. Create a better life with higher quality. Explore and promote high-level resident health assistants that are accessible to everyone, orderly promote the application of artificial intelligence in scenarios such as auxiliary diagnosis and treatment, health management, and medical insurance services, and significantly improve the capacity and efficiency of primary medical and health services. Promote artificial intelligence to play a greater role in flourishing cultural production, enhancing cultural dissemination, and promoting cultural exchanges. Use artificial intelligence to assist in the creation of more cultural content with Chinese cultural elements and symbols, and strengthen the cultural industry. Give full play to the important role of artificial intelligence in strengthening interpersonal relationships, spiritual comfort and companionship, elderly care, childcare, and assistance for the disabled, and promoting national fitness. Expand the application of artificial intelligence throughout the life cycle of “good houses” and actively build a more caring intelligent society.
(V) “AI+” governance capabilities
1. Create a new vision for human-machine symbiosis in social governance. Promote the intelligent transformation and upgrading of municipal infrastructure in an orderly manner, explore urban planning, construction, and governance oriented towards the development of a new generation of intelligent terminals, and enhance the intelligent level of urban operations. Accelerate the expansion of AI products and services into rural areas, promoting the inclusive development of intelligent technology in both urban and rural areas. Conduct in-depth social experiments in AI. Safely, steadily, and orderly promote the application of AI in government affairs, creating a new model for government services that accurately identifies needs, proactively plans services, and intelligently handles them throughout the entire process. Accelerate the application of AI in various public resource bidding activities, and enhance intelligent transaction services and supervision.
2. Create a new multi-faceted and co-governed security governance framework. Promote the establishment of a multi-faceted and integrated public security governance system for natural persons, digital humans, and intelligent robots. Strengthen the application of AI in production safety supervision, disaster prevention, mitigation, and relief, public safety early warning, and social security management. Improve monitoring and early warning, supervision and law enforcement, command and decision-making, on-site rescue, and social mobilization, and enhance the ability to use AI to maintain and shape national security. Accelerate the advancement of AI-enabled cyberspace governance, strengthening capabilities such as accurate information identification, proactive situation analysis, and real-time risk management.
3. Collaboratively paint a new picture of ecological governance for a beautiful China. Improve integrated dynamic perception of air, land, and sea, as well as intelligent planning of national territory and space, and strengthen the optimal allocation of resources. Focusing on multi-factor ecological and environmental systems such as the atmosphere, water, ocean, soil, and organisms, and the development of a national carbon market, enhance AI-driven monitoring, forecasting, simulation, and problem-solving capabilities, and promote the development of a precise governance model based on intelligent collaboration.
(VI) Global Cooperation on “AI+”
1. Promote the universal and shared benefits of AI. Treat AI as an international public good that benefits humanity, and foster an open ecosystem for AI capacity building that fosters equality, mutual trust, diversity, and win-win outcomes. Deepen high-level openness in the field of AI, promote open-source access to AI technology, strengthen international cooperation in areas such as computing power, data, and talent, assist countries in the Global South in strengthening their AI capacity building, empower all countries to participate equally in the intelligent development process, and bridge the global intelligence divide.
2. Jointly build a global AI governance system. Support the United Nations in playing a leading role in global AI governance, explore the formation of a governance framework with broad participation from all countries, and jointly address global challenges. Deepen exchanges and cooperation with international organizations and professional institutions, and strengthen coordination and integration of governance rules and technical standards. Jointly assess and proactively address risks in AI applications to ensure the safe, reliable, and controllable development of AI.
III. Strengthening Basic Support Capabilities
(7) Enhance model foundational capabilities. Strengthen research into fundamental theories of artificial intelligence, support multi-path technology exploration, and innovation in model infrastructure. Accelerate research into more efficient model training and inference methods, and actively promote the coordinated development of theoretical, technological, and engineering innovation. Explore new forms of model application, enhance complex task processing capabilities, and optimize interactive experiences. Establish and improve a model capability assessment system to promote the effective, iterative improvement of model capabilities.
(8) Strengthen innovation in data supply. With an application-oriented approach, continuously strengthen the development of high-quality AI datasets. Improve data property rights and copyright systems adapted to the development of AI, and promote the legal and compliant open access to copyrighted content generated by publicly funded projects. Encourage the exploration of data cost compensation and revenue sharing based on value contribution to strengthen incentives for data supply. Support the development of technologies such as data annotation and data synthesis, and cultivate and expand the data processing and data service industries.
(9) Strengthen the coordination of intelligent computing power. Support innovation in AI chips and the development of an enabling software ecosystem, accelerating technological breakthroughs and project implementation in ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters. Optimize the layout of national intelligent computing resources, improve the national integrated computing network, fully leverage the role of the “Eastern Data West Computing” national hub, and increase the coordination of data, computing, electricity, and network resources. Strengthen the interconnection and interoperability of intelligent computing power and the matching of supply and demand, innovate the operational model of intelligent computing power infrastructure, encourage the development of standardized and scalable computing power cloud services, and promote the universal, easy-to-use, cost-effective, green, and secure supply of intelligent computing power.
(10) Optimize the application development environment. Plan and build a number of national AI application pilot bases, establishing common platforms for industry applications. Promote the intelligent transformation of software and information service companies, restructuring product forms and service models. Cultivate AI application service providers, develop “model as a service” and “agent as a service,” and build an AI application service chain. Improve guidance for the development of AI application scenarios, openness evaluation, and incentive policies, and enhance application trial and error tolerance management systems. Strengthen intellectual property protection, transfer, and collaborative application. Accelerate the development of AI standards in key areas, and promote cross-industry, cross-sector, and international standardization collaboration.
(11) Promote the prosperity of the open source ecosystem. Support the development of AI open source communities, promote the convergence and openness of models, tools, and datasets, and cultivate high-quality open source projects. Establish and improve evaluation and incentive mechanisms for AI open source contributions, and encourage universities to include open source contributions in student credit certification and faculty achievement recognition. Support enterprises, universities, and research institutions in exploring new models for inclusive and efficient open source applications. Accelerate the construction of a globally open open source technology system and community ecosystem, and develop open source projects and development tools with international influence.
(12) Strengthen talent development. Promote AI education across all levels of education and general education across society, improve the layout of disciplines and majors, increase efforts to cultivate high-level talent, establish a new model for leading talent beyond the norm, strengthen faculty development, and promote industry-education integration, interdisciplinary training, and international cooperation. Improve a diversified evaluation system that aligns with the professional attributes and job characteristics of AI talent, better leverage the role of leading talent, provide greater room for young talent to display their talents, and encourage active exploration of AI’s “uncharted territory.” Support enterprises in making standardized use of medium- and long-term incentives such as equity and options to attract, retain, and utilize talent.
(13) Strengthen policy and regulatory safeguards. Improve systems for assessing and evaluating state-owned capital investments in the field of AI, as well as for risk oversight. Increase financial and fiscal support for the AI sector, develop and strengthen long-term, patient, and strategic capital, improve risk-sharing and investment exit mechanisms, and fully leverage the role of fiscal funding, government procurement, and other policies. Improve AI laws, regulations, and ethical standards, and advance legislation related to the healthy development of AI. Optimize AI-related security assessment and filing management systems.
(14) Improve security capabilities. Promote the development of security capabilities in model algorithms, data resources, infrastructure, and application systems, guard against risks such as black box models, hallucinations, and algorithmic discrimination, strengthen forward-looking assessments and monitoring and disposal, and promote compliance, transparency, and trustworthiness in AI applications. Establish and improve AI technology monitoring, risk warning, and emergency response systems, strengthen government guidance and industry self-discipline, adhere to inclusive prudence, classification, and grading, and accelerate the formation of a dynamic, agile, and multi-faceted AI governance framework.
IV. Organization and Implementation
We must uphold the Party’s leadership throughout the “AI+” initiative. The National Development and Reform Commission should strengthen overall coordination and foster a collaborative effort. All regions and departments should closely integrate local realities and implement the initiative in a manner tailored to local conditions to ensure effective implementation. We must strengthen demonstration and guidance, summarizing and promoting experiences and practices as appropriate. We must strengthen publicity and guidance, build broad social consensus, and foster a positive atmosphere for participation from all sectors of society.
State Council
August 21, 2025
About the Author
Bob Gourley is an experienced Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Board Qualified Technical Executive (QTE), author and entrepreneur with extensive past performance in enterprise IT, corporate cybersecurity and data analytics. CTO of OODA LLC, a unique team of international experts which provide board advisory and cybersecurity consulting services. OODA publishes OODALoop.com. Bob has been an advisor to dozens of successful high tech startups and has conducted enterprise cybersecurity assessments for businesses in multiple sectors of the economy. He was a career Naval Intelligence Officer and is the former CTO of the Defense Intelligence Agency.
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence