China says it is the world leader in R&D for AI, vows to boost tech self-reliance
By Laurie Chen and Eduardo Baptista
BEIJING, March 5 (Reuters) – China said on Thursday it is now the world leader in research and development. artificial intelligence He has pledged to accelerate efforts to achieve greater self-reliance in technology, among other important areas such as quantum technology.
This claim was made in one of the government reports released at the opening session of the National People’s Congress, China’s stamp parliament.
According to a report by the National Development and Reform Commission, “China now leads the world in research, development and application in fields such as artificial intelligence, biomedicine, robotics and quantum technology, and new breakthroughs have been made in independent R&D of chips.”
The government emphasized its commitment to technology, an area it called “new quality productive forces”, in the opening paragraphs of the main government work report presented by Premier Li Qiang. This was much more evident than in last year’s report.
The report states that in the five-year plan for 2026-2030, which has not yet been published, the majority of the projects will be created by new quality productive forces.
China is locked in a fierce struggle with the United States for supremacy in key technologies. This has led to intense trade friction, with both sides imposing export controls on some key products and resources – advanced chips in the case of Washington, and rare earths and critical minerals in the case of Beijing.
Shifting dependence on Western technology such as chips and planes has been a key theme for Beijing, as has it been in newer industries such as artificial intelligence.
HUMANITY ROBOTS AND DATA CENTERS
The main government working paper outlined how the country plans to increase investment in some of the most cutting-edge areas of science, such as “machine-brain interfaces”. China is also doubling down on industries it leads, such as quantum technology, artificial intelligence (the technology that powers humanoid robots) and 6G.
“Beijing is making AI, and embodied AI in particular, a key area of focus,” said Kyle Chan, a China technology expert at the Brookings Institution think tank.
“Beijing’s goal is to use artificial intelligence and robotics to increase productivity and performance in a wide range of sectors, from manufacturing and logistics to education and healthcare.”
Across the broader AI industry, where China is seeking to challenge the leadership of US tech giants and startups, Beijing has pledged to build “hyperscale” computing clusters powered by cheap and abundant electricity, as well as supporting the creation of AI open source communities.
