China’s President Xi Jinping has called for the country to become more independent in artificial intelligence (AI).
At a Politburo meeting on Friday, Xi said his country must focus on developing its own AI industry, making it independent and under full control.
He emphasized the need for China to achieve “self-reliance and self-strengthening” in AI to compete with global powers, especially the U.S. His remarks come as the rivalry with U.S. in artificial intelligence leadership heats up.
Xi urges China to close AI gaps and strengthen domestic innovation
President Xi said that China must act quickly to close its gaps with other nations, urging the country to recognize them and intensify efforts to catch up and take the lead.
He noted that his nation must gain strength throughout the complete AI value chain — from base research to applied technologies.
Xi stressed the need for stronger policy support in government procurement, intellectual property protection, research and development funding, and talent training.
China’s government is calling upon its tech industry to innovate its way out of challenges, particularly in places where U.S. sanctions have made it difficult to acquire advanced technology.
Chinese startups are at the forefront of this technological pivot. DeepSeek, a Beijing-based AI company, has garnered international attention by releasing a cost-effective AI reasoning model trained with less advanced chips. This development challenges the notion that U.S. sanctions have significantly hampered China’s AI progress.
Despite facing challenges such as transitioning from Nvidia’s proprietary CUDA platform, Chinese firms are increasingly adapting by moving AI model training to edge devices and utilizing alternative chips from local manufacturers like Huawei.
Huawei, a key player in China’s AI and semiconductor sectors, is leading a coalition of over 2,000 organizations aiming for 70% self-sufficiency in the semiconductor supply chain by 2028. The company’s recent breakthrough, the CloudMatrix 384 supernode, positions China to mitigate infrastructure bottlenecks and reduce reliance on foreign technology.
That breakthrough has been buoying the confidence of China’s tech world. Analyts say it is a sign that the country is learning to innovate around constraints rather than being thwarted by them.
Xi calls for independent AI foundations to secure technological future
Xi clarified that China could not depend on outsiders for pivotal AI technologies. China must “strengthen basic research” and “make pinpointed efforts” to master technologies such as high-end chips, large-scale computing systems, and key software platforms, he said.
That vision involves supercharging homegrown chip production and nurturing companies that can construct operating systems, cloud services, and AI frameworks. China has already advanced in infrastructure software, an area where U.S. companies have long held sway.
Many Chinese start-ups and research institutions are filling the void, creating alternatives to Western technologies.
Officials say that if China dominates its own foundations in artificial intelligence, it can defend its tech future and not have to follow a foreign power.
Beijing steps up efforts to regulate AI
Beijing has announced plans to tighten its control over AI technology used by companies, focusing on data protection and the use of algorithms that could be harmful.
In addition to creating new opportunities, Xi emphasized that AI needs to be managed prudently. He urged new rules and laws to manage the risks that AI could pose.
President Xi said that China would accelerate efforts to develop an AI risk warning and emergency response system, aiming to ensure artificial intelligence’s safety, reliability, and controllability as it expands into more areas of life.
Around the world, there is growing concern about the safety of AI. The Chinese push to control AI follows similar actions in Europe and the U.S., which are designed to find a middle ground between leaving industry alone to innovate and acting on society’s urgent need to be protected.
Last year, President Xi called for greater international cooperation in governing artificial intelligence, cautioning that AI should not become “a game of rich countries, rich companies and rich people in rich countries” and urging greater global access to AI tools.
China aims to establish a resilient and competitive AI ecosystem through domestic innovation, policy support, and international collaboration.
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