🇨🇳 China’s National AI Strategy
China's National New Generation AI Plan was released in April 2023 .
In 2017, the Chinese Communist Party declared its intent to become the world leader in AI by 2030. China then announced the establishment of multiple national AI research centers, including the National AI Open Innovation Platform. In 2019, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) established an AI ethics and governance framework.
Suggested Reading
China's Generative AI Development Plan (2024)
Provisions on Algorithm Recommendations (2022)
New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (2017)
Latest Updates and Developments
🇨🇳 Chinese AI firms on track to narrow gap despite Nvidia controls
Bloomberg Professional Services. October 2024
🇨🇳 China’s AI firms are cleverly innovating around chip bans
The Economist. September 2024
🇨🇳 China leans into using AI − even as the US leads in developing it
The Conversation. August 2024
🇨🇳 China’s National Power and Artificial Intelligence
Diplomat. July 2024.
🇨🇳 Chinese AI firms woo OpenAI users as US company plans API restrictions
Reuters. June 2024
🇨🇳 China’s Generative AI Ecosystem in 2024
NBR. June 2024
🇨🇳 China accelerates AI development to build AI innovation center
PRC. April, 2024
🇨🇳 Two Sessions Update for AI in China
Center for Data Innovation. March 2024
2024: Focus on China's Generative AI Ecosystem
China remains the global leader in the adoption of generative AI. SAS and Colesman Parkes Research, an AI and analytics software company, recently surveyed around 1,600 decision-makers. 83% of the Chinese respondents use generative AI, a testament to the country's growing reliance on the said technology.
Still, China seems to be taking a careful approach to developing its generative AI initiatives.
Measured Approach Around Generative AI
An analyst for the Mercator Institute for China Studies says that Beijing is taking "measured progress rather than cutting-edge innovation" in its approach to generative AI. As opposed to other countries pushing towards developing their product, China is being "lukewarm" on transformative technology.
Despite a slower approach, China's generative AI ecosystem is continuously expanding. The SAS survey discovered that China is the global leader in Continuous Automated Monitoring (CAM), which is an important use case for generative AI. An AI company called 01.AI, is also developing a Large Language Model (LLM) with a priority on addressing the needs of the Chinese market.
With a primed focus on its overall economy, it might take some time for China to develop its generative AI technology fully.
2023: AI Regulation Expansion
China continued expanding its regulations around the ethical development of AI, generative AI, and control of misleading content. The National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee (NISSTC) issued draft regulations around generative AI. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) also required generative AI providers to register with their local cyberspace department, in accordance with the Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services.
China also regulated other AI-powered services, including the use of deep synthesis in deep learning and virtual reality.
Deep Synthesis Provisions
On 10 January 2023, China’s Deep Synthesis Provisions came into effect as part of the Chinese government’s efforts to strengthen its supervision over deep synthesis technologies and services. The provisions apply to both ‘deep synthesis service providers’ –companies that offer deep synthesis services and those that provide them with technical support – and ‘deep synthesis service users’ –organizations and people that utilize deep synthesis to create, duplicate, publish, or transfer information. The provisions define deep synthesis as “technology utilizing generative and/or synthetic algorithms, such as deep learning and virtual reality, to produce text, graphics, audio, video, or virtual scenes.”
🇨🇳 Analyzing an Expert Proposal for China’s Artificial Intelligence Law
DigiChina. August, 2023
2022: Artificial Intelligence Regulations
In 2022, China expanded its pilot programs to regulate AI applications in high-stakes industries, such as financial technology and healthcare. The State Council issued further guidelines to encourage responsible AI use while balancing innovation and security concerns.
- Event: Expansion of AI regulation pilot programs.
- Date: January 2022
- Details: Pilot programs included regulatory sandboxes that allowed companies to test AI technologies under government supervision, particularly in sectors like finance and healthcare.
- Link: [AI Regulation Pilot Programs](http://www.scio.gov.cn/m/xwfbh/xwbfbh/wqfbh/44687/447
Internet Information Service Algorithmic Recommendation Management Provisions
Considered parallel to the EU’s enacted DMA and DSA, on 1 March 2022, the Internet Information Service Algorithmic Recommendation Management Provisions went into effect. Drafted by the Cyberspace Administration of China, the provisions require that providers of AI-based personalized recommendations in mobile applications uphold user rights, including protecting minors from harm and allowing users to select or delete tags about their personal characteristics
For example, companies are banned from offering different users different prices based on personal characteristics collected and would have to notify users if a recommendation was made based on an algorithm, giving users the option to opt out. The aim of this is to address monopolistic behavior by platforms (similar to the DMA) and issues of dynamic pricing which contribute to precarious working conditions for delivery workers.
The regulation’s provisions are grouped into three main categories: general provisions, information service norms, and user rights protection. The provisions affect US and international companies that use algorithms and/or machine learning in their applications or websites that operate in China, as they are already expected to comply.
Key provisions:
- Article 13 prohibits the algorithmic generation of fake news and requires that online service providers that also operate in online news seek special licensing.
- Article 19 offers special protection to the elderly by requiring online service providers to address the needs of older users, specifically in the context of fraud prevention.
Among many things, the regulation prohibits:
- Fake accounts
- Manipulating traffic numbers
- Promoting addictive content
Other not-so-straightforward provisions that are presumed to be reflective of China’s approach to AI ethics in practice, orders companies to:
- Uphold mainstream value
- Vigorously disseminate positive energy
- Prevent or reduce controversies or disputes
Like the DSA, China’s recommender law also mandates increased transparency and audits of recommendation algorithms. To learn how algorithms work, and ensure that they do so within acceptable parameters, China has created an algorithm registry as part of this regulation. The registry includes a security assessment of registered algorithms, however, the extent to which this registry will be able to provide meaningful insight into black box technologies is yet to be determined. In the interim, such efforts for documentation and understanding are similar to that of the DSA and other EU legislation such as the EU AI Act.
Interim Measures for Generative Artificial Intelligence Service Management
More recently, on 23 May 2023, China adopted interim measures on generative AI, which went into effect on August 15, 2023. The rules seek to balance innovation with legal governance and are based on five key principles:
- Generative AI must adhere to the core socialist values of China and should not endanger national security or interests or promote discrimination and other violence or misinformation
- Measures should be taken to prevent discrimination on ethnicity, belief, nationality, region, gender, age, occupation, and health resulting from generative AI
- Generative AI must respect intellectual property rights and business ethics to avoid unfair competition and the sharing of business secrets
- Generative AI must respect the rights of others and not endanger the physical or mental health of others
- Measures must be taken to improve transparency, accuracy, and reliability
To support this, the measures require providers of generative AI to carry out data processing activities in a way that uses legal data sources, respects intellectual property rights, obtains consent for the use of personal information, and maximizes the authenticity, accuracy, objectivity, and diversity of training data.
Personal Information Protection Law
In addition to these laws specifically targeting AI, China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), a federal data privacy law targeted at personal information protection and addressing the problems with personal data leakage, has implications for automated decision-making. Adopted on 20 August 2021 and filed into force on 1 November 2021, the PIPL is designed to protect the privacy and personal information of Chinese citizens and imposes obligations on Chinese organizations and foreign companies operating in China.
The law defines the term “personal information” (PI) as any kind of information, electronically or otherwise recorded, related to an identified or identifiable natural person within the People’s Republic of China. Like the EU’s GDPR, PI excludes anonymized information that cannot be used to identify a specific natural person and is not reversible after anonymization. Among the main contributions of the PIPL are as follows, with specific requirements in relation to automated decision-making and impact assessments:
- Data subjects are given more rights over the use of their own data. They can request to edit, remove, restrict the use of their data, or withdraw the consent given previously.
- More stringent requirements on data sharing and data transfer, which your organization and any third-party joint data controllers may need to pass data-related assessments.
- Mandatory security controls to be applied when storing and processing the PI and training to be provided to responsible personnel who handles the PI.
- Mandatory data localization when the amount of PI exceeds the threshold set by the Cybersecurity Administration of China (CAC).
Shanghai Regulations on Promoting the Development of the AI Industry
The Shanghai Regulations to promote the development of the AI industry, is a provincial-level regulation which was passed in September 2022 and has been in effect since 1 October 2022. The regulation is considered a piece of industry promotion legislation, with respect to the innovative development of AI. However, keeping in mind future implications of AI, the regulation introduces a graded management system and enforces sandbox supervision, where companies are given a designated space to test and explore technologies.
Uniquely, the Shanghai AI Regulation stipulates that there is a certain degree of flexibility regarding minor infractions. This is to continue to encourage the development of AI without burdening companies or developers with the fear of stringent regulation and instead shows a deeper commitment to fostering innovation. This is done so through a disclaimer clause where relevant municipal departments will oversee creating a list of infraction behaviors and making it clear that there will be no administrative penalty for minor infractions. To create checks and balances to the innovation-centric approach, the regulation also establishes an Ethics Council to increase ethical awareness in this field.
Regulations on Promoting Artificial Intelligence Industry in Shenzhen Special Economic Zone
Similar to the Shanghai Regulations, a Shenzhen AI Regulation to promote the AI industry was passed in September 2022 and went into effect on November 1, 2022. The regulation aims to encourage governmental organizations in China, specifically in the Shenzhen Special Economic Zone, to be at the forefront of AI adoption and development, by increasing financial support for these endeavors.
A risk-management approach towards AI is adopted by the regulation to foster this growth by allowing Shenzhen-based AI services and products that have been assessed as “low-risk” to continue in their trials and testing even without local norms if international standards are being complied with. Article 72 of the regulation emphasizes the importance of AI ethics and encourages risk assessments to identify adverse effects of products and systems. The Shenzhen government will be responsible for the development and management of the risk classification system.
Despite being a local-level regulation, this is a significant development as Shenzhen is home to many AI and tech-related businesses, where an estimated $108 billion USD will be invested into this space from 2021 to 2025.
🇨🇳 The PLA’s Strategic Support Force and AI Innovation
Brookings. December, 2022
2021: AI Standardization and Regulation
In 2021, China began formal discussions on standardizing and regulating AI technologies. These discussions included AI regulation for facial recognition and data privacy. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released draft guidelines for regulating AI algorithms, aimed at curbing misuse of AI in areas such as surveillance and social credit systems.
2020: AI and Smart Governance during COVID-19
The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 accelerated China's use of AI for public health monitoring and management. AI technologies, particularly in facial recognition, contact tracing, and predictive analytics, played a pivotal role in China’s pandemic response. This led to broader discussions about integrating AI in public governance, healthcare, and crisis management.
2019: AI Ethical Guidelines
China began formulating ethical guidelines and standards for AI development, ensuring AI technologies were aligned with the principles of social responsibility. These guidelines emerged from concerns around privacy, data security, and the implications of widespread AI use in public life. In June 2019, the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) established an AI ethics and governance framework.
Ten companies joined the National Open Innovation Platform for Next Generation Artificial Intelligence. The announcement was made at the 2019 World Artificial Intelligence Conference opened on August 29.
Each of them focuses on establishing the innovation platform in a specific area. YITU Technology (依图科技) is for vision computing, MININGLAMP Technology (明略科技) for marketing intelligence, Huawei(华为) for software and hardware infrastructures, Ping An (中国平安) for inclusive finance, HIKVISION(海康威视) for video sensing, JD.com(京东) for intelligent supply chain, MEGVII (旷视科技) for image sensing, Qihoo 360 (奇虎360) for cybersecurity, TAL (好未来) for smart education, and Xiaomi (小米) for smart home.
Five companies have constructed open innovation platforms for China's plan of the next generation AI. In 2017, MIIT initiated new-generation AI national projects and launched four open platforms backed by Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and iFLYTEK based upon which developers are encouraged to build their applications. In 2018, SenseTime was appointed to be the fifth national AI open platform specializing in computer vision.
2018: Establishment of AI Research Centers
In 2018, China announced the establishment of multiple national AI research centers, including the National AI Open Innovation Platform, in partnership with leading companies such as Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and iFlytek. These platforms were set up to accelerate research and innovation across key AI fields such as voice recognition, autonomous driving, and AI-based healthcare.
- Event: Launch of national AI research centers.
- Date: 2018
- Details: The government partnered with tech giants to develop core AI technologies, focusing on applied AI research in both industrial and commercial sectors.
- Link: AI Open Innovation Platforms Announcement
2017: The New Generation AI Development Plan
The release of the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (AIDP) in 2017 was the most significant milestone in China’s AI strategy. It officially outlined China's ambition to become the global leader in AI by 2030. This plan outlined a three-step approach for AI development:
- By 2020, China aims to catch up with AI leaders.
- By 2025, it seeks to achieve world-leading AI breakthroughs.
- By 2030, it plans to become the global AI leader.
- Event: Release of the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan.
- Date: July 20, 2017
- Details: The AIDP emphasized AI’s importance in sectors like healthcare, smart cities, autonomous vehicles, and national defense, providing an actionable roadmap for the development and deployment of AI technologies.
- Link: New Generation AI Development Plan (in Chinese; English translations available via think tanks such as New America)
Graham Webster
🇨🇳 Beijing wants AI to be made in China by 2030
NYTimes. Jul, 2024.
2015: AI in the Made in China 2025 Initiative
The Made in China 2025 initiative, announced in 2015, was designed to transition China from a manufacturing-based economy to a high-tech-driven economy. AI was one of the key technologies identified in this plan, marking a critical point in China's strategic focus on AI.
- Event: Made in China 2025 initiative launched.
- Date: May 19, 2015
- Details: AI was listed as a core area of development, with a focus on smart manufacturing, robotics, and intelligent automation.
- Link: Made in China 2025
2013: AI Included in National Priorities for Innovation
China’s interest in AI was first formally noted in its 12th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2011–2015). AI was recognized as a priority for research and development, though it was not yet a central focus. By 2013, China began putting more emphasis on AI within its broader goals for technological innovation.
- Event: AI integrated into national innovation strategies.
- Date: 2013
- Details: AI was noted as part of the national push for science and technology, within the broader scope of developing smart technologies.
- Link: No specific public document solely on AI was released at this stage, but AI was part of broader innovation discussions within China’s national development plan.
Laws and Regulations Surrounding AI Use in China
Certain laws and policies regulate the use and development of AI in China. Most of these policies are enforced through agencies like the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST).
- AI Safety Governance Framework (2024)
- Generative AI Measures (2023)
- Algorithm Regulation Guidelines (2022)
- Administrative Measures on Deep Synthesis (2022)
- Personal Information Protection Law (2021)
- Data Security Law (2021)
- New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (2017)
- Cybersecurity Law (2016)
Coordinating Departments and Agencies
Several national departments and agencies have coordinated to implement China's national AI strategies and initiatives. These include the following:
- Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST)
- Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC)
- National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC)
- Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT)
- Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS)
Additional Reading and Resources
Mercy A. Kuo
The Economist
Jane Cai
Fabian Westerheide
