Key facts
- China's new five-year plan for 2026-2030 prioritizes AI and frontier technologies.
- The plan was unveiled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and China's top internet regulator.
- Key focus areas include advanced AI chips, foundation models, and AI agents.
- Nearly 200 AI key standards have been developed, with an international AI ethics governance action plan receiving multi-country response.
- Chinese AI open-source large models achieved over 10 billion cumulative global downloads during the previous five-year plan.
- Intelligent computing scale reached 2185 EFLOPS by end-June.
China's top state research body has placed artificial intelligence and other frontier technologies at the forefront of its new five-year plan for 2026-2030, signaling a strategic push amid escalating global science and technology competition. The Chinese Academy of Sciences, the nation's highest academic institution, detailed a blueprint for research and technological advancement aligned with the country's 15th five-year plan.
Issued by China's top internet regulator, the plan emphasizes the development of advanced AI chips, improvement of foundation models, and pursuit of frontier technologies like AI agents and embodied intelligence. It also aims to tighten oversight on data risks, algorithms, and competitive practices within the sector. The initiative comprises 21 measures structured across seven key initiatives, encompassing corporate development, innovation, industrial upgrading, international market expansion, security protocols, the business environment, and access to crucial resources like financing, data, and talent.
At a press conference on August 26, 2026, MIIT Vice Minister Xin Guobin and Information and Communications Development Director Liu Yulin outlined eight specific AI industry data points. These included the successful development of nearly 200 AI key standards, organization of AI ethics reviews in multiple cities, and a positive multi-country response to the "International AI Ethics Governance Action Plan." During the previous 14th Five-Year Plan era, Chinese AI open-source large models achieved over 10 billion cumulative global downloads, supported by a national-level AI open-source community with more than 11 million users and over 70,000 hosted models. As of the end of June, the intelligent computing scale reached 2185 EFLOPS, facilitated by the construction of over 70 computing expressways around major computing hubs. The 15th Five-Year Plan period will focus on advancing AI through a framework of strengthening supply, promoting application, and fostering the ecosystem, with a particular emphasis on 'AI + Manufacturing' across four pillars. National standards for 'AI Terminal Intelligence Grading' were launched in May 2025, accelerating the formation of an AI terminal product catalog. Furthermore, research into digital economy and AI legislation is being intensified, alongside the establishment of a mandatory standards system. The plan also addresses AI safety by establishing a product safety vulnerability database, deepfake detection capabilities, model algorithm safety defenses, and value alignment. On the supply side, efforts will target brain-inspired intelligence, world models, high-end training chips, multimodal algorithms, humanoid robots, and brain-computer interfaces, marking a systematic advancement phase for the AI industry characterized by legislation, standards, safety, and frontier exploration.