China steps up AI growth, governance

When migrating over long distances, wild geese often fly in a V formation. The bird at the front cuts through the headwind and sets the direction, while the flock behind benefits from the currents created in its wake. This bird is commonly called the "lead goose".

It was this image that Xi Jinping, general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, invoked at a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in October 2018. Xi used the image of a "lead goose" to describe the powerful spillover and driving effects of artificial intelligence, calling it "a strategic technology driving this round of technological revolution and industrial transformation".

The metaphor captures more than technological leadership. It points to AI's capacity to pull other sectors forward — to reorganize production, accelerate scientific discovery and reshape services, governance and everyday life.

Nearly eight years later, that spillover effect is becoming increasingly visible across China.

On Friday, Xi will attend the opening ceremony of the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance in Shanghai and deliver a keynote speech. The gathering will run from Friday to Monday under the theme "AI Partnership for a Brighter Future". Xi will systematically set out China's policy positions, vision and proposals concerning AI development and governance.

Xi, who is also Chinese president and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has long placed AI high on China's development agenda.

As early as June 2014, when speaking at the general assemblies of the members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, Xi highlighted the rapid development of AI and other emerging technologies.

He called for efforts to assess technological trends, make comprehensive plans and press ahead with concrete action.

In 2017, China issued a new-generation AI development plan, elevating AI development to a long-term national strategic priority.

At the group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee in 2018, Xi described accelerating AI development as a strategic lever for scientific progress, industrial upgrading and an overall leap in productivity.

That sustained strategic focus has been accompanied by rapid industrial growth.

According to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the value of China's core AI industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan ($177 billion) in 2025, with more than 6,200 AI enterprises. By the end of 2025, over 30 percent of manufacturing enterprises above designated size had adopted AI technologies, while Chinese companies had released more than 300 humanoid robot products.

Robert Lawrence Kuhn, chairman of The Kuhn Foundation, which operates educational, cultural, and science and philosophy projects, described China and the United States as undisputed global leaders in AI.

China's strengths include strong capabilities in computer science and mathematics, leading research centers at major universities, a culture that values scientists, large pools of talent and data, and a highly competitive market for private AI companies, he said.

Kuhn also pointed to the recognition among China's leadership that advances in AI will be essential to achieving the country's 2035 and mid-century goals of building a modern socialist country in all respects, as well as to the central government's sustained commitment to developing the technology.

During a fact-finding trip to Shanghai in April last year, Xi visited the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, where he closely examined a range of cutting-edge products, including humanoid robots.

Home to more than 100 enterprises at the time of Xi's visit, the center provides a glimpse of how emerging technologies are moving from laboratories into industrial and commercial applications.

According to Kuhn, Xi's repeated emphasis on developing and applying AI has exerted a major influence on the level of attention and funding devoted to the field by both the public and private sectors.

Xiao Qian, vice-dean of the Institute for AI International Governance at Tsinghua University, said that Xi's emphasis had elevated AI to a national strategic priority, providing policy continuity and a clear direction in an ever-changing technological landscape.

This top-level vision, Xiao said, has enabled governments, universities, research institutes and enterprises to coordinate around common objectives.

As China's AI sector entered a phase of accelerated growth in 2025, the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee returned to the subject at a group study session in April that year. Xi said at the session that AI not only introduces unprecedented development opportunities, but also brings unprecedented risks and challenges.

He called for accelerated work on laws and regulations, policy systems, application standards and ethical guidelines, as well as stronger systems for technical monitoring, early risk warning and emergency response, in order to ensure that AI remains safe, reliable and controllable.

Risks, challenges

Kuhn said AI presents two sharply different possibilities.

"There is a risk that AI will exacerbate global inequality, with developed countries gaining more while developing countries fall further behind. Yet, at the same time, AI has the potential to dramatically reduce global inequality because it can be more readily available than traditional infrastructure," he said.

In Kuhn's view, China is playing a significant role through major initiatives because its AI and large language models are high-quality, open-source, relatively affordable and targeted at specific applications.

At the opening ceremony of the third Belt and Road Forum for International Cooperation in October 2023, Xi unveiled the Global AI Governance Initiative, expressing China's readiness to increase exchanges and dialogue with other countries and jointly promote the sound, orderly and secure development of AI worldwide.

Song Haitao, a member of the United Nations Independent International Scientific Panel on AI, said that one of the most pressing challenges in global AI governance is that scientific assessment has failed to keep pace with technological development, with the capacity gap particularly acute in Global South countries.

China's proposals offer a systematic response to that structural challenge, he said. From the Global AI Governance Initiative's emphasis on a people-centered approach and the use of AI for good outcomes, to the concrete measures set out in the Global AI Governance Action Plan, China has sought to translate broad principles into practical action and multilateral cooperation.

Song, who is also president of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, said that China could support developing countries in building more comprehensive AI capabilities, by providing computing resources and helping with institutional development.