The following document is China’s industrial policy for the application of AI technology in the manufacturing sector. Its two appendices go into unusual detail—relative to most Chinese national-level AI policies—on how China plans to deploy large AI models in industries such as new materials, aerospace, pharma, biotech, semiconductors, and software. Most notably, the policy emphasizes the importance of developing agentic AI, not just generative AI, for a multitude of manufacturing industries.

An archived version of the Chinese source text is available online at:    https://perma.cc/TV3V-3WNK

Implementation Opinions on the “AI + Manufacturing” Special Initiative

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) with the real economy is accelerating, profoundly changing production models and economic formats in the manufacturing industry, and becoming a key variable driving industrial upgrading and reshaping the global landscape. These Implementation Opinions have been formulated in order to thoroughly implement the Opinions of the State Council on Deepening the Implementation of the “Artificial Intelligence+” Initiative,¹ speed up the integration and application of AI in the manufacturing sector, create new quality productive forces (新质生产力), and empower new-style industrialization (新型工业化) in an omnidirectional, in-depth, and high-level fashion.

I. Overall Requirements

Guided by Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era, we shall thoroughly implement the spirit of the 20th Party Congress and all plenums of the 20th CCP Central Committee, fully, accurately, and comprehensively implement the new concept of development (新发展理念), accelerate the formation of the new pattern of development, and coordinate development with security.² Adhering to approaches that are innovation-driven, scenario-driven, and market-led, that are safe, secure, and trustworthy, and feature openness, sharing, inclusiveness, and interconnectedness, we shall focus on the supply of technology on one hand, to promote the “industrialization of intelligence,” and focus on enabling applications (赋能应用) on the other hand, to accelerate the “intelligentization (智能化) of industries.” And we shall holistically strengthen and grow industrial ecosystems, promote the deep integration of AI scientific and technological (S&T) innovation with industrial innovation, promote “two-way empowerment” between AI technologies and manufacturing applications, and accelerate the intelligentized, environmentally friendly, and integrated development of manufacturing, thereby strongly supporting the building of China into a manufacturing powerhouse³ and a cyber powerhouse,⁴ and the construction of a Digital China.

By 2027, China’s AI key and core technologies (关键核心技术) shall achieve secure and reliable supply, with their industrial scale and enabling capabilities firmly ranking among the highest in the world. We shall promote the deep application of three to five general purpose large models in the manufacturing sector, we will form industrial large models specialized for full coverage of every sector (形成特色化、全覆盖的行业大模型), put out 1,000 high-level industrial intelligent agents (智能体), create 100 high-quality datasets in industrial fields, and popularize 500 typical application scenarios. We shall incubate two to three globally influential ecosystem-dominating enterprises (生态主导型企业) and a group of professional, precision, specialized, and innovative (专精特新) small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), create a group of enabling application service providers that “understand AI and know industry,” and select 1,000 benchmark enterprises. We shall successfully construct a globally leading open-source and open (开源开放) ecosystem, comprehensively enhance safety and security governance capabilities, and contribute Chinese solutions to the development of AI.

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1. CSET’s English translation of the Opinions of the State Council on Deepening the Implementation of the “Artificial Intelligence+” Initiative is available online at: https://cset.georgetown.edu/publication/china-ai-plus-opinions-2025/.
2. Translator’s note: The Chinese word 安全 encompasses the meanings of both “safety” (protection from accidental harm) and “security” (protection from deliberate harm). In this translation, it is variously translated as “safety,” “security,” or “safety and security” at the translator’s discretion.
3. Translator’s note: This translation renders the Chinese word 强国 qiángguó—which literally means “strong nation” and is sometimes translated “superpower”—in English in two different ways, depending on context. Where the translator judges that qiángguó is used in the general geopolitical sense, it is translated as “world power.” Where the translator judges that the text refers to a specific flavor of qiángguó, it is translated as “powerhouse,” as in the phrase “manufacturing powerhouse” (制造强国).
4. Translator’s note: Alternate English translations for the Chinese term wǎngluò qiángguó (网络强国)—here translated as “cyber powerhouse”—include “cyber superpower,” “network powerhouse,” “network superpower,” and so on. For a more thorough discussion in English of the meaning of the term wǎngluò qiángguó, see: https://www.newamerica.org/cybersecurity-initiative/digichina/blog/lexicon-wangluo-qiangguo/.