Reports

CSET produces evidence-driven analysis in a variety of forms, from informative graphics and translations to expert testimony and published reports. Our key areas of inquiry are the foundations of artificial intelligence — such as talent, data and computational power — as well as how AI can be used in cybersecurity and other national security settings. We also do research on the policy tools that can be used to shape AI’s development and use, and on biotechnology.

Report

China’s Military AI Wish List

Emelia Probasco, Sam Bresnick, and Cole McFaul
| February 2026

This report examines thousands of Chinese-language open-source requests for proposal (RFPs) published by the People’s Liberation Army between January 1, 2023, and December 31, 2024. The RFPs the authors reviewed offer insights into the PLA’s priorities and ambitions for AI-enabled military technologies associated with C5ISRT: command, control, communications, computers, cyber, intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance, and targeting.

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See our translation of the Ministry of Science and Technology announcement of the establishment of four new AI Pilot Zones in cities across China, which encourage the expansion of China’s AI industry in cities where it is already developing. The ministry created the first seven such zones in 2019 and plans to build 20 by 2023.

See our translation of the announcement of the formation of the Ministry's Artificial Intelligence Technology Innovation Expert Group and lists all members of the group. CSET has annotated this translation with additional information about each group member, gleaned from publicly available information.

See our translation of three different Chinese government programs designed to recruit foreign talent in 2020 in support of China’s economic development, particularly in tech fields.

See our original translation of a PRC form, available on the Shanghai Municipal Taxation Bureau website, listing the many tax breaks that corporations and other businesses in the city potentially qualify for.

See our translation of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference proposed legal guidelines related to AI security. The document puts forward legal means to ameliorate a wide variety of potential dangers posed by the rise of AI technology.

See our translation of China’s plan for science and technology innovation during the years of the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020). The plan puts forward plan details specific technologies identified as near-term priorities for research and investment.

The following CSET product summarizes Chinese media reaction to three AI-related policy initiatives or statements made by entities associated with the U.S. government in the fall of 2019: the Bureau of Industrial Security Entity List, Defense Innovation Board AI Principles, and NSCAI Interim Report.

See our translation of a CPC Central Committee and PRC State Council strategy identifying industries that China feels would most benefit from increased indigenous innovation. The document also identifies foreign talent and technology transfer as crucial for China’s emerging technology sectors.

Russian translation of the Defense Innovation Board's AI Principles: Recommendations on the Ethical Use of Artificial Intelligence by the Department of Defense.

This product is a Chinese translation of the DoD Defense Innovation Board's AI Principles, originally published in October 2019.