Currently, a new scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation are progressing rapidly, and artificial intelligence (AI) is emerging as a strategic technology that will shape the future. The recommendations of the Communist Party of China Central Committee regarding the formulation of the 15th Five-Year National Economic and Social Development Plan clearly state that the “AI Plus Concept” should be comprehensively promoted. How is AI reflected in China’s actual industrial capabilities and long-term economic improvement? Global Times launches a new column called “AI in Action” focused on industrial transformation.
Illustration: VCG
Artificial intelligence (AI) has strong ramifications and momentum as a strategic technology driving a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation.
At present, China’s “AI+” campaign is accelerating industrial restructuring, achieving systematic optimization and overall upgrading of industrial structure, and more strongly promoting the development of modern industrial system.
At the 3rd China Innovation Challenge on Artificial Intelligence Application Scene held in Suzhou, East China’s Jiangsu Province from Friday to Sunday, a total of 113 teams consisting of more than 350 contestants showcased their latest achievements in AI.
An AI-powered system that displays the real-time operational status of Kunming Changshui International Airport, an industrial robot that lifts printed circuit boards for testing, and an AI technology-based computing power center management system are among the applications on display.
industrial empowerment
On the computer screen at the event, an AI dispatcher named “Mingyue” will fluently answer questions, create dispatch instructions, process alarm signals, and issue intelligent voice notifications to ensure the normal operation of the power grid.
“This is China’s first multi-agent collaboration-based rural power grid AI dispatcher, jointly developed by a research team from the Guangdong Power Grid Power Distribution and Control Center, the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Shenzhen), Shenzhen Institute of Social Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, and Nanjing NARI Information and Communication Technology Co., Ltd.,” project staff member Meng told the Global Times on Saturday.
Deploying agents powered by AI technology will enable thorough integration of AI and power grid distribution operations, helping accelerate the transformation of power grid distribution from an experience-driven model to an intelligence-based decision-making model, Meng said.
Since Chinese AI startup DeepSeek released its open source model DeepSeek-R1 in January 2025, China’s AI industry has entered a vibrant and dynamic phase.
China had more than 6,000 AI companies last year, and the size of the country’s core AI industry is expected to exceed 1.2 trillion yuan ($171.39 billion) by 2025. Meanwhile, the application of AI is expanding to cover major industries such as steel, nonferrous metals, power, and communications. According to the latest data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), applications in product research and development, quality inspection, and customer service are increasing.
Autonomous mining trucks are another great example of the practical application of AI technology. In May 2025, the world’s first 100 Huaneng Ruiichi autonomous electric mining trucks officially began operation at the Yimin open-pit mine in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region in northern China. Equipped with 5G Advanced (5G-A) networks, these autonomous electric mining trucks have significantly improved production safety and set a new benchmark for intelligent mining.
AI technology is also transforming healthcare at Ruijin Hospital, School of Medicine, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. In 2025, the hospital released a large-scale pathology model that is expected to significantly improve diagnostic efficiency and accuracy and accelerate medical intelligence in pathology diagnostic scenarios. Last year, the hospital open-sourced its artificial intelligence pathology model, making it accessible to smaller hospitals and thereby improving diagnostic speed and accuracy across China.
“Overall, the AI industry chain is transitioning from algorithm-driven to collaborative optimization of computing power, models and application terminals,” He You, deputy secretary general of the China Artificial Intelligence Association, said in a speech at the opening ceremony of the aforementioned event on Saturday.
On the technology side, while the fundamental model of the base layer continues to evolve, a world model is emerging. He You said AI is evolving from general intelligence to embodied intelligence with task-oriented training, accelerating collaborative development within an open intelligent computing ecosystem.
policy support
The Communist Party of China Central Committee’s (CPC) recommendation for the formulation of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development (2026-30) states that the “AI Plus Concept” will be fully promoted and a blueprint will be drawn for the country’s AI development over the next five years.
“We should lead the transformation of scientific research paradigms with AI, apply AI tools to industrial development, cultural advancement, national welfare initiatives, and social governance, and strive to dominate the industrial applications of AI. All these efforts will foster the empowerment of AI in all sectors and in all areas,” the document said.
Eight government agencies, including MIIT, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and the National Development and Reform Commission, announced an action plan on “AI + Manufacturing” on January 9th.
By 2027, the plan aims to foster deep applications of 3-5 general-purpose large-scale AI models in manufacturing, develop fully-covered industry-specific specialized large-scale models, create 100 high-quality industrial datasets, and facilitate 500 typical application scenarios, the document states.
Liu Gan, chief economist at the China New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Strategy Research Institute, told the Global Times that with the thorough application of AI in key fields, China has emerged as a global leader in the self-driving industry, creating new production modes in the industrial manufacturing sector and driving major changes in the science and education fields.
“These breakthroughs will ultimately contribute to building a modern industrial system with international competitiveness, thereby providing strong momentum to China’s pursuit of high-quality development,” Liu said.
