China plans secure core AI technologies and industrial dominance by 2027

China aims to achieve a secure and reliable supply of core artificial intelligence (AI) technologies by 2027 while maintaining its industrial scale and global competitiveness, according to a government report released on Thursday.

Eight government departments jointly issued a strategy that outlines how AI is set to drive the modernisation of industry and raise the bar on high-quality manufacturing.

The plan aims to develop 100 high-quality industry datasets, demonstrate 500 typical use cases, and complete the implementation of three to five general-purpose large AI models for all industry applications. The plan also intends to develop industry-specific large AI models covering the whole industry and assisting Chinese enterprises to integrate AI deeply into the industry chains.

China plans to have two to three world-leading AI ecosystem leaders by 2027, support leading Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in AI technologies, and promote the development of AI enablement service providers in the Schweizer model.

Moreover, China also has a strong focus on open-source AI ecosystems, security governance, and the international export of Chinese AI solutions.

Key areas include synchronised movement in AI chips and software, focusing on both model training and real-time inference, as well as safeguarding training data and industrial algorithms.

The document highlights the need for the use of specialist large models in the relevant industry, as well as the need for seamless integration to keep China at AI innovation levels.