China aims to bridge the gap between scientific research and technology on one hand, and its national needs and technological applications on the other. Achieving this goal has required massive investments, tax exemptions, support for innovation and emerging industries, and the establishment of legal frameworks to regulate artificial intelligence (AI), among other efforts. Given the diverse uses and applications of AI across various fields and its profound impact on the national economy, China has set a series of goals and strategies aimed at achieving leadership in this field, which has become a central pillar of international competition and conflict.
The Chinese Vision
China’s perspective on AI can be understood through official statements from its leadership, as well as related Chinese policies and strategies. These include:
1. The Goal of Chinese Leadership: The “New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan” (AIDP) issued by the Chinese State Council in July 2017, along with the “Made in China 2025” strategy issued in May 2015, reflect China’s belief, under the leadership of President Xi Jinping, in the importance of achieving leadership in AI technology due to its role in shaping the future balance of global power.
Both documents have received significant attention from the highest levels of Chinese leadership, as they believe that AI has become a key dimension of international competition and that it is the strategic technology that will lead the world in the future. China, therefore, sees it as essential to pursue global leadership in AI, which necessitates reducing reliance on international technology imports and advanced equipment. In this context, President Xi stated, “Our country must march in the forefront and occupy an advanced position in the core and vital technologies of AI.”
2. The Growing Risks of the AI Arms Race: In a speech at China’s largest international relations conference on July 15, 2018, Fu Ying, Vice-Chairperson of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the National People’s Congress, stated that Chinese technologists and policymakers agree on the inevitability of increasing military use of AI. While China is already exporting autonomous systems and AI-powered surveillance systems, Fu called for cooperation to proactively address the threats posed by AI.
This suggests that China views AI as a shared threat to international security, particularly as countries become more prepared to attack each other using military AI systems that prevent human casualties. Chinese officials have also expressed concerns that the increased use of AI systems could make misconceptions and unintentional escalation of conflicts more likely due to the lack of clear standards regarding the use of these systems.
3. The Need to Intensify Chinese Efforts to Frame AI: Chinese officials have demonstrated significant awareness of the cybersecurity risks associated with AI systems, which have implications for both Chinese and international security. Despite the multiplicity of these risks, China is keen to play a leading role in setting standards to mitigate them. At the “Global Peace Forum on AI,” the PLA Research Center expressed its support for mechanisms regulating the use of AI systems, especially combat robots. It is noteworthy that the “White Paper on AI Security,” published by the Chinese Academy of Information and Communications Technology (CAICT), emphasizes the need to deepen international cooperation to confront the global threats posed by AI and to establish laws regulating its systems.
4. The Increasing Importance of Institutionalizing AI: The Chinese Ministry of National Defense has established two new major research organizations focused on AI and unmanned systems within the National University of Defense Technology (NUDT). These are the Unmanned Systems Research Center (USRC) and the Artificial Intelligence Research Center (AIRC). This positions China as a global leader in government organizations dedicated to AI research, a role that is increasingly important globally due to their prominent role in dual-use AI technologies, including the application of machine learning, wireless communication networks, and cybersecurity on one hand, and their covert activities serving the Chinese military and intelligence community on the other.
Versatility in Application
Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wang Zhigang has emphasized that China seeks to apply AI in various fields that serve development in its broadest sense. This ambition is evident in several key areas and examples:
1. Supporting Chinese Cybersecurity: AI plays a significant role in enhancing China’s cybersecurity capabilities. It can be relied upon to manage operational technology risks, measure irregular traffic, and identify malicious cyber activities. This explains, in part, why information and communication technology has become the fastest-growing industry in adopting AI, using its algorithms and machine learning to automate tasks, process data, make decisions, combat security threats, and protect against cyberattacks, even combating misinformation and detecting fake news.
However, this also implies increased risks from Chinese cyberattacks, particularly those that rely on AI, which raises concerns in the United States and several European countries that accuse China of stealing their governmental and commercial secrets through cyberattacks. Consequently, the issue of intellectual property protection has become a focal point in Sino-American relations, and it could resurface as China’s AI capabilities grow.
2. Enhancing Military Modernization and Weapons Development: China’s use of AI in the military has enhanced the autonomy of unmanned weapons, including the development of drone swarms, processing large amounts of information through machine learning, analyzing incoming radio waves, improving jamming efficiency, and accelerating military decision-making. In this context, the connection between AI and “cognitive warfare” also emerges, which has multiple military benefits. Cognitive warfare affects human perception and the opponent’s will by creating a favorable environment, with key tools being disinformation and rumor-mongering based on AI, which has already been used to counter Taiwan.
3. Exercising Control and Tightening Surveillance within China: China has employed various AI applications (such as big data, machine learning, and facial recognition) for surveillance purposes and “reaching into the minds of citizens,” according to some analyses. China has deployed facial recognition technology in Xinjiang to monitor the Uyghur ethnic group, while increasingly utilizing the “one person, one file” program to tighten its surveillance on citizens domestically. In Henan Province, China has launched a similar system to track those it considers “suspicious” journalists, students, and foreign women. Consequently, human rights activists have reported difficulties in disseminating messages online due to strict censorship and the Chinese digital tracking system, which has, according to some estimates, collected biometric data on certain citizens, particularly detainees.
4. Enhancing National Intelligence Efficiency: AI supports Chinese national intelligence agencies by providing them with various necessary information from different sources, including social media, satellite imagery, communication signals, and more. This, in turn, helps government officials identify citizen trends, understand threats, and determine the strategies to be followed. The latter could include the use of nuclear weapons as one of the options available to decision-makers, a prospect that worries Western countries, which have urged China not to rely solely on AI for critical security decisions without human intervention.
5. Reading Thoughts and Ensuring Loyalty Among Party Members: Reports claim that China has developed AI technology to read the thoughts of Communist Party members and test their loyalty to the ruling regime. This technology was developed by the AI Institute at the Hefei National Science Center to read facial expressions and brain waves to discern the political opinions of party members, who can then be evaluated and classified according to their loyalty to the party, obedience to its instructions, and following its news. This raises further questions about the level of surveillance in China and increases concerns over the Communist Party’s efforts to intensify control over the Chinese population.
6. Contributing to Biotechnology Development: Since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, GBI (Genomics Bioinformatics), China’s largest provider of genetic sequencing, has established about 50 new laboratories, a clear example of China’s growing interest in biotechnology. With the advancement of computing and AI, innovations in biotechnology can help solve some of the pressing challenges, such as diseases, famines, and even energy production and climate change. Conversely, Western countries do not rule out the possibility of China developing a biological weapon targeting specific ethnic groups, raising ethical concerns related to genome manipulation, amid genuine fears that China might dominate global biotechnology and break all ethical standards in this field.
7. Strengthening the Global Presence of Chinese Companies: China’s leadership in AI is partly due to the multitude of leading Chinese technology companies in this field. For instance, Baidu launched self-driving cars in Beijing, and SenseTime introduced smart surveillance cameras that track traffic incidents and illegally parked cars, deploying them in more than 100 cities in China and abroad.
As a result, the top five Chinese AI companies have a combined value of nearly $120 billion. Some companies have benefited from substantial government support, which includes $75 billion in tax exemptions, grants, loans, and land ownership discounts. These significant Chinese investments in AI have clearly started to bear fruit, as Chinese researchers are now publishing more scientific papers in this field than their American counterparts.
In Conclusion: China views AI as a “historic opportunity” that will lead to a leap in military technology. It believes that research and development in this area is the easiest way to challenge the sources of American military power compared to developing Chinese counterparts to American systems. AI has thus become a race between two giants—China and the United States.
The various applications of AI within China, along with the effectiveness of research institutions and Chinese companies, not only aim to develop the latest AI research but also to create innovative and competitive products and services. This is backed by the inclusion of AI in China’s national strategic plan since 2016, as well as the Chinese government’s adoption of numerous policies to support the development of AI technologies, ranging from capital and intellectual property protection to human resource development and international cooperation.
