China will tighten oversight of its push into advanced technology, aiming to curb investment bubbles while keeping artificial intelligence 'safe, reliable and controllable', according to policy guidelines issued on Friday by the ruling Communist Party and the State Council.
The document, reported by the state news agency Xinhua, is the operational blueprint for the 'new productive forces' slogan that President Xi Jinping introduced in 2023 to describe an economy driven by research, technological breakthroughs and industrial upgrading rather than low-cost manufacturing.
Beijing pledged 'original and disruptive' innovation in core technologies, a stronger supply of computing power, algorithms and data, and national pilot bases for industrial AI applications. It also called for technology monitoring, risk-warning and emergency-response systems to guarantee that AI stays 'safe, reliable and controllable'.
At the same time, the guidelines warn against the excesses of the boom. Officials must prioritise the real economy and avoid bubbles, industrial hollowing-out, blind investment and 'swarm-like' rushes into high-tech sectors, the document says, strictly prohibiting the improper use of policy in the name of developing new productive forces. Officials responsible for major losses caused by blind investment will be held accountable.
China will fully implement its 'AI Plus' initiative — using AI to upgrade traditional industries and accelerate the rollout of products such as connected new-energy vehicles, AI-enabled phones and computers, and humanoid robots — while also backing the 'low-altitude economy' of drones, air taxis and small aircraft.
The guidelines land as AI capital spending and debt-financed data-centre buildouts draw scrutiny worldwide, and as Beijing tries to balance technological self-sufficiency against the risk of a speculative bubble in its own market.
