China Advances "AI Plus" Initiative to Boost New Productivity

BEIJING, April 1 — China is pressing ahead with the comprehensive implementation of its "AI Plus" initiative, positioning artificial intelligence as a core engine for fostering new productive forces and upgrading industrial and social development, according to official sources and industry experts.

Wang Xiaoming, Director and Researcher of the Industrial Technology Innovation Research Department at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Institute of Science and Technology Strategy Consulting, noted that AI, regarded as a general-purpose technology on a par with electricity and the internet, has profoundly reshaped innovation paradigms. "As the marginal driving effect of traditional factors such as labor and capital on GDP weakens, the 'AI Plus' initiative will reorganize global factor resources and restructure industrial development models, achieving exponential growth in total factor productivity," he explained.

Against the backdrop of fierce global AI competition, major economies have elevated AI development to a national strategy. The United States launched initiatives such as the AI Action Plan and Genesis Plan in 2025, with a multi-hundred-billion-dollar investment to maintain its leading position. China, leveraging its advantages of a super-large market and a complete industrial system, has proactively responded by focusing on "scenario-driven" development to seize the high ground in AI applications, which in turn drives breakthroughs in core chips and basic algorithms.

Policy support for the initiative has been consistent. The State Council issued the "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" in 2017, defining AI as a "strategic technology leading the future". The "AI Plus" initiative was first included in the Government Work Report in 2024, and the "Opinions on Further Implementing the 'AI Plus' Initiative" was released in 2025, focusing on AI’s integration with industrial development.

AI’s empowerment spans multiple sectors. In scientific research, it acts as a "laboratory assistant", shortening the cycle of material research and drug screening from years to weeks. In manufacturing, AI is widely used in product design, supply chain management and intelligent testing — computer vision technology enables real-time sub-millimeter defect detection on high-speed automobile production lines, enhancing efficiency.

In consumption, AI is stimulating new growth drivers. Li Yongjian, Professor at the School of Applied Economics, University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stated that final consumption contributed 52% to China’s economic growth in 2025. AI has addressed mismatches between supply and demand by enabling personalized recommendations, virtual fitting rooms and smart wearable devices — data from the end of the third quarter of 2025 shows 181,000 registered smart wearable products, a 90% increase since 2020.

For manufacturing upgrading, eight ministries including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and the National Development and Reform Commission issued a special plan on "AI Plus Manufacturing". Wang Gaoxiang, Deputy Director of the New Industrialization Research Institute at the China Electronics and Information Industry Development Institute, emphasized that AI is shifting from a "tool" to a "factor", covering the entire manufacturing chain and helping solve long-standing challenges.

IDC’s 2025 survey of Chinese industrial enterprises shows that 47.5% of enterprises have applied large models and intelligent agents, up from 9.6% in 2024. China now boasts 101 "lighthouse factories", the most globally, and over 35,000 smart factories at various levels, demonstrating the initiative’s tangible results in advancing new industrialization.