China debuts the ‘intelligent economy’ in the 2026 work report

China’s 2026 government work report debuts ‘intelligent economy’ and pushes AI+ at scale

中文版本:政府工作报告首提‘智能经济新形态’,AI+进入规模化阶段

China’s 2026 government work report, released during the annual Two Sessions in early March, for the first time used the phrase “a new form of intelligent economy” and said the country will seize the AI opportunity to move “AI+” from single‑point enablement to scaled, system‑wide transformation. The roadmap highlights broader deployment of AI terminals and agents, faster build‑out of open‑source ecosystems and data/tool infrastructure, and ultra‑large compute clusters with power‑compute coordination—a clear signal that AI infrastructure and industrial adoption are now policy priorities.

Official statistics underscore the scale behind the policy push. The Paper, citing government data, reports China’s AI core industry at about RMB 1.2 trillion in 2025 with 6,200+ firms, the country’s compute capacity ranking second globally, over 30% AI adoption among above‑scale manufacturers, and 300+ humanoid robot products on the market. Reference News/Xinhua notes the term “artificial intelligence” appears seven times in the report and sets a goal for digital‑economy core industries to reach 12.5% of GDP by 2030, pointing to a shift from R&D emphasis to commercialization and infrastructure build‑out.

Globally, IDC estimates $315.8 billion in AI IT spending in 2024 and $815.9 billion by 2028 (32.9% CAGR), with China’s AI investment expected to surpass $100 billion by 2028. The shift is that AI is now framed as a long‑cycle infrastructure program alongside industrial upgrading; the next test is how local implementation plans, funding allocations, and project pipelines translate this policy signal into scalable adoption across manufacturing, healthcare, education and other sectors.

Sources

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