The number of artificial intelligence (AI) enterprises in China has exceeded 4,500, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) said on Thursday.

AI, a strategic technology that leads a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, is an important driving force for new industrialization.

With a focus on the underlying large-model technologies such as algorithms and computing power, China plans to accelerate breakthroughs in fundamental, core technologies and products, including intelligent chips, large-model algorithms and frameworks, said Tao Qing, MIIT spokesperson.

The spokesperson said that in the next step, China will improve the operation and management of computing power supply for manufacturing, guide enterprises to speed up the creation of general large models with global competitiveness, and cultivate industrial large models for manufacturing scenarios, in a bid to build a high-level industrial database and stimulate the value of industrial data.

Special actions will be implemented in key industries that have a significant impact on the national economy with strong driving force and good digital foundation to enable new AI industrialization, said Tao.

"We need to deepen the integration of AI technologies into the whole process of manufacturing and significantly enhance the level of intelligent operations in research and development, pilot production, manufacturing, services, management and other sectors," Tao said.