AI in China: The 15th Five-Year Plan must deliver deeply applied domestic tech

Editor's note: The recommendations for the 15th Five-Year Plan have been released, which outline priorities for national economic and social development. CGTN invites industry insiders and experts to interpret the policy implications in science and technology, ecological civilization and ecosystem conservation – key engines of China's high-quality development. Wang Rishun, senior product manager at iFlytek, argues that for the next five years, it is a strategic necessity to advance domestic AI technology from merely usable to effective and applied and proposes a systematic approach to secure national interests and forge new competitive advantages.

The 15th Five-Year Plan period (2026 to 2030) marks a critical stage for China as it moves toward the comprehensive building of a modern socialist country. With the global technological landscape undergoing profound restructuring – and artificial intelligence (AI) emerging as the core driving force – it is both a strategic imperative and a practical necessity for China to push its domestic AI technology from being merely usable to becoming effective and widely applied.

China is already among the world leaders in AI application breadth and market scale, underpinned by the country's enormous amount of data, a complete industrial chain, robust infrastructure and the policy of concentrating resources on major undertakings.

At the same time, we must also acknowledge that China still lags developed countries in the fundamental cornerstones of AI, including basic theory, original algorithms and high-end chips. As digital and intelligent transformation deepens across various industries, there is an escalating demand for AI technologies that are secure, reliable, domestically controlled and adaptable.

Advancing the application of domestic AI during the 15th Five-Year Plan is about more than securing the future strategic high ground in science and industry. It is essential for safeguarding national security, boosting high-quality growth in the real economy and building new competitive advantages. Achieving this will require a coordinated, system-wide effort across four areas: technological innovation, scenario-driven deployment, standardized governance and ecosystem development.

The first step is to strengthen technological innovation. China cannot rely on "building its own house in someone else's yard." The country must achieve breakthroughs in fundamental AI research and core technologies to build a controllable foundation for deep application. The Spark large model platform of iFlytek, for example, is entirely based on domestic innovation – from computing power and data to algorithms – and supports more than 130 languages. I recommend that China strongly increase support for research, application and global outreach of domestically controlled AI technology.

The second is to focus on scenario-driven deployment. Technology can only realize its potential as a productive force through practical application. China possesses the world's most abundant AI application scenarios, and almost all sectors are actively embracing AI, with initial success already seen in AI's global expansion. During the 15th Five-Year Plan period, I recommend that China scale up pilot projects and seize opportunities in key industries like manufacturing, education, healthcare and energy to drive large-scale deployment of domestic AI solutions.

The third is to fortify the governance framework. China needs to construct a regulatory system that balances development and security, and fosters both innovation and standardization, to ensure the health and deep application of the technology. This can be achieved by establishing a three-tier collaborative framework of "regulations-standards-tools": the top tier uses laws and regulations to define the bottom lines for development and security; the middle tier utilizes industry standards and ethical guidelines to refine operational instructions; and the bottom tier relies on supervisory tools – such as algorithm registration and security assessments – to enable dynamic, end-to-end management, forming a closed loop of full lifecycle governance.

Finally, China must cultivate the application ecosystem for AI. Only a prosperous ecosystem can ensure sustainable vitality. Through policy guidance, benchmark and synergy between production and application, China can incentivize all stakeholders to adopt domestic AI technologies, thereby contributing China's strength to the development of the global AI industry.