New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan — Comprehensive Review

Executive Summary

The "New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" (State Council Document No. 35, 2017) was officially released by China's State Council on July 20, 2017, and stands as the most significant top-level strategic document in China's AI policy landscape. The plan elevates artificial intelligence to a national strategic priority and sets the ambitious goal of making China the world's primary AI innovation center by 2030. It provides a comprehensive, systematic deployment covering fundamental theoretical research, breakthroughs in key common technologies, industrial cultivation, social governance, civil-military fusion, and infrastructure construction. It remains the foundational document for understanding China's AI policy framework.

The plan was issued amid intensifying global AI competition. The document explicitly notes that major developed nations have positioned AI development as a critical strategy for enhancing national competitiveness and safeguarding national security. While China had already achieved second place globally in scientific paper publications and patent authorizations, the plan acknowledged significant gaps in foundational theory, core algorithms, high-end chips, key equipment, and other critical areas. This sober assessment underpins the plan's "three-step" strategic pathway.

Key Provisions

The plan's core content is organized around six major tasks:

First, building an open and collaborative AI innovation ecosystem. This includes establishing a new-generation AI foundational theory system across eight directions (big data intelligence, cross-media perception computing, hybrid augmented intelligence, swarm intelligence, autonomous collaborative control, advanced machine learning, brain-inspired intelligence, and quantum intelligent computing), a key common technology system covering eight domains (knowledge computing engines, cross-media analytical reasoning, intelligent computing chips, natural language processing, and others), deployment of five foundational support platforms, and a high-end talent cultivation plan.

Second, cultivating a high-end and efficient intelligent economy. This encompasses AI emerging industry development (intelligent software/hardware, intelligent robots, intelligent vehicles, virtual/augmented reality, smart terminals, IoT components), industrial intelligentization upgrades across manufacturing, agriculture, logistics, finance, commerce, and home living, as well as smart enterprise development and innovation hub construction.

Third, building a safe and convenient intelligent society. This deploys smart education, smart healthcare, and intelligent elderly care services, advances smart governance (intelligent government services, smart courts, smart cities, intelligent transportation, intelligent environmental protection), and leverages AI to enhance public safety.

Fourth, strengthening civil-military fusion in AI. This promotes bidirectional conversion of AI technology between civilian and defense applications.

Fifth, constructing intelligent infrastructure. This includes 5G networks, big data infrastructure, and high-performance computing facilities.

Sixth, forward-looking deployment of major science and technology projects. This creates a "1+N" AI project cluster, with the core project focused on foundational theory and key common technologies, supported by multiple national-level science and technology programs.

Goals and Timelines

The plan employs a "three-step" strategy with clearly defined milestones:

2020 targets: AI technology and applications aligned with world-advanced levels; core industry scale exceeding 150 billion RMB (approximately 22 billion USD), with related industries exceeding 1 trillion RMB; initial establishment of ethical norms and policy frameworks in key areas.
2025 targets: Major breakthroughs in foundational theory, with some technologies and applications reaching world-leading levels; core industry scale exceeding 400 billion RMB, with related industries exceeding 5 trillion RMB; preliminary establishment of AI legal and ethical frameworks.
2030 targets: World-leading levels achieved in AI theory, technology, and applications overall, becoming a major global AI innovation center; core industry scale exceeding 1 trillion RMB, with related industries exceeding 10 trillion RMB; comprehensive legal and ethical regulatory systems fully established.

Implementation Mechanisms

The plan establishes a multi-layered organizational implementation architecture:

Top-level coordination: Led by the National Science and Technology System Reform and Innovation System Construction Leading Group.
Executive management: The Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), in coordination with relevant departments, oversees implementation of major science and technology projects. A dedicated AI Plan Promotion Office was established within MOST.
Think tank support: An AI Strategic Advisory Committee was created to study forward-looking, strategically significant issues and provide consultation on major decisions.
Funding mechanisms: A government-guided, market-led funding model was established, encouraging market-oriented AI development funds, angel investment, venture capital, and multi-channel financing through capital markets.
Base construction: Coordinated development of national key laboratories, industrial innovation bases, and maker spaces.
Monitoring and evaluation: Annual assessments and mid-term evaluations were mandated, with dynamic adjustments based on progress and emerging technological trends.

Industry Impact

The plan's release produced far-reaching effects across the industry:

Industrial impact: The plan directly catalyzed explosive growth in China's AI industry. Following its release, leading companies including Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent, and Huawei substantially increased their AI R&D investments. A surge of AI startups emerged across the country. Local governments at all levels issued complementary policies and constructed AI industrial parks and innovation hubs, with Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou developing internationally competitive AI industrial clusters.

Academic impact: The plan accelerated the comprehensive development of AI as an academic discipline. Numerous top Chinese universities established AI colleges, significantly expanded doctoral and master's enrollment in AI-related programs, and widely adopted the "AI+X" interdisciplinary talent cultivation model.

International impact: The plan explicitly signaled China's global AI ambitions, generating widespread international attention and debate. It contributed to an acceleration of the global AI race, with the United States, the European Union, and other major economies subsequently issuing more proactive AI strategies in response.

Governance impact: The plan was the first to systematically propose requirements for AI ethics, safety oversight, and legal framework development. This laid the groundwork for subsequent regulatory instruments, including the 2023 Interim Measures for the Management of Generative AI Services and the broader AI governance framework that continues to evolve.

Amendment History

The plan has not been formally amended since its release in July 2017. However, its policy vision and strategic objectives have been continuously deepened and refined through a series of follow-up implementing documents:

2018: The Ministry of Education issued the "Action Plan for AI Innovation in Higher Education Institutions"
2019: MOST promoted the construction of the first batch of National New-Generation AI Open Innovation Platforms
2021: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released work plans for key AI industrial innovation tasks
2023: Seven government departments jointly issued the "Interim Measures for the Management of Generative AI Services"
2025: The State Council issued the "Opinions on Deeply Implementing the 'AI+' Action" (Document No. 11, 2025), representing the latest continuation of the plan's strategic vision

New Generation AI Development Plan