This is what Liu Hanyuan, Chairman of Tongwei Group, a private solar panel manufacturer, told Beijing Review on March 4, after attending the opening meeting of Third Session of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), the country's top political advisory body.
Liu, a member of the committee, emphasized that the Chinese people are not short on wisdom or expertise in mathematics and logic, and that they possess inherent global advantages in technological innovation.
"The effective application of AI will drive rapid improvements in human cognitive, research and innovation capabilities, potentially bringing unprecedented and surprising application outcomes, both expected and unexpected, to different aspects of society," he said.
This is indeed the case. On March 5, at the opening meeting of the Third Session of the 14th National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, Premier Li Qiang delivered the 2025 government work report. He noted that China's innovation capability has been enhanced over the past year. The country witnessed new achievements in integrated circuits, AI and quantum technology; the Chang'e-6 mission successfully completed the first-ever lunar sample return from the far side of the moon; and the Meng Xiang, China's first domestically designed and built deep-ocean drilling vessel, was completed and commissioned.
Take your pick
Qiao Hong, Director of the Multimodal AI Systems Laboratory and a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, attended a group interview ahead of the opening meeting of the Third Session of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, together with several other members of the committee.
Qiao said humanoid robots—those designed to resemble humans and equipped with numerous degrees of freedom—are poised to revolutionize human's productivity and daily lives in the near future. "Humanoid robots are not only important manifestations and carriers of AI, but also exemplars of general physical AI systems," she said.
These robots have recently captured public attention, from performing dances at the China Central Television 2025 Spring Festival Gala, which was broadcast on January 28, to walking on balance beams and jumping on plum blossom piles.
Qiao highlighted that China's robotics technology has made remarkable advancements, closing the gap with leading international standards. Over the past three years, industrial robot installations in China have accounted for more than half of the global total, and lunar exploration robots have successfully returned lunar soil samples.
She further noted that the development of humanoid robots is rapidly progressing, stating, "We have established a core technology platform for the mass production of humanoid robots, enabling the rapid creation of low-cost yet high-performance robotic systems to support the nation's industries and agriculture."
"In fact, robot systems will enter a bigger and more important stage," Qiao went on to tell Beijing Review.
This new stage not only requires the mass production of robot systems but, more importantly, their reliability, stability, versatility, intelligence and safety. It is not only a market demand but also a common dream and challenge for scientists, technologists and entrepreneurs.
"According to the 2025 government work report, under the AI Plus initiative, we will work to effectively combine digital technologies with China's manufacturing and market strengths," she said. "The country will support the extensive application of large-scale AI models and develop new-generation intelligent terminals and smart manufacturing equipment, AI-enabled phones and computers, and intelligent robots."
The most recent Chinese tech feat to make waves worldwide has been the domestically developed open-source AI chatbot DeepSeek.
Qi Xiangdong, Chairman of Qi-Anxin Group, a leader in the cybersecurity industry, believes that the emergence of DeepSeek has far-reaching implications for the AI industry.
"The open-source strategy of DeepSeek is like a starting gun, enabling the AI industry to break away from the club of large models belonging to big companies, allowing small and medium-sized enterprises to compete on an equal footing with big companies in large model technology and achieve technological equality," Qi said during the group interview.
"DeepSeek's low training cost and powerful reasoning models make it extremely beneficial for AI application developers. Moreover, its technologies and frameworks are comparable to the world's top large models," he told Beijing Review.
The AI Plus initiative drives the leap in new productivity, and the accompanying new security threats cannot be ignored. Qi said the emergence of new scenarios, including smart finance, smart manufacturing and smart transportation, is exacerbating security risks such as data breaches, vulnerability exploitation and deep fakes. "The government work report underscored the importance to ensure both development and security, and we will continue to defuse risks step by step in the course of pursuing development and work for positive interactions between high-quality development and greater security," he added.
Investment and support
"We have been thinking about how to better support young people so that they have the courage to tackle big problems instead of becoming comfortable with mediocrity," Xie Xiaoliang, a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee, told Beijing Review.
Xie is a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Director of the life science-focused Changping Laboratory in Beijing. He believes that fostering a good ecosystem for scientific research and talent cultivation is essential to fully promote the development of new productivity.
Original and free exploration is a must when engaging in scientific research. Xie said after preliminary achievements in free exploration, it is necessary to further expand the results. But doing so requires continuous resource support.
Xie advocates for continuous and increasing resource support for young researchers who demonstrate exceptional innovative potential. This approach can encourage bold innovation among young scientists and expedite breakthroughs in key technological areas in China, he added.
Due to the lack of early-stage venture capital support, many potential technological achievements fail to move into the next stage, Gao Tianming, a member of the 14th CPPCC National Committee and a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, told Beijing Review.
He explained that the development of technology products often entails considerable risks, particularly in the early stages, where uncertainty surrounding both technology and market conditions is high. As a result, many companies are reluctant to invest in early-stage technology projects, fearing that their investments may not yield the anticipated returns.
Gao called for more supportive policies for venture capital investment to fill the funding gap between basic research and commercialization. By planning ahead, this both helps the transformation of technological achievements, as well as creates greater value for companies and investors alike. BR
