Reference News Network, March 12 report: According to the BBC website on March 9, one of the most notable changes in this year's Chinese government work report is the first proposal of "building a new form of smart economy." This wording indicates that artificial intelligence (AI) has again been elevated in the official development framework.
The report proposes deepening and expanding the "AI +", promoting the accelerated popularization of next-generation intelligent terminals and intelligent entities, and driving the commercial and large-scale application of AI in key industries and fields.
At the same time, China also plans to support the construction of AI open-source communities, promote the prosperity of open-source ecosystems, and implement super-large-scale intelligent computing clusters, computing-electricity collaboration, and other new infrastructure projects.
Analysts point out that Beijing is no longer satisfied with viewing AI merely as part of the frontier technology competition, but rather tends to regard it as a general infrastructure similar to electricity and communication networks. The official expectation is not only to train stronger models, but to enable AI to be widely applied in scenarios such as manufacturing, urban governance, and public services, thereby improving overall productivity.
According to the South China Morning Post website on March 10, Beijing is planning to build new infrastructure "moderately ahead of schedule," covering computing power, information and communication networks, and satellite internet, while emphasizing the coordinated layout of green electricity and computing power to consolidate its infrastructure advantage in the AI competition with the United States.
New infrastructure construction is a pillar of the draft outline of China's 14th Five-Year Plan.
China's new infrastructure plan includes building a "national integrated computing network," which is supported by a multi-level computing facility system across the country, while also accelerating the advancement of satellite internet construction and its commercial applications.
Other forward-looking development areas include the evolution of the fifth generation mobile communication (5G-A) and the sixth generation mobile communication (6G), as well as infrastructure supporting data and low-altitude economy.
While promoting infrastructure construction, China is engaged in intense technological competition with the United States, and Beijing is making every effort to consolidate its competitiveness. The draft outline of the 14th Five-Year Plan states that China will "consolidate and expand advantages, break through bottlenecks... and gain strategic initiative in intense international competition."
An advantage emphasized in Beijing's plan includes the coordinated development of computing power and green electricity. Beijing is conducting actions nationwide aimed at expanding China's computing power resources, striving to take the lead in the AI era.
The goal of this action is to make computing power accessible and easy to use, significantly reducing the cost for small and medium-sized enterprises to obtain the computing resources needed for innovation.
Additionally, according to the Bloomberg News website on March 9, investors' confidence in China's "smart economy" is growing increasingly. A series of cutting-edge technology fields, including AI and semiconductors, are becoming beneficiaries of policy-driven support.
The latest signals released by Beijing's political meetings have made all parties more confident that technological self-reliance and industrial upgrading will become the pillars of economic growth in the coming years. Analysts from Citigroup and Morgan Stanley stated that they are optimistic about the technology and innovation sector, expecting to see more policy support in the future.
The new blueprint of China's economy has sent signals of transformation in the AI strategy, shifting from a phase centered on technological breakthroughs to a commercialization phase.
Morgan Stanley analysts said in a brief that "the focus on hard-core technologies and innovation is particularly prominent in China."
An indication of the increasing importance of the technology sector to the economy is that the term "artificial intelligence" appeared seven times in this year's government work report, up from three times last year. Beijing has also set a target to increase the share of core industries in the digital economy in GDP to 12.5% by 2030.
The government work report pointed out the need to "build a new form of smart economy." This expression, along with content related to "satellite internet," "future energy," and "new energy storage," has already prompted investors to seek new stock favorites.
In the view of some market observers, the significance of including "building a new form of smart economy" in the government work report for the first time is not only about short-term stock market boosts.
Some analysts say that AI is likely to enter a broader stage of commercial promotion, creating opportunities in infrastructure sectors such as chips, computing power, and cloud services, as well as application areas such as robotics and intelligent driving. (Translated by Lu Di and Liu Ziyuan)
Original: toutiao.com/article/7616275993346507264/
Disclaimer: This article represents the views of the author alone.