StateCouncilPledgesPolicySupportforAIInnovationandForeignTrade

Chinese Premier Li Qiang chaired a State Council executive meeting on June 29 to review the development of artificial intelligence, analyze the current foreign trade landscape and outline strategies to strengthen the country’s global trading power.

The cabinet also approved the action plan for carbon peaking and the national health plan for the upcoming 15th Five-Year Plan period.

According to Xinhua News Agency, the meeting emphasized the need to grasp the evolving trends of AI, improve support policies and governance frameworks and firmly hold the initiative in development. Policymakers urged accelerated efforts to achieve innovative breakthroughs in AI, speed up the research of core technologies and build ultra-large-scale intelligent computing clusters.

They also called for enhancing high-quality data supply, securing capital and talent and supporting corporate fundamental research and frontier exploration. Furthermore, the meeting stressed the deeper implementation of the AI Plus initiative, leveraging China’s comprehensive industrial system and abundant application scenarios to drive the large-scale commercial application of smart products and services.

On the security front, Li highlighted the need to establish strict AI safety boundaries, refine regulations on tech ethics and testing certification and build a dynamic, tiered safety regulatory system while fostering international cooperation on AI governance.

To sustain the positive momentum in foreign trade, the cabinet pledged to increase support through credit and export credit insurance, expand the import of high-quality goods and services and improve the trade support system by building public service platforms to promote balanced import and export development.

The State Council emphasized improving the quality and efficiency of foreign trade, boosting the brand influence and added value of exported goods and strengthening service and digital trade. Policymakers also outlined plans to cultivate new trade formats, advance the integration of trade and investment and align domestic and international trade operations.

Additionally, the meeting called for proactive measures to expand autonomous opening-up, safeguard the international economic and trade order and enhance foreign-related security capabilities.

The meeting highlighted the strategic importance of China’s carbon peaking and carbon neutrality goals in driving economic structural transformation and creating new green economic growth drivers. The government plans to focus on key sectors to accelerate the optimization of the energy structure and promote the green, low-carbon transition of industries.

Officials called for improving legal and regulatory standards and the carbon emission statistical accounting system. By scientifically conducting evaluations and assessments, Beijing aims to integrate green and low-carbon principles into every aspect of the national economic cycle, fostering green lifestyles and production methods to underpin high-quality development.

Acknowledging the rapid progress of the Healthy China initiative and the continuous improvement in public health, the meeting called for the establishment of a comprehensive life-cycle health service system. The government will coordinate resource allocation and strengthen the synergy among medical care, health insurance and disease control to provide the public with systematic, continuous and high-quality health services.

Furthermore, the cabinet pledged to vigorously develop the health industry by refining support policies, nurturing new service models, enriching the supply of health products and enforcing strict quality and safety regulations to ensure safe consumer experiences and healthy lifestyles.