Pick Your Innovation Path in AI: Chinese Edition

China’s advances in AI show the effects of a state approach of “introduce, digest, absorb, re-innovate” and years of debate on the balance between market-driven innovation and state-led development

When the Chinese start-up DeepSeek launched its artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot in December 2024, many Americans suddenly realized that China could compete in AI. News of this breakthrough sparked debate on whether China could win the AI race and surpass the dominance of the United States in AI and on the implications if China were to succeed. In April 2025, Chinese President Xi Jinping delivered remarks on artificial intelligence during a Politburo study session on AI, Xi’s first pronouncement on the subject since 2018. “Persist in Being Self-Reliant, Be Strongly Oriented Toward Applications, and Push the Orderly Development of Artificial Intelligence,” was Xi’s main message, according to a Chinese state media summary of his speech. Experts suggested that Xi’s comments signaled China’s determination to achieve AI supremacy. China has come a long way since the release of the State Council’s New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan in 2017. Back then, Chinese schola…