SCIO briefing on development of industry and information technology in the first quarter of 2025

Dazhong Daily:

Since the beginning of this year, large AI models represented by DeepSeek have sparked widespread discussion. How do you evaluate the current development situation of China's AI industry? What progress has the MIIT made in promoting AI's role in facilitating new industrialization? Thank you.

Xie Shaofeng:

Thanks for your questions. As you mentioned, recently domestic large models like DeepSeek have become very popular, sparking enthusiasm for applications and innovation across society, which also reflects the rapid breakthroughs in AI technology. The manufacturing industry is an important field for the application of AI technology products. In recent years, the integrated development of AI and the manufacturing industry has accelerated, with outstanding results and numerous highlights, mainly characterized by the following aspects.

First, the industrial foundation is continuously being consolidated. China has formed a complete industrial system covering the basic layer, framework layer, model layer, and application layer. The scale of computing power ranks among the top in the world, high-quality industry datasets for steel, coal, and other sectors have been established, a batch of highly competitive general large models and industrial large models have been cultivated, and domestic large models have topped the download charts of major global open-source communities, creating the "China speed."

Second, product and equipment iteration is accelerating. Domestic manufacturers have developed over a hundred intelligent products such as AI phones, AI computers, and AI glasses, achieving an upgrade in intelligence. Mainstream humanoid robot products are now capable of "standing steadily, walking stably, and running fast," and are accelerating the transition from "moving on stage" to "being used in factories." They can perform acrobatics, dance, as well as carry heavy objects and tighten screws, accelerating their application in manufacturing scenarios, such as assisting in automotive production line operations and supporting intelligent sorting and handling.

Third, application empowerment is steadily advancing. Large models are accelerating their application in industries such as electronics, raw materials, and consumer goods, as well as in research and development, pilot testing, production, and operation management. During our local research on typical cases, we discovered that a flat panel display company in Beijing used large models to generate production schedules with a single click, cutting scheduling time by 75%. An electronic equipment manufacturing company in Shenyang used large models to promote the automation of industrial design, increasing production efficiency by 40%. We are continuously carrying out "deep empowerment" activities, creating online and offline platforms, promoting precise docking between supply and demand enterprises, and guiding the intelligent transformation of the industry.

Fourth, the industrial ecosystem continues to be optimized. We are promoting the construction of 11 national pilot zones for AI innovation and application through collaboration between central ministries and provincial governments. We have established manufacturing innovation centers for embodied intelligent robots and humanoid robots, with joint efforts from central and local levels, promoting the clustered development of the industry. To promote the integration of industry and finance, we jointly established a national AI fund of 60 billion yuan with the Ministry of Finance to accelerate the layout of investment projects. We provided stronger guidance on standards by issuing the "Guidelines for the Construction of a Comprehensive Standardization System for the National Artificial Intelligence Industry", and formulated more than 40 key industrial standards and more than 10 international standards. We are focused on cultivating market entities, and have cumulatively cultivated more than 400 national-level "little giant" AI enterprises which use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products.

This year's government work report proposes to continue to promote the "AI Plus" initiative, better combine digital technology with manufacturing advantages and market advantages, and support large-scale and widespread application. Next, we will fully promote AI to empower new industrialization. On one hand, we will focus on supply. We will organize open competitions to select top candidates to lead AI research projects that empower new industrialization. We will optimize the research and development frameworks for both general large models and industry-specific large models, accelerate the creation of high-quality industrial datasets, strengthen the foundation, and promote intelligent industrialization. On the other hand, we will focus on application. We will drive the intelligent upgrading of manufacturing processes, key industries, and major products, while speeding up the industrialization and commercialization of the next generation of super-intelligent terminals. We will continue the "deep empowerment" activities and carry out the collection of typical cases, selecting the "top 10 industries, top 100 scenarios, and top 1,000 benchmarks", and promote industrial intelligence. At the same time, we need to build an ecosystem, guiding patient capital to increase support, and accelerate the cultivation of a number of leading enterprises and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that use specialized and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products. We will build an open-source community for AI, leverage the role of the technical committee for AI standardization, accelerate the development of urgently needed key standards, and strengthen talent introduction and cultivation, ethical governance, and international cooperation, continuously fostering a good industrial ecosystem. Thank you.