China targets $142.5 billion AI industry within two years

BEIJING, 7th January, 2026 (WAM) — The People’s Republic of China aims to grow its core artificial intelligence (AI) industry beyond 1 trillion yuan (about US$142.5 billion) within two years via a new action plan, as China’s capital city seeks to cement its role as a global AI innovation hub.

Under the plan, authorities will roll out nine major initiatives targeting different sectors of the AI industry, with a strong emphasis on technological innovation.

The plan prioritises technological breakthroughs through coordinated research efforts, boosting high-quality data supply and expanding applications across sectors. It also includes measures to attract top talent, mobilise long-term capital and support open-source ecosystems.

Yang Xiuling, Director of the Beijing Municipal Commission of Development and Reform, said other targets include building a domestically produced AI computing cluster with a capacity of over 100,000 chips, adding more than 10 newly listed AI-related companies and cultivating over 20 unicorn firms in this sector.

The country’s AI sector has seen robust growth, with the number of such enterprises exceeding 5,300 as of September 2025, accounting for 15 percent of the global total, according to the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.