New data reveals that China now leads the world in large-scale AI model development, with domestic companies creating 1,509 of the 3,755 total models released globally to date - representing over 40 percent of the world's total.
The figures were announced at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance held in Shanghai from Saturday to Monday, where China's rapid advances in artificial intelligence took center stage.
The conference exhibition floor featured more than 40 competing domestic models, including a newly upgraded general-purpose system scalable from three billion to 750 billion parameters.
"This is a multimodal large-scale model that employs dynamic hierarchical distillation and data zone governance, enabling the model to achieve both comprehensiveness and scale. It reduces training costs by 70 percent while improving inference efficiency by 30 percent," said Xiang Xin, an exhibitor.
China's advanced role in AI development extends beyond quantity to technological breakthroughs, including the world's first large model with "native memory" capabilities.
"It enables continuous personalization of each model - the more personalized it becomes, the more tailored and precisely attuned the service will be to every individual's unique needs," said Liu Fanping, another exhibitor.
Since the beginning of this year, China has accelerated the iteration speed of its foundational large-scale models. These models are being rapidly implemented across industries such as electronics, raw materials, and consumer goods, with applications spanning R and D design, pilot verification, production manufacturing, and operational management. The large-scale model industry has established a complete architecture encompassing the foundational layer, model layer, and application layer, creating an integrated cycle that connects basic research, technological innovation, and commercial implementation.
"Since 2024, China's large-scale models have made remarkable progress - whether in core capabilities of large language models, reasoning skills, or multimodal models' comprehension and generation abilities. The advancements have been significant, and the iteration pace has been exceptionally rapid," said Yu Xiaohui, president of China Academy of Information and Communications Technology.
Supporting this model development boom, China now hosts over 5,100 AI companies among 35,000 worldwide, including 71 domestic unicorns.
China tops global AI model count with 1,509 homegrown systems
