China's "two sessions" spotlight AI expansion, economic integration plans: expert

Industry insiders say China's recent emphasis on AI development highlights the country's ambitions to compete globally in next-generation technology.

China on Thursday announced plans to advance and expand its "AI Plus" initiative, promote faster application of new-generation intelligent terminals and AI agents, and encourage large-scale commercial use of AI in key sectors.

The announcement was made at China's most important annual political gatherings, the "two sessions", the annual meetings of China's top legislature, the National People’s Congress (NPC), and the top political advisory body, the National Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), which have gathered thousands of Chinese lawmakers and political advisors in Beijing.

Signs of the AI push are already visible in the private sector. During the country's recent Spring Festival holiday which marked celebrations for the Chinese New Year, major companies distributed traditional red packets -- or lucky money coupons -- through AI-driven apps, a consumer-level case study of how policy is meeting practice.

"These are kind of concrete examples that big tech companies are taking actions to try to engage everyday people with advanced AI," said Winston Ma, author of "The Digital War" and adjunct professor in the global AI-digital economy.

Ma believes that wider adoption of AI among consumers will also generate vast amounts of data, fueling improvements in AI products and services.

"You have more than a billion internet users that are integrated by the same language, same culture, and the same mobile payment. So, every day there is tremendous amount of data accumulated at the digital platforms. So, the next step is to better utilize the data, organize the data, and put the data into work by AI to generate value," he said.

That value is increasingly visible in intelligent products, most notably robots. At the 2026 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas back in January, Chinese firms dominated the exhibition floor with machines and high-tech robots of every shape and size, performing not only acrobatic displays but also practical tasks that underscored their commercial potential.

"I think one thing that China is doing very well right now is connecting AI to hardware. So, AI to robotics, you can see around here, you see the robot coffee makers, robot cocktail makers, robots are everywhere doing real things, robot vacuums and pool cleaners. So, really using AI to do physical, work in the real world is something that China is doing very well," said Chris Pereira, founder and CEO of the south China-based tech ecosystem company iMpact.

"There will be a huge range of embodied AI. But overall, China has the advantage of the manufacturing process developed here in the "Made in China" expansion the last three decades. Essentially, Chinese manufacturing power can be combined with Chinese open source models to develop a huge industry, relating to industry robots as well as humanoids," Ma said.

Ma noted that this year's "two sessions" could extend the technology agenda "Beyond AI," encompassing quantum computing and biomedicine to lay the groundwork for next-generation industries.

China's "two sessions" spotlight AI expansion, economic integration plans: expert

Japan's latest Defense White Paper hypes up the so-called "China threat" as an excuse to pursue its largest military expansion since World War II and break away from its long-standing exclusively defense-oriented policy, a Chinese analyst said on Thursday.

This year's white paper was released on Tuesday. The document continues to use the same security narrative outlined in Japan's 2022 National Security Strategy, which identified China as its biggest strategic challenge.

In an interview with China Global Television Network, Xu Yongzhi, an associate research fellow at China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, noted that the document lays the groundwork for revising Japan's three key security documents later this year and accelerating its military buildup.

"With this positioning, Japan is like nothing but a thief crying 'stop thief'. In 2026, it plans to further revise its three key security documents. As we know, it's almost certain that Japan will further increase its defense spending and strengthen its military capabilities in new areas," Xu said.

The expert points out that a key change in this year's white paper is that Japan has provided more details on the deployment and development of offensive weapons, while dedicating a new section to the military application of AI and unmanned systems.

"Japan aims to send three signals to the outside world. First, its offensive weapons will achieve operational capability in a relatively concentrated period over the next two or three years. Second, the scale of these capabilities is considerable. Third, Japan is demonstrating that it has the ability to use such weapons," he said.

Xu added that Japan's latest moves are closely tied to its alliance with the United States.

"A key feature of the U.S. national security strategy and national defense strategy is that the United States expects its allies to take on greater, or even primary responsibility for intervening in regional affairs. Japan's actions are actually in line with this strategy," he said.

Japan uses 'China threat' narrative to justify its military expansion: analyst