Li Shenglong: Building an Artificial Intelligence Governance System with Chinese Characteristics
Artificial intelligence (AI), as the core driving force of a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, is exerting a major and profound influence on economic development, social progress, and the landscape of international politics and economics. On April 25, while presiding over the 20th collective study session of the Political Bureau of the 20th CPC Central Committee, General Secretary Xi Jinping emphasized the need to "face up to gaps, redouble efforts, comprehensively promote AI technological innovation, industrial development, and empowering applications, improve AI regulatory systems and mechanisms, and firmly grasp the initiative in AI development and governance." This important discourse provides the fundamental follow-through for us to build a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics, firmly grasp the initiative in AI development and governance, and promote the healthy and orderly development of AI.
I. Profoundly understanding the new situation facing AI development
Presently, AI has entered a developmental stage characterized by the intertwining of accelerated technological breakthroughs and widespread application. It demonstrates both immense potential for empowering economic and social transformation and multiple challenges such as ethical lapses, data abuse, algorithmic bias, and unclear accountability. As AI gradually moves from the laboratory into various fields of economy and society, issues of governance lag and risk spillovers have become increasingly prominent.
The AI industry is developing rapidly. In recent years, large language models, multimodal models, intelligent agents, and embodied AI have continuously achieved rapid breakthroughs, maintaining high-speed growth in terms of industrial scale, investment and financing, and the number of enterprises. Latest data released by the International Data Corporation (IDC) show that total global investment in AI internet technology in 2024 is US$315.8 billion and is expected to increase to US$815.9 billion by 2028. China's AI spending accounts for more than 50% of the total spending in the Asia-Pacific region, with total investment expected to exceed US$100 billion by 2028. The CPC Central Committee with Comrade Xi Jinping at its core attaches great importance to AI development. In recent years, it has improved top-level design, strengthened work deployments, and promoted an overall and systemic leap in China's comprehensive AI strength. According to the State Council's New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, by 2030, the scale of China's core AI industries will exceed 1 trillion yuan, driving the scale of related industries to exceed 10 trillion yuan.
AI is accelerating economic and social change. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "As a strategic technology leading the new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation, AI is profoundly changing human production and lifestyles." Unlike other disruptive technologies, the development of AI is not limited to a specific industry but is a general-purpose technology capable of supporting transformation across all industries. Currently, AI technology is widely applied in fields such as healthcare, education, transportation, agriculture, industry, finance, culture, and ecology, bringing profound changes to economic and social development. The rapid rise and wide application of Chinese AI large models, represented by DeepSeek, are continuously improving the governance efficiency and scientific decision-making of urban governance, public services, energy management, and environmental monitoring. This brings opportunities for digital and intelligent transformation to national governance, assisting in the modernization of the national governance system and governance capacity.
AI development brings new risks and challenges. AI technology is iterating at an accelerated pace and is undergoing explosive development. While providing unprecedented development opportunities in terms of empowering economic development, enhancing social governance efficacy, and facilitating people's lives, it also brings unprecedented risks and challenges. Currently, problems such as algorithmic opacity, model discrimination, privacy leakage, and blurred liability attribution in AI systems—across stages like algorithmic design, data training, and decision execution—are becoming increasingly prominent. Endogenous technical risks and derived systemic risks are intertwined and superimposed, becoming major obstacles restricting its healthy and sustainable development. For example, without supervision, AI algorithms may perpetuate or even amplify existing social biases; the abuse of personal information during data use can easily trigger a crisis of user trust; and when automated system decisions involve errors, it is difficult to define the attribution of responsibility, exacerbating public concern over the safety of AI technology. More severely, as a highly specialized frontier technology with an extremely fast rate of iteration, AI development has broken through the framework of traditional technological governance. This causes existing legal norms, ethical principles, and governance mechanisms to frequently lag behind in practice, making it difficult to form effective institutional constraints and regulatory systems. This situation of "technology leading, governance lagging" further increases the difficulty of AI security governance.
II. Building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics is an inevitable requirement for grasping the initiative in AI governance
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "Facing the new situation of the rapid evolution of a new generation of AI technology, we must give full play to the advantages of the new-type whole-nation system [1], persist in self-reliance and self-strengthening, highlight application orientation, and promote the healthy and orderly development of China's AI toward beneficial, safe, and fair directions." Combining the frontier trends, benefits, risks, and governance difficulties of AI development, the key to AI governance with Chinese characteristics lies in creating a systematic and institutionalized framework through policy formulation, legal regulation, and ethical guidance. This framework must uphold the principles of being people-centered and "intelligence for good" to promote the continuous innovation and development of AI technology while effectively evading technical risks and challenges, thereby achieving a dynamic balance between maximizing the dividends of AI technology and minimizing its risks. Building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics is an important measure to adapt to new trends in AI development and strengthen the strategic layout of science and technology governance. It is also a key choice for transitioning from localized exploration to systemic governance. This holds great significance for promoting the formation of new quality productive forces, driving high-quality development, enhancing the modernization level of the national governance system and governance capacity, safeguarding technological security and digital sovereignty, and promoting the transformation of the global science and technology governance system.
Building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics is an effective means of reducing technical risks and ensuring safety and reliability. The Decision of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China on Further Comprehensively Deepening Reform and Advancing Chinese-path Modernization, adopted at the Third Plenary Session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, proposed: "Strengthen the construction of the network security institutional system and establish an AI security regulation system." As AI achieves breakthroughs beyond expectations in various fields of economic and social development, the systemic risks of AI also show a trend of diversification and complexity; there are even risks of technology spinning out of control and backfiring on humanity. Therefore, great importance must be attached to managing technical risks and improving the safety and reliability of AI systems. Only by firmly grasping the trends and laws of AI development, building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics, and accelerating the promotion of comprehensive legislation and institutional construction regarding AI at the national level can we coordinate the relationship between technological development and institutional response. This will fundamentally clarify the goals and paths of technological development and strengthen institutionalized governance, systemic regulation, and full-chain standardization. At the same time, improving relevant governance systems helps synchronize efforts across levels such as laws and regulations, ethical constraints, industry self-discipline, and public supervision. This enhances the country's governance capacity and initiative in the field of AI technology, guiding its healthy development on a standardized and orderly track.
Building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics is a key measure to guide "intelligence for good" and increase the well-being of the people. General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "We must strengthen the integration of AI with the protection and improvement of people's livelihoods. Starting from the needs of protecting and improving livelihoods and creating a better life for the people, we should promote the deep application of AI in people's daily work, study, and life, and create more intelligent ways of working and living." Currently, the wide application of AI is continuously improving the quality of life and sense of happiness of the masses, allowing the fruits of development to benefit all people more fairly and extensively. By building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics, we can further strengthen the purpose of "intelligence for good" and highlight the "people-centered" developmental orientation at the policy level. This allows for timely grasping of what the people need and responding to their demands, guiding AI technology to be more invested in the weak links of people's livelihoods to better serve their needs for a better life. At the same time, only by establishing and improving AI ethical codes and norms, strengthening the construction of science and technology ethics and humanistic care, and promoting the formation of a "value-led + technical regulation" dual-driven model, can ethical hidden dangers be effectively reduced and prevented.
Building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics is an important guarantee for implementing high-quality development requirements and enhancing international competitiveness. High-quality development emphasizes not only the speed of economic growth but also its quality, structure, and efficiency. Today, as AI becomes a key engine of new quality productive forces, building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics can, on one hand, create a more stable, transparent, and fair environment for technological development, enhancing the innovative drive and investment confidence of enterprises, thereby accelerating the construction of new infrastructure such as intelligent manufacturing, smart cities, and digital government. On the other hand, it helps promote the deep integration of the internet, big data, and AI with the real economy, fostering and expanding intelligent industries so that AI provides a continuous stream of new momentum for high-quality development. Meanwhile, as a general-purpose technology, AI is an important lever for enhancing national competitiveness and maintaining national security. Currently, major countries in the world are stepping up the introduction of relevant plans and policies in the field of AI, attempting to grasp the dominant position in the new round of international technological competition and global developmental changes. Building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics, through strengthening standard-setting, industrial guidance, and participation in international rules, can effectively enhance China's discourse power and influence in global AI governance.
III. Actively exploring the implementation path for building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out, "We must grasp the trends and laws of AI development, step up the formulation and improvement of relevant laws and regulations, policy systems, application norms, and ethical codes, and build systems for technical monitoring, risk early warning, and emergency response to ensure that AI is safe, reliable, and controllable." Building a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics must persist in the overall national security outlook. On the basis of balancing security and development, it should take innovation as the primary driving force, security as the baseline requirement, and inclusivity as the value pursuit. This will form a framework and standard norms for AI governance with broad consensus, continuously improving the safety, reliability, controllability, and fairness of AI technology.
In recent years, the construction of a system of AI governance with Chinese characteristics has been accelerating. The publication of a series of policy documents—such as the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan, the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Ethics Code, the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating Scenario Innovation to Promote High-Quality Economic Development with High-Level AI Applications, and the Measures for Labeling AI-Generated and Synthetic Content—provides the follow-through for the development and application of AI technology. The introduction of laws and regulations such as the Provisions on the Administration of Algorithmic Recommendations for Internet Information Services, the Interim Measures for the Management of Generative Artificial Intelligence Services, and the Data Security Law of the People's Republic of China has built the institutional cornerstone for China's data governance and ethical review, effectively promoting the improvement of the AI governance system and governance capacity. Faced with rapidly developing AI technology, problems such as lagging laws, improper regulatory methods, and fragmented governance still exist to varying degrees. There is an urgent need to further refine and deepen these through measures such as strengthening top-level design, improving relevant laws, regulations, and policy systems, and promoting collaborative co-governance.
Strengthening top-level design and improving the governance framework. Give full play to the advantages of the new-type whole-nation system to coordinately formulate strategic, forward-looking, and systemic development plans, and clarify policy goals and implementation paths for different stages based on the trends of AI technology development. Establish cross-field and cross-departmental collaboration mechanisms to clarify the functions and responsibilities of various departments in the field of AI, solve the problem of fragmented governance between different government departments, local governments, and enterprises, and strengthen overall governance capacity. Establish and improve AI security regulation platforms, strengthen research on major issues such as AI development trends and security risks, timely analyze potential risks brought by emerging technologies, and periodically issue guidelines for preventing AI security risks. Continuously enrich technical tools such as value alignment, red-teaming, and evaluation/testing to provide guidance for various entities, including industry enterprises and government departments, to prevent AI security risks.
Strengthening ethical norms and value guidance to clarify governance orientation. Give full play to the functions of the AI Ethics and Governance Work Committee, always adhere to the concept of being "people-centered and intelligence for good," and conduct periodic ethical reviews and risk assessments based on the development status of AI. Promote enterprises and scientific research institutions to establish independent ethical oversight bodies, consciously strengthen ethical reviews, and proactively disclose ethical issues in the R&D process to prevent technology abuse. Strengthen AI ethics education for the public, especially the cultivation of ethical risk identification and response capabilities for technical personnel engaged in AI development, to enhance the level of social cognition regarding technological ethics.
Improve the legal and regulatory systems as well as policy frameworks to solidify the foundations of governance. We must issue specialized laws and regulations for the research, development, application, and supervision of artificial intelligence (AI) in a timely manner, clarifying issues of algorithmic transparency, explainability, and liability attribution within AI systems. We must strengthen supervision over data security and privacy protection, particularly in contexts involving cross-border data flows and multi-party sharing, by formulating strict regulatory measures to ensure compliance in data processing. Industry standards and operational guidelines for AI technology should be developed based on the specific characteristics of different sectors. In response to technological innovation in the field of AI, we must improve relevant intellectual property protection systems to prevent the abuse of technological achievements and infringement.
Promote collaborative governance involving multiple stakeholders to refine the governance structure. We should build cross-sector governance platforms involving the government, enterprises, academic institutions, and social organizations [2] to facilitate information sharing and coordination, and to strengthen the link between technological R&D and governance policies. The government should innovate its regulatory methods by implementing developmental supervision, providing an open and inclusive regulatory environment for the development of AI; it should also optimize the use of governance tools, adhering to agile governance and dynamic monitoring to enhance governance effectiveness. Enterprises should take the initiative to shoulder their social responsibilities and, under the unified guidance of the government, gradually establish a system of digital rules to ensure that their products and services comply with legal, ethical, and social norms. Scientific research institutions need to strengthen technological innovation and ethical review, assessing the potential risks of AI technology to provide a scientific basis for policy formulation. Social organizations and the public can promote the transparency of the AI governance system by participating in public discussions and submitting comments and suggestions.
Ensure that key technologies are independent and controllable to enhance governance efficacy. General Secretary Xi Jinping has pointed out: "We must focus on key core technologies, follow a problem-oriented approach, comprehensively enhance AI technological innovation capabilities, and accelerate the establishment of a next-generation AI key common technology system. We must act quickly to address weaknesses and ensure that key core AI technologies are held firmly in our own hands." We must increase support for basic research and breakthroughs in key technologies within the AI field. Through the establishment of special funds and policy incentives, we should encourage tech enterprises and research institutions to strengthen R&D in core technologies such as high-end chips and foundational software, reducing reliance on foreign technology and maintaining a firm grip on technological sovereignty. We must establish and improve a digital sovereignty framework, strengthening the control and protection of data resources and data flows.
Promote international exchange and cooperation to provide a governance framework. Always upholding the concepts of openness, inclusiveness, and multilateral cooperation, we must actively participate in the formulation of international AI governance standards and rules. We should proactively contribute governance solutions with Chinese characteristics, strive to promote the closing of the global gap in intelligent development, and advocate for broad consensus on technical standards, development strategies, and governance rules. This will provide a new framework for advancing global AI governance and ensure the fairness and inclusiveness of the global governance system. Through the "Belt and Road" digital cooperation network, we can share the practical achievements of AI governance, promote cooperation with relevant countries in AI R&D, application, and ethics, and strengthen technical exchanges with world-leading AI enterprises and research institutions. This will narrow the global digital divide, avoid technological fragmentation and blockades, and ensure that AI truly becomes a universally beneficial technology for the good of all humanity.
(Author: Professor, Department of Economics, Central Party School [National Academy of Governance]; Distinguished Professor, School of Marxism, Huaqiao University) Source: Hongqi Wengao [3], Issue 12, 2025 Online Editor: Tongxin