Intelligent agents like "Lobster" continue to captivate markets, the Seedance 2.0 video generation model gains global popularity with its cinematic quality, and "one-person companies" are rapidly emerging. Across China today, artificial intelligence is deeply embedded within the economic and social fabric.
The 15th Five-Year Plan outlines a comprehensive "AI+" initiative, and this year's Government Work Report for the first time proposed "forging a new form of intelligent economy." A series of top-level designs are driving AI to continuously invigorate innovation across all sectors.
Recent visits to factories, industrial parks, farmlands, and research institutions reveal AI's deep integration into the real economy, its role in creating incremental value, its systemic enhancement of total factor productivity, and its creation of new frontiers for high-quality development through this new economic form.
The emergence of this new form is establishing a fresh paradigm for economic operation. On April 19th, at the 2026 Beijing Yizhuang Half Marathon featuring humanoid robots, the "Lightning" robot crossed the finish line first with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, surpassing the human men's half-marathon record.
Each step taken by the robot, supported by millisecond-level posture corrections from algorithms and model iterations fueled by multi-source data, marks the progressive evolution of the intelligent economy. Forging this new intelligent economy represents a shift from technological enablement to a systemic restructuring of the economic form.
An expert from a national research institute suggests that the new intelligent economy is an "AI-native" form, powered by AI as its core engine, data as a key element, and computing power and algorithms as foundational supports, leading to a systemic leap in total factor productivity. The transition from "AI+" to "intelligent economy" signifies that AI is no longer merely an add-on to industries but is forming an independent and complete economic system, with policy support evolving from targeted assistance to systematic planning.
This year's Government Work Report specifically called for accelerating the promotion of new-generation intelligent terminals and agents, driving commercial and large-scale AI application in key sectors, and cultivating new AI-native business formats and models.
Field research confirms that AI is diversifying product forms, reorganizing production factors, and refreshing industrial landscapes. At the Canton Fair's new smart wearables section, innovative terminals were on display, including AI translation earpieces supporting 52 languages, AI glasses providing real-time scene awareness, and smartwatches integrated with health large models.
In a vast wheat demonstration field in Henan, multispectral drones conduct low-altitude patrols, collecting data on crop growth and soil moisture, which is transmitted to an agricultural big data platform for AI analysis to generate personalized management plans.
In Wuxi, Jiangsu, intelligent agent "employees" are being deployed. One agent improved drawing-model compliance rates to 93%, while a traffic decision-making agent increased intersection efficiency by 21% in pilot areas.
These burgeoning technologies, products, and scenarios are adding significant "intelligent" elements to China's first-quarter economic performance: value-added output in high-tech manufacturing above designated size increased by 12.5% year-on-year, digital product manufacturing rose by 11.2%, and production of 3D printing equipment and industrial robots grew by 54.0% and 33.2%, respectively.
Concurrently, the ripple effects of the intelligent economy are propagating deeply along industrial chains. Upstream, electronic specialty material manufacturing grew by 32.5%; midstream, integrated circuit manufacturing surged by 49.4%; and downstream, intelligent equipment manufacturing increased by 16.9%.
Amidst these soaring figures, the intelligent wave surges forward, with "computing power" and "tokens" becoming frequent topics during research visits. At the Gui'an data center cluster in Guizhou, multiple data centers are under simultaneous construction. A company executive reported that daily token usage skyrocketed from under 3 billion in early January to nearly 12 billion by April, with order volume growing from under 70,000 to over 280,000.
Nationwide, the average daily token usage in March exceeded 140 trillion, a more than thousand-fold increase from 100 billion at the beginning of 2024. This massive growth strongly indicates that China's AI development has entered a phase of rapid expansion, with the industry's competitiveness significantly enhanced, moving from conversational ability to decision-making and execution.
International media have noted that China's new economic blueprint signals a strategic shift for AI, poised to enter a broader phase of commercial promotion. The vitality of the intelligent economy lies in its deep integration with the real economy.
A government researcher emphasized that forging this new form is about seizing the AI opportunity, expanding its breadth and depth across all industries, quickly unlocking new growth space, and cultivating new models and drivers.
Inside a modern textile factory in Yancheng, Jiangsu, the scene has transformed from traditional bustling production lines to rows of digital equipment operating at high speed, with automated guided vehicles moving seamlessly through smart channels. The plant's information director explained that an "industrial brain" now handles tasks once reliant on veteran workers' experience, leading to a more than fourfold increase in overall labor productivity, a 15% reduction in energy consumption per unit, and a 26% decrease in processing costs.
Beyond manufacturing, AI applications are expanding into research institutes and hospitals, empowering various sectors to leap from "digitalization" to "intelligentization." A research team in Shenzhen developed an "AI scientist team" that drastically shortened new material development cycles. An lead-zinc smelter implemented intelligent casting for precise process control, and a county hospital began applying AI to CT and ultrasound analyses.
Data shows that over 30% of major manufacturing firms in China have integrated AI technologies. AI has permeated more than 70% of business scenarios in benchmark smart factories, resulting in over 6,000 vertical industry models.
Research also uncovered that the intelligent economy is catalyzing a growing number of new business formats. In an industrial community in Hangzhou, a solo entrepreneur manages a team of "AI employees" to produce short films, with different agents handling scriptwriting, visual generation, and post-production. Leveraging large models, computing platforms, and AI tools, tasks once requiring a full team can now be accomplished by a single person. The entrepreneur reported revenue exceeding one million yuan since the company's founding last year.
Cities like Wuhan are promoting the development of AI-native technologies and enterprises. Xiong'an New Area aims to become a globally influential AI-native city. Beijing Yizhuang plans to foster world-leading AI-native industrial clusters. Experts believe these AI-native formats are crucial for transitioning AI from a supporting role to a core driver, truly harnessing the technology's power to reshape the economic landscape, cultivate new growth points, and secure a leading position in the global intelligent economy.
Establishing a solid institutional foundation is key to driving quality development and efficiency. A city in Sichuan is leveraging open application scenarios to牵引 intelligent economic development, having opened over 50 such scenarios to integrate technological achievements from labs into workshops, hospitals, streets, and communities.
Forging the intelligent economy is a systematic project. Research indicates that challenges remain in its advancement, requiring collaborative efforts in technological innovation, institutional reform, and ecosystem building. Robust development relies on a solid digital foundation.
In an industrial park in Ningxia, vast arrays of solar panels generate clean electricity transmitted directly via dedicated lines to nearby server clusters, efficiently converting "watts" from sunlight into "bits" of data through coordinated power-computing integration.
Authorities are advancing the construction of a national computing power network and promoting the development of high-quality industry datasets. Initiatives like "computing power banks" are being explored to empower small and medium-sized enterprises. These measures are gradually building a comprehensive要素 support system.
Efficient operation of the intelligent economy requires a协同发展的产业生态. In mid-March, China's first open-source community focused on embodied AI datasets was established. This community will open real humanoid robot data and model training toolchains to build a developer ecosystem and accelerate R&D and industrial application.
Provinces like Zhejiang are committed to creating optimal open-source environments. Beijing is proposing national AI application pilot bases. Hainan has released its first batch of 30 AI application scenarios. Fujian and other regions are supporting the construction of AI industrial parks. These efforts nationwide aim to foster a favorable innovation ecosystem and vigorously promote the high-quality development of the AI industry.
This new economic form calls for new governance paradigms. This year's Government Work Report explicitly called for "improving AI governance." An AI ethics review and service measure has been officially released. Innovative regulatory approaches like "regulatory sandboxes" are being piloted. The establishment of a world data organization in Beijing provides a platform for global data cooperation. Stakeholders are continuously refining AI safety governance to strengthen the resilience of the intelligent economy.
The intelligent economy is not a distant future but a tangible present. Facing this historic opportunity, the only path is to ride the momentum, prioritizing both development and security, to continuously explore new growth logic and forge new competitive advantages in shaping this new economic form.
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