Chinese President Xi Jinping has called for greater "self-reliance and self-strengthening" in developing artificial intelligence (AI), according to state media reports on Saturday. His comments come as China continues to compete fiercely with the United States for dominance in what is widely seen as a critical strategic technology sector.

Speaking at a Politburo study session on Friday, Xi emphasized the need to leverage China’s "new whole national system" to accelerate AI development.

"We must recognize the gaps and redouble our efforts to comprehensively advance technological innovation, industrial development, and AI-empowered applications," Xi said, according to the Xinhua news agency.

He outlined a multi-pronged strategy, promising enhanced policy support in areas like government procurement, intellectual property protection, scientific research, and talent cultivation to bolster China's AI ambitions.

While many experts long believed U.S. sanctions would significantly stifle China’s AI sector, recent developments suggest the gap is narrowing. Chinese AI startup DeepSeek made international headlines earlier this year by launching an AI reasoning model that was reportedly trained using less advanced chips and developed at a lower cost than comparable Western systems. Additionally, China has shown notable progress in infrastructure software engineering.

The success of DeepSeek and other companies has challenged assumptions that China's AI industry was being held back, especially after the U.S. dominated the headlines with OpenAI’s ChatGPT breakthrough in late 2022.

Xi stressed the need to "strengthen basic research" and focus on mastering core technologies such as high-end chips and basic software. He called for building an independent and controllable AI ecosystem that is collaborative but firmly under China’s strategic control.

"We must continue to build an artificial intelligence basic software and hardware system that is independent, controllable, and collaborative," he said.

Xi also highlighted the importance of quickly establishing AI regulations and legal frameworks, including a risk warning and emergency response system to ensure that AI technologies remain safe, reliable, and controllable.

Last year, Xi underscored that AI development should not become "a game of rich countries and the wealthy," urging more inclusive international governance and cooperation in the field.

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