Major Policy Released: AI Industry Embarks on New Three-Year Action Plan
On July 28, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) officially issued the "Action Plan for Innovative Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry (2026-2028)" (hereinafter referred to as the "Plan"), outlining a clear roadmap for China's AI industry over the next three years. The Plan explicitly sets targets: by 2028, China's core AI industry scale will exceed 800 billion yuan, driving related industries to surpass 5 trillion yuan, and forming globally competitive industrial clusters.
Four Directions Leading Industrial Upgrade
The Plan deploys 11 key tasks across four directions: technological innovation, application deployment, ecosystem building, and safety governance. In technological innovation, it emphasizes breakthroughs in foundational and core technologies such as large models, embodied intelligence, and AI chips, promoting coordinated research between basic theory and frontier tech. For application deployment, it proposes creating over 100 benchmark application scenarios in manufacturing, healthcare, education, finance, transportation, etc., to accelerate AI empowerment across industries.
Regarding ecosystem building, the Plan supports the construction of national-level AI innovation platforms, encourages open source and open collaboration, and aims to cultivate a batch of globally influential AI leading enterprises. In safety governance, it calls for improving AI ethical norms and safety evaluation systems to ensure safe and controllable technological development.
Industry Scale Continues Expanding, Investment Opportunities Emerge
China's AI industry has maintained rapid growth in recent years. Data shows that in 2025, China's core AI industry scale exceeded 600 billion yuan, with a compound annual growth rate of over 20%. The 800 billion yuan target proposed in the Plan implies an average annual growth rate of over 15%, raising higher requirements for upstream and downstream enterprises while bringing huge market opportunities.
Industry analysts believe that sectors such as computing infrastructure, AI chips, large model applications, and intelligent robots are likely to benefit first. In particular, the domestic AI chip sector will accelerate substitution under policy impetus; meanwhile, the penetration rate of multimodal large models in vertical industries like manufacturing and finance is expected to rise rapidly.
Expert Interpretation: A Key Step from "Following" to "Leading"
Ma Jie, Deputy Director of the AI Research Institute under the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said the biggest highlight of the Plan is its emphasis on the dual-drive of "innovation-driven" and "application-driven." "In the past few years, China's AI industry has performed outstandingly in application, but basic software and hardware remain weak points. The Plan not only calls for breakthroughs in core technologies but also requires simultaneous promotion of large-scale applications. This systematic layout helps achieve the leap from 'following' to 'leading.'"
Renowned AI scholar, Professor Zhang Hongjiang of Tsinghua University, also pointed out that the refinement of safety governance clauses is a highlight. "AI safety has escalated from a technical issue to an industry bottom line. The Plan explicitly requires establishing a hierarchical and categorized regulatory mechanism, which will lay an institutional foundation for long-term healthy development of the industry."
Corporate Response: Many Regions Already Taking Action
After the policy release, multiple listed AI companies quickly responded. iFLYTEK stated that it will leverage its Spark large model to deepen its presence in education, healthcare, and other advantageous fields, while expanding into new industrial AI scenarios. A vice president of Huawei's Ascend computing business revealed that the Ascend AI ecosystem has gathered over 2 million developers and will actively cooperate with the Plan to build a full-stack self-developed AI hardware and software system.
At the local level, cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Hangzhou have successively introduced supporting plans in early July, offering substantial measures around computing power subsidies, scenario opening, and talent introduction. Among them, Shanghai proposes an AI industry scale of 600 billion yuan by 2028, while Shenzhen focuses on AI chips and robot industrial chains, striving to become a global AI innovation highland.
Future Outlook: AI-Real Economy Integration Enters Deep Water
With the implementation of the Plan, China's AI industry will shift from single-point breakthroughs to system integration, and from technology-driven to value-driven. A research report from Minsheng Securities indicates clear policy signals and suggests focusing on directions such as AI infrastructure, industrial AI, AI healthcare, and intelligent driving. However, vigilance is needed against uncertainties including accelerated technology iteration risks in the supply chain, data privacy challenges, and intensifying international competition.
Overall, the release of the "Action Plan for Innovative Development of the Artificial Intelligence Industry (2026-2028)" marks a new strategic opportunity period for China's AI industry. Driven by policy guidance, market forces, and technological innovation, the 800 billion yuan target is not out of reach, and AI's impact on the economy and society will deepen further.
