Smart economy gateway to immense potential

Echoing the need for practicality, Liu emphasized that AI development must be rooted in real-world demands. "I believe we need to develop AI that is truly rooted in the needs of both production and daily life, namely AI that addresses real demands, brings tangible benefits to the people and provides concrete help to industrial development. AI should be inclusive, allowing everyone to stand on the shoulders of this technology," he added.

Among the most tangible manifestations of this smart economy push is the rapid advancement of humanoid robotics. Chinese companies have already unveiled over 300 types of humanoid robot products, accounting for more than half of the world's total, data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology show.

Lei Jun, an NPC deputy and founder of Xiaomi, framed the industry's potential in sweeping terms, describing humanoid robots as a potential "disruptive product" following computers, smartphones and new energy vehicles. He positioned them as a cornerstone of China's "new quality productive forces", highlighting their transformative potential for the economy.

According to a forecast by Morgan Stanley, China's annual shipments of humanoid robots could exceed 2.6 million units by 2035, with the market surpassing 140 billion yuan ($20.2 billion) and eventually reaching a trillion-yuan scale.

However, Lei was candid about the challenges that lie ahead on the path from laboratory wonder to factory floor workhorse. While acknowledging that China has built a first-mover advantage in humanoid robotics technology — particularly with advancements in general-purpose AI — he cautioned that the sector faces a critical bottleneck. The large-scale engineering application of these machines is hindered by challenges including high hardware costs, insufficient process stability, and a shortage of suitable operational positions on factory floors.

"More efforts are needed to expand application scenarios in smart manufacturing to significantly increase the utilization rate of humanoid robots, moving them from experimental phases to large deployment on production lines," Lei said. His remarks underscore a key policy imperative, namely bridging the gap between technological capability and industrial application.

Qi Xiangdong, a member of the 14th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and chairman of cybersecurity firm Qi-Anxin Technology Group, views the smart economy as a gateway to immense potential. He believes it will unleash enormous demand for application scenarios, fueling a new leap in economic and social development.

The policy rhetoric is firmly grounded in industrial reality. Data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology underscore the accelerating pace of AI integration. In the past year, downloads of Chinese open-source large language models topped global charts. More critically, by the end of 2025, the adoption rate of AI technology among manufacturing enterprises above a designated size had exceeded 30 percent.