By Liu Juanxi, People’s Daily

“Digital and intelligent transformation” is a frequently quoted term in the outline of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for National Economic and Social Development.

What exactly does this term mean?

As the term suggests, it represents the deep integration of digitalization and intelligent technologies. Building on the foundations of digitalization, it incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including intelligent decision-making and deep perception, to analyze, predict, and address complex problems and support practical applications.

The shift in wording, from “digitalization” in the 14th Five-Year Plan to “digital and intelligent transformation” in the 15th, reflects China’s efforts to embrace the latest technological revolution and industrial transformation. Driven by the rapid development of AI, the country is steadily moving toward a new stage of high-quality development.

In the past, China’s digital industry was large in size but not sufficiently developed, and the country’s computing-power infrastructure needed significant improvement. 

In recent years, however, construction and investment have accelerated. In 2025, China’s core AI industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan ($176.52 billion). By the end of March this year, the country had built 4.958 million 5G base stations. The eight national computing hubs under the “East Data, West Computing” initiative have developed into major computing clusters, and China’s total computing capacity now ranks second in the world. These advances have laid the foundations for the country’s digital and intelligent transformation.

Why, then, is China placing such emphasis on this transformation?

Digital and intelligent transformation represents an evolution in the development philosophy of enterprises.

To address challenges in mining operations, Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. has developed a smart mining solution. Guided by an intelligent dispatch system, unmanned excavators can perform precision operations while autonomous mining trucks automatically plan their routes.

In the past, mining relied heavily on manual labor, involving high risks and significant margins of error. With the smart mining solution, the entire process can be operated without human intervention, reducing safety risks while significantly improving efficiency.

An increasing number of companies are using digital and intelligent innovation to develop new equipment, build smart workshops and intelligent factories, and improve efficiency and productivity. The transformation is injecting fresh vitality into industrial development.

Digital and intelligent transformation is empowering a wide range of sectors, creating new business models and opening up fresh sources of economic growth.

The intelligent robotics industry provides a vivid example.

At the School of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics of Hunan University, researchers have developed a bionic dual-arm robot capable of grasping glass bottles and placing them onto pharmaceutical spectrometers for sample testing. The robot is able to think and analyze like humans and perform complex experimental tasks.

“We’ve created a ‘physical feedback learning’ mechanism, enabling the robot to become smarter through continuous practice,” said Zhang Hui, dean of the school.

Digital and intelligent transformation requires industrial equipment to possess adaptive and self-learning capabilities, driving strong market demand for intelligent robots. In turn, this demand is creating new business opportunities throughout the industrial chain, including sensing systems, decision-making systems, execution systems, and systems integration, generating new engines of economic growth.

Digital and intelligent transformation will also provide powerful momentum for developing new quality productive forces.

At the end of last year, China successfully tested the world’s first 35,000-ton heavy-haul train convoy system. Seven 5,000-ton freight trains operated in coordination without being mechanically coupled in the traditional way. Instead, they relied on a domestically developed intelligent system that enabled them to accelerate and brake simultaneously.

This transition in railway freight transport, from “mechanical coupling” to “intelligent connectivity,” offers a model for developing new quality productive forces across industries.

What more efforts are needed to complete the shift from “digitalization” to “digital and intelligent transformation?”

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan provides a clear roadmap.

The country will coordinate the development of computing infrastructure, model algorithms, and high-quality data resources to strengthen the foundations for digital and intelligent development. 

It will fully implement the “AI Plus” initiative, integrating AI with scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, cultural advancement, public services, and social governance, while striving to seize the commanding heights of AI applications and comprehensively empower all sectors of the economy.

At the same time, China will pursue development and regulation in tandem, improve the basic institutions and rules governing data, strengthen AI governance, and foster a development environment that is beneficial, secure, and fair.

By making effective use of cutting-edge technologies, enhancing productivity and social governance capabilities, and helping build a society that is more resilient, dynamic, and efficient, China is embracing digital and intelligent transformation across all industries and sectors.

By Liu Juanxi, People’s Daily

“Digital and intelligent transformation” is a frequently quoted term in the outline of China’s 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) for National Economic and Social Development.

What exactly does this term mean?

As the term suggests, it represents the deep integration of digitalization and intelligent technologies. Building on the foundations of digitalization, it incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, including intelligent decision-making and deep perception, to analyze, predict, and address complex problems and support practical applications.

The shift in wording, from “digitalization” in the 14th Five-Year Plan to “digital and intelligent transformation” in the 15th, reflects China’s efforts to embrace the latest technological revolution and industrial transformation. Driven by the rapid development of AI, the country is steadily moving toward a new stage of high-quality development.

In the past, China’s digital industry was large in size but not sufficiently developed, and the country’s computing-power infrastructure needed significant improvement. 

In recent years, however, construction and investment have accelerated. In 2025, China’s core AI industry exceeded 1.2 trillion yuan ($176.52 billion). By the end of March this year, the country had built 4.958 million 5G base stations. The eight national computing hubs under the “East Data, West Computing” initiative have developed into major computing clusters, and China’s total computing capacity now ranks second in the world. These advances have laid the foundations for the country’s digital and intelligent transformation.

Why, then, is China placing such emphasis on this transformation?

Digital and intelligent transformation represents an evolution in the development philosophy of enterprises.

To address challenges in mining operations, Guangxi Liugong Machinery Co., Ltd. has developed a smart mining solution. Guided by an intelligent dispatch system, unmanned excavators can perform precision operations while autonomous mining trucks automatically plan their routes.

In the past, mining relied heavily on manual labor, involving high risks and significant margins of error. With the smart mining solution, the entire process can be operated without human intervention, reducing safety risks while significantly improving efficiency.

An increasing number of companies are using digital and intelligent innovation to develop new equipment, build smart workshops and intelligent factories, and improve efficiency and productivity. The transformation is injecting fresh vitality into industrial development.

Digital and intelligent transformation is empowering a wide range of sectors, creating new business models and opening up fresh sources of economic growth.

The intelligent robotics industry provides a vivid example.

At the School of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics of Hunan University, researchers have developed a bionic dual-arm robot capable of grasping glass bottles and placing them onto pharmaceutical spectrometers for sample testing. The robot is able to think and analyze like humans and perform complex experimental tasks.

“We’ve created a ‘physical feedback learning’ mechanism, enabling the robot to become smarter through continuous practice,” said Zhang Hui, dean of the school.

Digital and intelligent transformation requires industrial equipment to possess adaptive and self-learning capabilities, driving strong market demand for intelligent robots. In turn, this demand is creating new business opportunities throughout the industrial chain, including sensing systems, decision-making systems, execution systems, and systems integration, generating new engines of economic growth.

Digital and intelligent transformation will also provide powerful momentum for developing new quality productive forces.

At the end of last year, China successfully tested the world’s first 35,000-ton heavy-haul train convoy system. Seven 5,000-ton freight trains operated in coordination without being mechanically coupled in the traditional way. Instead, they relied on a domestically developed intelligent system that enabled them to accelerate and brake simultaneously.

This transition in railway freight transport, from “mechanical coupling” to “intelligent connectivity,” offers a model for developing new quality productive forces across industries.

What more efforts are needed to complete the shift from “digitalization” to “digital and intelligent transformation?”

China’s 15th Five-Year Plan provides a clear roadmap.

The country will coordinate the development of computing infrastructure, model algorithms, and high-quality data resources to strengthen the foundations for digital and intelligent development. 

It will fully implement the “AI Plus” initiative, integrating AI with scientific and technological innovation, industrial development, cultural advancement, public services, and social governance, while striving to seize the commanding heights of AI applications and comprehensively empower all sectors of the economy.

At the same time, China will pursue development and regulation in tandem, improve the basic institutions and rules governing data, strengthen AI governance, and foster a development environment that is beneficial, secure, and fair.

By making effective use of cutting-edge technologies, enhancing productivity and social governance capabilities, and helping build a society that is more resilient, dynamic, and efficient, China is embracing digital and intelligent transformation across all industries and sectors.

By He Yin, People’s Daily

The 17th Annual Meeting of the New Champions of the World Economic Forum (WEF), also known as the 2026 Summer Davos forum, wrapped up in Dalian, northeast China’s Liaoning province on June 25 after three days of discussions on the future of technology, industry and global innovation cooperation. 

Against a backdrop of slowing global growth, geopolitical tensions and mounting uncertainty, the forum sent a positive message of seeking new solutions and advancing together through cooperation. 

Inside and outside the conference venue, one consensus has grown increasingly solid: driven by innovation, China is elevating its development opportunities. As it delivers greater market dividends, the country is also sharing a rising stream of innovation dividends with the globe.

Innovation has consistently been central to Summer Davos themes. This year’s “Innovating at Scale” discussions emphasized the crucial shift from technological breakthroughs to widespread application, transforming new ideas into tangible productivity that drives economic growth and improves lives.

Discussions on advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics generated significant interest. A focal point became the rapid emergence and adoption within China of new technologies, products, and business models.

In recent years, China has demonstrated swift uptake across large AI models, new energy, electric vehicles, advanced manufacturing, humanoid robots, and the burgeoning low-altitude economy. This transition, moving specific innovations into broad industrial applications, has yielded replicable models and valuable experience.

Stephan Mergenthaler, WEF managing director and chief technology officer, highlighted this by noting AI technology’s shift towards industrial use. He suggested many developing countries could leverage China’s experience to identify their own competitive advantages and effectively integrate into the global AI value chain.

Given the complex international landscape marked by slowing economic growth and turbulence, innovation stands out as a vital path to counter downward pressures and unlock new momentum. Addressing challenges like shifts in global trade patterns, accelerating the energy transition, and maximizing AI investment benefits requires intensified international cooperation.

China’s sustained openness serves as a critical enabler in this equation. Increasing numbers of multinationals are expanding their research and development activities such as building R&D centers and regional headquarters in China, not simply to manufacture products but to participate in local innovation and industrial chains.

Their focus increasingly moves from tapping into “Made in China” manufacturing capacity to participating in “Created in China” innovation. Building on this trend, foreign-invested enterprises in China’s scientific and technical services sector surged by 27.2 percent year-on-year in 2025, adding 14,000 new businesses.

For global enterprises, this represents “China Opportunity 2.0”: deep innovation integration and rewarding investment prospects. For worldwide development, it signifies broader access to advanced technologies and more inclusive sharing of its outcomes.

The forum also devoted considerable attention to China’s 15th Five-Year Plan, helping participants gain a clearer understanding of the vast opportunities generated by China’s innovation-driven development. 

Since the beginning of this year, the Chinese economy has continued to demonstrate new vitality and renewed dynamism. The demand potential of its enormous market has been further unleashed, with service consumption, green consumption and new forms of consumption emerging as particular bright spots.

This demonstration of resilience is contributing needed stability to an uncertain global environment. A prevailing view among attendees was that the 15th Five-Year Plan’s strategies for developing “new quality productive forces” and nurturing emerging industries present significant “historic opportunities” for international development partners.

Ultimately, innovation delivers its greatest value when it is shared across the globe. As China’s innovations go global and are deployed on a larger scale, more countries, especially developing ones, are gaining access to affordable new technologies and products, injecting fresh momentum into modernization worldwide.

China stands ready to work with all parties to tear down walls and build bridges, stimulate innovation through exchanges and mutual learning, and achieve common growth through mutual success. By enlarging the pie of the global economy through innovation, China seeks to ensure that the dividends of innovation benefit all and provide a continuous source of Chinese strength for the recovery of the world economy.