TLDR: China has launched its ambitious ‘AI Plus’ plan to integrate artificial intelligence across various sectors, aiming for a fully intelligent economy by 2035. Concurrently, new mandatory AI labeling rules have come into effect, requiring clear identification of AI-generated content to enhance transparency and combat misinformation.
China has taken a significant leap in its artificial intelligence development and governance with the introduction of the ‘AI Plus’ national plan and the implementation of a comprehensive AI labeling law. These initiatives, effective September 2025, underscore Beijing’s commitment to both fostering AI innovation and regulating its ethical deployment across society.
The ‘AI Plus’ plan, released by the State Council on August 27, 2025, outlines a strategic vision to integrate AI across a broad spectrum of fields. The plan prioritizes adoption in critical sectors including science and technology, industrial development, consumer services, public welfare, governance, and international cooperation . This national strategy is designed to guide China’s AI development for years to come, driving technological innovation, ecosystem building, investment, and robust governance frameworks . Ambitious milestones have been set, with targets for AI penetration in key sectors to surpass 70% by 2027 and an impressive 90% by 2030. The ultimate goal is to achieve a fully intelligent economy and society by 2035 . Major domestic tech giants, such as Alibaba and Tencent, have already responded by significantly increasing their investments in AI, while leading AI unicorn DeepSeek recently announced plans for an initial public offering, attracting substantial investor interest .
Complementing this growth strategy, China rolled out mandatory AI labeling rules on September 1, 2025. These regulations, officially known as the ‘Measures for the Labelling of Artificial Intelligence-Generated and Synthetic Content,’ require service providers to clearly mark all AI-generated content . For content types that could potentially mislead the public, such as chatbots, AI writing, synthetic voices, face generation/swaps, and immersive scene creation or editing, visible labels with AI symbols are explicitly mandated . For other forms of AI-generated content, hidden labels, like watermarks or embedded metadata, are deemed acceptable . Internet platforms are tasked with a crucial watchdog role, requiring them to alert users and potentially add implicit labels if they detect or suspect AI-generated content . This move is part of China’s broader ‘Qinglang’ campaign, aimed at cleaning up online content and tackling misinformation, fraud, and copyright infringement by ensuring greater transparency in digital media . Non-compliance with these rules can lead to penalties, including service suspension .
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On the governance front, Chinese regulators remain highly active. On August 22, 2025, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, in collaboration with the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Cyberspace Administration of China, and other agencies, issued draft AI ethics rules for public consultation . These draft rules are intended to apply to all AI research, development, and services within China that could impact health and safety, reputation, the environment, public order, and sustainability . Developers and service providers are expected to adhere to core principles of fairness, accountability, justice, risk responsibility, and respect for life and human dignity . Furthermore, AI projects falling under these regulations will be subject to ethics reviews, conducted either internally by ethics committees or externally through qualified service centers. Regulators are also in the process of preparing a detailed list of high-risk AI activities, such as algorithms capable of mobilizing public opinion or automated decision-making systems with significant safety and health implications, which will necessitate a second level of expert review . These comprehensive measures position China as a global leader in AI governance, potentially influencing international standards as concerns about unlabelled AI-generated material grow worldwide .
