Li Xunlei Interprets the "15th Five-Year Plan": AI Truly Becomes a Pillar Industry for National Economic Growth

Cailian Press, March 15th (Reporter Wang Yuling) On the evening of March 13th, the “Outline of the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development of the People’s Republic of China” was released, officially outlining China’s socio-economic development roadmap for the next five years.

In the “15th Five-Year” plan outline, enhancing the level of digital intelligence development is given a dedicated chapter. The term “artificial intelligence” is mentioned 30 times throughout the document, marking that the “AI+” initiative has moved from macro calls to systematic planning. The outline clearly sketches the development path of integrating “AI+” with science and technology, industrial development, consumption upgrading, people’s livelihood, governance capacity, and global cooperation. “AI+” has become the core engine of new productive forces.

Chapter 13 of the outline, “Fully Promoting Digital Intelligence Technology Empowerment,” emphasizes, “Implement the ‘AI+’ action comprehensively, strengthen the integration of artificial intelligence with technological innovation, industrial development, cultural construction, social security, and social governance, seize the commanding heights of AI industry applications, and empower all sectors of the economy.”

Li Xunlei, Chief Economist at Zhongtai International, told Cailian Press that if the past was about AI “+”, then the coming years will be about AI “×”. AI will evolve from a frontier technology into a pillar industry driving national economic growth.

Li Xunlei summarized four key points regarding artificial intelligence in the outline.

Key Point 1: Qualitative change in development goals, creating a new form of “intelligent economy” worth trillions of yuan.

The biggest difference between the 15th and 14th Five-Year Plans is that AI is tasked with “restructuring the underlying logic of economic operation.” From “empowering” to “reshaping”: if the past was about AI “+”, then in the coming years, AI “×” will give rise to a new intelligent economy centered on “data + computing power + algorithms” as core production factors. The National Development and Reform Commission explicitly states that by the end of the 15th Five-Year Plan, China’s AI-related industry scale will exceed 10 trillion yuan. This means AI will truly grow from a frontier technology into a pillar industry that drives economic growth.

Key Point 2: Shift in technological approach, from “large model training” to “application implementation”.

Policies clearly require “seizing the commanding heights of AI industry applications,” indicating a shift in focus: the structure of computing power will transform. As applications deepen, the demand for inference computing power will grow exponentially. Future development will shift from solely training computing power to “compute-electrical synergy” and “intelligent computing clusters,” encouraging the development of high-efficiency inference chips, making computing power as convenient as electricity for users.

Key Point 3: Expansion of integration depth, covering five major fields, solving real problems.

The 15th Five-Year Plan explicitly states that AI must be integrated with technological innovation, industrial development, cultural construction, social security, and social governance. This means AI should not stay at the flashy technology level but must address practical pain points. For example, in industry and people’s livelihood, beyond achieving “non-stop” production in factories (such as UBTECH humanoid robots), AI is deeply integrated into healthcare (like Guangxi’s “AI Digital Specialist Doctor” and Shenzhen’s diagnostic assistance systems), government services (Shenzhen’s “Shen Xiao i” intelligent customer service), and other fields.

Key Point 4: Fundamental support, shifting from “technological competition” to “talent ecosystem” competition.

The competition in AI is essentially a contest of national innovation system effectiveness. In terms of education reform, to adapt to the AI era, the 15th Five-Year Plan will deepen integrated reforms in education, science, and technology talent development. It suggests establishing interdisciplinary “AI+X” fields, and even developing dedicated “vocational education large models” and “intelligent agents” to cultivate new types of workers capable of managing AI. In terms of inclusiveness, through open-source community building and reducing costs for small and medium-sized enterprises to use models, AI will no longer be exclusive to top laboratories but will become tools accessible to the masses, stimulating societal innovation vitality.

Li Xunlei stated that during the 15th Five-Year period, AI development will be a comprehensive leap from “technological breakthroughs” to “system integration.” It will both compete for technological high ground and root itself in factories, farms, and community hospitals. The ultimate goal is to make AI a “infrastructure” that promotes social progress and improves people’s livelihoods. These five years will determine whether we can truly seize this technological revolution’s “leading edge” and transform it into a new advantage in national competition.

(Cailian Press, Reporter Wang Yuling)