China AI plan sets safety goals, Xinhua says

China's new development guidelines include goals for artificial intelligence safeguards while expanding the technology across industries, state news agency Xinhua reported Friday.

Xinhua said the Chinese Communist Party's Central Committee and the State Council issued guidelines aimed at accelerating the development of “new quality productive forces.” The agency said the plan includes 19 measures in five areas, including scientific and technological innovation and closer integration of technology with industry.

The guidelines call for full implementation of China's “AI Plus” initiative, which aims to expand the use of artificial intelligence across the economy, Xinhua said.

They also call for systems covering technology monitoring, early risk warning and emergency response to ensure AI is “safe, reliable and controllable,” according to Xinhua.

The guidelines follow comments this summer by President Xi Jinping that AI should always remain under human control and that more laws, monitoring, warnings and emergency response systems were needed.

US President Donald Trump has urged more limited government regulation of AI as the technology becomes a focus of competition with China. Top US technology leaders signed a self-regulation agreement with Trump late last month, which he described as morally binding.

China already has a growing set of rules on AI use. Regulations on AI companion bots took effect in July, aiming to curb emotional dependency and banning digital clones of real people without consent.