Xi Jinping calls AI ‘epoch-making’ as China pushes innovation strategy – but flags risks

President Xi Jinping has stressed the need to advance indigenous technology – particularly artificial intelligence (AI) – in his first formal meeting of the year with ministers and provincial officials, as the world’s second-largest economy pushes innovation-led growth. His message was clear: Beijing would redouble efforts to break development bottlenecks through a “whole-of-nation” approach – a year after start-ups like DeepSeek stunned the world and shone a spotlight on China’s tech...