Chinese leader Xi Jinping is pleased with his country’s showing in the race for AI dominance.
In his annual New Year’s address on Wednesday, the Chinese leader lauded his country’s tech and AI advancements in 2025, saying that China “integrated science and technology deeply with industries, and made a stream of new innovations.”
“Many large AI models have been competing in a race to the top, and breakthroughs have been achieved in the research and development of our own chips,” Xi said in the speech made in Beijing.
He added, “All this has turned China into one of the economies with the fastest-growing innovation capabilities.”
Apart from developments in AI, Xi also highlighted China’s Tianwen-2 asteroid sampling mission and its latest electromagnetic catapult system-equipped aircraft carrier.
He talked about China breaking ground on the construction of the world’s largest dam in Tibetan territory, and its progress in developing humanoid robots and drones.
A strong year for China
Xi’s end-of-year 2025 comments follow a strong year for the country, which saw it compete neck and neck with the US on AI advancements.
The year started with China’s Deepseek AI startup releasing its R1 AI model in January, which rivalled OpenAI’s o1 and sent US tech stocks plunging. Nvidia, a major player in AI hardware, saw its stock drop by more than 17% on January 27, erasing billions from its value.
The US’s ban on exporting advanced AI chips has given a boost to China’s homegrown chip producers, propelling their founders, such as MetaX Integrated Circuits Shanghai’s cofounder Chen Weiliang, into the billionaire ranks.
However, President Donald Trump granted Nvidia a win in December, permitting it to sell its H200 chips to “approved customers” in China.
And Meta announced on Wednesday that it would acquire China-founded AI startup Manus in a deal reported to be worth more than $2 billion, making it one of the US tech’s biggest acquisitions of an Asian AI company.
Investors are taking note: Jason Draho, a UBS wealth management executive, told Business Insider in November that investors should consider AI stocks in China as a way to counterbalance US tech stocks.
