MKS sports organized by the Shanghai AI Industry Association, in Shanghai on February 21, 2025. Photo: VCG" src="https://www.globaltimes.cn/Portals/0/attachment/2025/2025-02-17/869e171f-598b-4c5e-ad45-1dceae75dbec.jpeg" />

People stand next to a humanoid robot from Unitree Robotics during the Global Developer Conference, organized by the Shanghai AI Industry Association, in Shanghai on February 21, 2025. Photo: VCG

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is expected to become a hot topic during the upcoming "two sessions," the annual meetings of China's top legislature and top political advisory body, which will kick off respectively on Wednesday and Tuesday in Beijing. The Global Times has learned that a number of lawmakers and political advisers plan to raise AI-related proposals, covering how to promote AI development, support AI's integration into college education and medical treatment, and address security risks brought by AI while promoting technological innovation.

Li Jinghong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), China's top political advisory body and professor from Tsinghua University, plans to propose the introduction of an AI Promotion Law to create a better environment for innovative development. 

Li told the Global Times that there are still significant differences in society's understanding of AI, such as the public sentiment triggered by self-driving taxis, concerns about AI's impact on traditional employment, and illegal abuse of AI, which hinder technological exploration and industry development.

Li plans to submit the suggestion that the AI Promotion Law focus on promoting effective application, inclusive services, technological innovation, talent cultivation, employment protection, and international cooperation. The law should also be aimed at addressing problems such as the insufficient understanding of AI development, delayed coordination of laws, regulations, and policies, inadequate supply and protection of high-quality data, and the protection of copyright and intellectual property, Li said.

This year's Spring Festival saw the emergence of the domestic large model DeepSeek, which sparked widespread discussion and will accelerate the integration of AI technology with various industries. But at the same time, safety challenges brought by large models are becoming increasingly severe, said political advisor Qi Xiangdong and chairman of Qi An Xin Technology Group, a Chinese cybersecurity firm.

He told the Global Times that he will especially focus on the issue of AI safety during the "two sessions" and wants to contribute to cybersecurity in the era of AI through practical measures.

Another political advisor Lü Hongbing echoed Li's view on better promoting China's AI development through legislative regulation and guidance. Through extensive research, Li, who is also a partner at Grandall Law Firm, pointed out that lawmaking is difficult and time-consuming, while AI is developing rapidly, The Paper reported. Therefore, he plans to suggest focusing on aspects that concern the public and using administrative regulations to regulate AI oversight.

Some lawmakers focused on the integration of AI technology with traditional industries.

Fang Fuquan, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), China's top legislature, and President of Capital Normal University, said that AI can be leveraged through discipline planning in humanities, social sciences, arts, and sciences, and that students' ability to master AI tool needs to be enhanced, China Youth Daily reported.  

However, NPC deputy Liu Zhongjun, who is chief orthopedic surgeon at Peking University Third Hospital, expressed concerns over deploying AI in medical treatment. He told the Global Times that AI has been put into use to assist doctors in quickly generating medical reports, analyzing medical images, and processing vast amounts of literature and data, but AI's accuracy must be guaranteed.

Gu Weiying, an NPC deputy and Vice Chair of the Art Committee at the Northern Kunqu Opera Theatre, was also worried that the development of AI technology might pose a risk to the inheritance of traditional culture, as AI may hinder the preservation of its original form, China Youth Daily reported.

Lawmaker and chairman and chief executive officer of TCL Technology Group Corporation Li Dongsheng plans to present suggestions on strengthening the management of AI deepfake fraud, China National Radio reported. Li said that relevant content platforms should introduce requirements, making it obligatory for users to label deepfake videos and audio when publishing them.

According to a report on the development of generative AI released by the China Internet Network Information Center in December 2024, the user base of generative AI products in China had reached 230 million by June 2024. The report said that China has built a relatively comprehensive AI industry ecosystem with over 4,500 related companies in the sector, with the value of the core sector nearing 600 billion yuan (about $82.84 billion).