Inside China’s Week of Policy Moves, AI Breakthroughs, and Mega‐Infrastructure — Issue 20

Foreword

China enters this week with a dense cluster of policy signals, industrial adjustments, and technological breakthroughs that together outline the country’s strategic direction for early 2026. Fiscal and financial coordination is accelerating, major infrastructure projects are breaking ground across key regions, and hard‑tech investment is being pushed to the forefront. At the same time, AI continues its rapid evolution—from real‑time world models to large‑scale computing deployments—while new energy, environmental governance, and international cooperation all advance in parallel.

This issue brings these developments into a single, structured view: national policies that shape macro momentum, industry guidelines that steer manufacturing and digital transformation, energy and environmental actions that define long‑term sustainability, and global partnerships that extend China’s influence outward. The goal is simple: to give international readers a clear, reliable snapshot of where China is moving this week, and why these signals matter beyond the headlines.

1. CCDI Plenary Session Held January 12: The 5th Plenary Session of the 20th Central Commission for Discipline Inspection (CCDI) was convened. General Secretary Xi Jinping delivered a key speech, stressing to advance comprehensive and strict Party self-governance with higher standards and more concrete measures, providing a strong guarantee for fulfilling the goals of the 15th Five-Year Plan period.

2. Fiscal-Financial Policies Launched January 11: The Executive Meeting of the State Council arranged policies on coordinating fiscal and financial efforts to boost domestic demand, rolling out a package of measures including loan interest subsidies and fiscal grants targeting consumption, cultural tourism and infrastructure sectors, strengthening the synergy of fiscal and monetary policies.

3. Home-Buying Tax Refund Extended January 14: The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and two other departments issued an announcement, extending the personal income tax (PIT) refund policy for residents swapping homes to the end of 2027. Taxpayers who purchase a new home within 1 year after selling the existing one are eligible for PIT refund; full refund is available if the new home price is no less than the existing home’s transfer price.

4. Basic Public Services & Nature Reserves January 9: The Executive Meeting of the State Council studied the work of providing basic public services based on place of residence, and reviewed and approved the Revised Draft of the Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Nature Reserves, advancing the equalization of basic public services and strengthening legal protection for nature reserves.

5. Government Investment Fund Regulated January 13: The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) and MOF jointly issued a document, regulating the management of government investment funds. It requires focusing on major strategies, key fields and weak links, promoting the deep integration of technological and industrial innovation, and adhering to investing early, in small entities, for the long term and in hard-core technologies.

6. Central Budgetary Investment Allocated January 8: NDRC allocated the first batch of central budgetary investment in 2026, with a total scale of 120 billion yuan, focusing on supporting indemnificatory housing projects, transportation and water conservancy sectors, boosting economic development in the opening year of the 15th Five-Year Plan.

7. 8 Financial Measures Unveiled January 15: The People's Bank of China (PBOC) rolled out 8 financial measures to support a good start of the 15th Five-Year Plan, including lowering the down payment ratio for commercial housing to 30%, expanding the scope of carbon emission reduction support tools, and adding the health industry to the scope of re-lending support for service consumption and elderly care.

8. Consumer Goods Trade-In Optimized January 10: The Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) issued a notice, optimizing the implementation of the consumer goods trade-in policy, supporting the replacement of automobiles, home appliances, digital products and smart devices, and providing subsidies based on a certain proportion of commodity prices to build the "Shop in China" brand.

9. E-commerce Market Regulation Enhanced January 12: The State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) revised and issued the Measures for the Establishment and Administration of E-commerce Market Regulation and Service Demonstration Zones, improving the standards and evaluation mechanism for demonstration zone construction, enhancing e-commerce market regulation efficiency, and promoting the standardized and sound development of the platform economy.

1. NEV Industry Price War Curbing January 10: Three departments held a forum on the new energy vehicle (NEV) industry, clarifying the resolute resistance to disorderly price wars, guiding enterprises to focus on technological innovation and quality improvement, and promoting the high-quality development of the industry.

2. Industrial Internet Development Guided January 12: The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued the Guiding Opinions on Accelerating the Innovative Development of the Industrial Internet, proposing to build 10 national-level industrial internet demonstration zones and cultivate 50 benchmark enterprises by 2028, driving the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.

3. Personal Pension Business Standardized January 9: The China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) issued the Notice on Regulating the Personal Pension Business of Banking and Insurance Institutions, clarifying product access standards, strengthening risk control, and ensuring the safety of personal pensions.

4. Tourist Attractions High-Quality Development January 14: The Ministry of Culture and Tourism (MCT) issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Tourist Attractions, requiring improving service quality, advancing smart scenic spot construction, and building a number of world-class tourist attractions.

5. Rural Industry Revitalization Priorities January 11: The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs (MARA) released the 2026 Key Work Points for Rural Industry Revitalization, proposing to cultivate rural characteristic industry clusters and build 100 strong agricultural towns with output value exceeding 10 billion yuan each.

6. Urban Renewal Action Advanced January 8: The Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development (MOHURD) issued a document, advancing urban renewal actions, focusing on the renovation of old residential communities and shantytowns. A total of 53,000 old residential communities are planned to be renovated in 2026, benefiting 8 million households.

7. Photovoltaic Industry Healthy Development January 13: MIIT and three other departments jointly issued the Several Opinions on Promoting the Healthy Development of the Photovoltaic Industry, optimizing industrial layout, regulating market order, and promoting the coordinated development of the photovoltaic industry chain.

8. Leading Smart Factories List Released January 12 (reported by CCTV.com): MIIT and five other departments jointly announced the list of the first batch of 15 leading smart factories at the end of 2025, covering key industries such as equipment manufacturing, raw materials and electronic information, distributed in 10 provinces and cities including Shanghai and Jiangsu. These factories must meet six core requirements including industry leadership and AI technology application leadership, marking that China's intelligent manufacturing has entered a critical leap period from digitization and networking to intelligence.

9. Listed Company M&A Supervision Strengthened January 15: The China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) issued the Notice on Strengthening the Supervision of Mergers and Acquisitions of Listed Companies, strengthening information disclosure requirements, strictly investigating insider trading, and promoting the standardized development of the M&A market.

1.Global Energy Large Model Launched January 15: Envision Group released "Envision Tian Shu", the world's first energy large model, and cooperated with Masdar of the UAE to promote the application of AI energy systems, helping global energy transition.

2. Pumped Storage Power Station Quality Inspected January 12: The National Energy Administration (NEA) notified the construction problems of Yong'an Pumped Storage Power Station in Fujian, held 71 relevant personnel accountable, and emphasized strict control over the quality and safety of hydropower projects.

3. Air Pollution Control Plan Issued January 9: The Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE) issued the 2026 Action Plan for Air Pollution Control in Key Areas, focusing on regions such as Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) and the Yangtze River Delta (YRD), with the goal of reducing the average PM2.5 concentration by 5%.

4. Desert New Energy Base Approved January 11: NDRC approved the Kubuqi Desert New Energy Base Project in Inner Mongolia, with a total investment of 80 billion yuan and a planned installed capacity of 10 million kilowatts. After completion, the annual power generation capacity will reach 18 billion kilowatt-hours.

5. Jiangsu New Energy Industry Developed January 8: Jiangsu Province issued the Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of the New Energy Industry, proposing that the installed capacity of new energy will exceed 80 million kilowatts by 2027, accounting for 40% of the total installed capacity.

6. National Soil Pollution Survey Launched January 13: MEE launched a national detailed survey on soil pollution, covering 1,000 counties nationwide, focusing on investigating soil risk hazards around heavy-polluting enterprises.

7. Guangdong Offshore Wind Power Plan Released January 10: Guangdong Province issued an offshore wind power development plan, aiming to achieve an installed capacity of 50 million kilowatts of offshore wind power by 2030, building a world-leading offshore wind power industrial cluster.

8. 2025 Renewable Energy Data Released January 14: NEA released the 2025 renewable energy installed capacity data, with a total of 120 million kilowatts of new installed capacity added throughout the year, of which wind power and photovoltaic power accounted for more than 80%.

9. Beijing Carbon Peak & Neutrality Plan Issued January 9: Beijing issued the Implementation Plan for Promoting Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality, proposing that carbon emissions will be reduced by 25% in 2027 compared with 2020, and the number of new energy vehicles in ownership will exceed 2 million.

1. 2026 Top 10 AI Tech Trends Released January 8: Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence (BAAI) released the Top 10 AI Technology Trends in 2026, pointing out that AI is moving from language learning to physical world modeling, and the NSP paradigm has become a new direction.

2. AI Computing System Cooperation Launched January 15: OpenAI reached a cooperation with Cerebras, planning to deploy a 750MW AI inference system from 2026 to 2028, improving the computing efficiency of AI services.

3. AI Pro & Ultra Services Beta Launched January 13: Google launched the public beta of AI Pro and AI Ultra services, allowing US users to experience high-end AI subscription services and strengthening end-side AI capabilities.

4. Ryzen AI Max+ Processor Unveiled January 12: AMD released the Ryzen AI Max+ processor at CES 2026, integrating CPU, GPU and NPU to provide high energy-efficient computing power for end-side large models.

5. Commercial Aerospace Company Established January 9: Ningbo Commercial Aerospace Development Co., Ltd. was established with a registered capital of 1 billion yuan, focusing on commercial satellite R&D and launch services.

6. Real-Time World Model PixVerse R1 Launched January 14: Aisi Technology launched PixVerse R1, the world's first general-purpose real-time world model, reducing video generation latency to instant response.

7. Shanghai Autonomous Driving Plan Released January 11: Shanghai issued an autonomous driving development plan, aiming to realize large-scale implementation of high-level autonomous driving scenarios covering major urban areas by 2027.

8. AI-Assisted Surgical Robot Approved January 10: China's first independently developed AI-assisted surgical robot was approved for market launch, capable of accurately performing complex surgeries such as orthopedics and general surgery with an error of less than 0.5 millimeters.

9. FlagOS 2.0 AI Computing Base Released January 15: BAAI released FlagOS 2.0, building a hardware-software decoupled AI computing base to lower the threshold for AI development.

1. YRD Integration Projects Started January 12: Key projects in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) Integrated Demonstration Zone started construction, with a total investment of 50 billion yuan, covering transportation, ecology and industry sectors, including the extension line of the Shanghai-Suzhou-Huzhou High-Speed Railway.

2. GBA Intercity Railway Section Opened January 9: The southern section of the Guangzhou-Foshan Ring Intercity Railway in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) was opened to traffic, with a total length of 35 kilometers, connecting the core urban areas of Guangzhou and Foshan, reducing travel time to 30 minutes.

3. Beijing Sub-Center Cultural Facilities Completed January 11: The three major cultural facilities in the Beijing Urban Sub-Center were fully completed, including a theater, a library and a museum, with a total investment of 23 billion yuan, improving the regional cultural service capacity.

4. Chengdu-Chongqing High-Speed Railway Track Laid January 8: Track laying work for the Chongqing section of the Chengdu-Chongqing Middle Line High-Speed Railway started, with a designed speed of 350 kilometers per hour. It is expected to be opened to traffic in 2027, reducing the travel time between Chengdu and Chongqing to only 40 minutes.

5. Hangzhou Asian Games Venues Renovated January 13: The renovation project of Hangzhou Asian Games venues was launched, with a total investment of 8 billion yuan, upgrading existing venues to international first-class competition standards to ensure the holding of the 2026 Games.

6. Xiong'an New Area Utility Tunnel Completed January 10: The utility tunnel project in the starting area of Xiong'an New Area was completed, with a total length of 20 kilometers, covering pipelines such as power, communication, water supply and drainage, improving the resilience of urban infrastructure.

7. Qingdao Port Automated Terminal Put into Operation January 14: The Phase III project of Qingdao Port Automated Container Terminal was put into operation, adding a container handling capacity of 2 million TEUs, realizing the full-process unmanned operation.

8. Wuhan Yangtze River New Area Bridge Started January 9: The cross-river bridge project in Wuhan Yangtze River New Area started construction, with a total investment of 15 billion yuan and a main span of 1,200 meters. After completion, it will become one of the bridges with the longest span over the Yangtze River.

9. BTH Tech Innovation Center Completed January 15: The new base of the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) National Technology Innovation Center was completed, with a total construction area of 500,000 square meters, which will gather 500 high-tech enterprises and promote regional collaborative innovation.

1. High-Value Medical Consumables Collected January 14: The National Healthcare Security Administration (NHSA) publicized the results of the 6th batch of centralized procurement of high-value medical consumables, with 202 enterprises selected for 12 types of consumables, an average price reduction of 56%, expected to save 8 billion yuan in medical expenses annually.

2. Medical-Nursing Combined Service Developed January 10: The National Health Commission (NHC) issued the Guiding Opinions on Promoting the High-Quality Development of Medical-Nursing Combined Services, proposing that at least one demonstration medical-nursing combined institution will be built in each county by 2028.

3. Elderly Home Renovation Project Launched January 12: Beijing launched the elderly home adaptation project, planning to renovate 50,000 households in 2026, with a subsidy of 5,000 yuan per household, improving the safety of elderly people's home life.

4. Alzheimer's New Drug Approved for Market January 9: China's first independently developed new drug for Alzheimer's disease was approved for market launch, which can significantly improve patients' cognitive function, filling the domestic gap in treatment.

5. Smart Elderly Care Service Platform Built January 11: Shanghai built the country's first smart elderly care service platform, integrating resources such as elderly care institutions, community services and home care to provide one-stop elderly care services.

6. Grassroots Medical Service Capacity Enhanced January 8: Guangdong Province issued the Implementation Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Grassroots Medical and Health Service Capacity, planning to invest 20 billion yuan within 3 years to improve the diagnosis and treatment level of township health centers and community health service centers.

7. Medical Device Online Sales Regulated January 13: The National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) issued the Measures for the Supervision and Administration of Online Sales of Medical Devices, strengthening the whole-process supervision of online sales of medical devices and ensuring the public's safety in using medical devices.

8. Long-Term Care Insurance Pilot Expanded January 15: Tianjin launched the expansion of the long-term care insurance pilot program, covering all elderly people over 60 years old in the city, with a reimbursement ratio of 70%, reducing the burden of family elderly care.

9. Internet + Medical Health Service Launched January 10: Jiangsu Province launched the "Internet + Medical and Health" convenient service, realizing one-stop online services such as medical insurance settlement and appointment registration, covering all secondary and above hospitals in the province.

1. Healthy School Construction Advanced January 9: The National Education Work Conference proposed that the construction of healthy schools will be promoted in 2026, strengthening students' physical exercise and ensuring that students exercise for 1 hour every day.

2. Ideological and Political Courses Enhanced January 12: The Ministry of Education (MOE) issued the Opinions on Strengthening the Construction of Ideological and Political Courses in Primary and Secondary Schools in the New Era, requiring full staffing and strengthening of ideological and political teachers, and building a number of high-quality ideological and political courses.

3. Vocational Education High-Quality Development January 10: Beijing issued the Implementation Plan for Promoting the High-Quality Development of Vocational Education, proposing to build 20 national-level vocational education demonstration colleges by 2027.

4. YRD University Alliance Established January 8: The Yangtze River Delta (YRD) University Alliance was established, with 15 universities jointly promoting resource sharing, course mutual selection and credit recognition, improving the quality of regional higher education.

5. 2026 Postgraduate Entrance Exam Data Released January 13: MOE released the 2026 postgraduate entrance exam data, with 4.74 million applicants, an increase of 10% over last year, of which professional degree masters accounted for 70%.

6. Teacher Training Program Launched January 11: Guangdong Province launched the "Strong Teacher Project", planning to invest 15 billion yuan within 3 years to train 100,000 backbone teachers and 10,000 renowned principals, improving the overall quality of the teaching staff.

7. Shanghai University Discipline Evaluation Launched January 9: Universities in Shanghai launched a new round of discipline evaluation, focusing on assessing discipline construction effectiveness, talent training quality, scientific research and innovation capabilities and other indicators.

8. Compulsory Education Curriculum Plan Updated January 14: MOE released the Compulsory Education Curriculum Plan (2026 Edition), optimizing the curriculum setting and adding content such as labor education and artificial intelligence.

9. College Graduate Employment Promotion Week Launched January 15: The College Graduate Employment Promotion Week was launched, with 1,000 universities nationwide carrying out campus recruitment activities, providing more than 2 million jobs.

1. China International Consumer Electronics Show Held January 10: The 2026 China International Consumer Electronics Show opened in Shanghai, attracting 500 enterprises worldwide to participate, displaying cutting-edge products such as AI, VR and smart home appliances.

2. International AI & Robotics Summit Held January 12: The International Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Summit was held in Beijing, gathering top experts worldwide to discuss the development trend of AI and robotics integration.

3. Guangzhou International Auto Show Held January 8: The Guangzhou International Auto Show was held, exhibiting more than 300 new energy vehicles and 50 debut models, promoting technological exchanges in the automotive industry.

4. International Green Energy Expo Held January 11: The International Green Energy and Environmental Technology Expo was held in Hangzhou, focusing on photovoltaic, wind power and energy storage sectors, with signed projects totaling 30 billion yuan in investment.

5. Shanghai International Biopharma Seminar Held January 13: The Shanghai International Biomedical Industry Seminar was held, with more than 1,000 industry experts participating, exchanging results in new drug R&D and medical device innovation.

6. Beijing International Education Expo Held January 9: The Beijing International Education Expo was held, displaying international education resources and cooperation projects, promoting educational exchanges and cooperation between China and foreign countries.

7. International Digital Economy Expo Held January 14: The International Digital Economy Expo opened in Chongqing, focusing on digital industrialization and industrial digitization, releasing a digital economy development report, with 200 signed projects.

8. Shenzhen International AI Industry Expo Held January 10: The Shenzhen International Artificial Intelligence Industry Expo was held, attracting 200 AI enterprises worldwide to participate, displaying products such as large models and smart hardware.

9. International Green Building Expo Held January 15: The International Building Energy Efficiency and Green Building Expo was held in Tianjin, promoting green building technologies and helping the construction sector achieve carbon peaking.

1. China-UAE New Energy Cooperation Signed January 15: China and the United Arab Emirates signed a new energy cooperation agreement to jointly build an AI energy system, promoting global energy transition, with a total investment of 50 billion US dollars.

2. Palestinian Technical Committee Established January 14: Egypt, Qatar and Turkey announced the establishment of the Palestinian technical bureaucratic committee. China actively participated in mediation to promote the ceasefire process in Gaza.

3. China-Singapore Digital Economy Cooperation Signed January 12: China and Singapore signed a memorandum of understanding on digital economy cooperation, strengthening cooperation in cross-border data flow and AI fields, building a model for digital economy cooperation.

4. China-ASEAN FTA 3.0 Negotiation Progressed January 9: The negotiations on the 3.0 version of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) made significant progress. The two sides reached consensus on goods trade and service trade, and the agreement is expected to be signed by the end of 2026.

5. China-Russia Agricultural Cooperation Signed January 11: China and Russia signed an agricultural cooperation agreement to expand the trade of grain, meat and other agricultural products, with a target annual trade volume of 20 billion US dollars.

6. China-Germany Industrial Internet Cooperation Signed January 8: China and Germany signed an industrial internet cooperation agreement to jointly build a China-Germany industrial internet innovation center, promoting the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry.

7. China-Brazil Sci-Tech Innovation Cooperation Signed January 13: China and Brazil signed a science and technology innovation cooperation agreement, focusing on aerospace and biomedicine fields, and jointly carrying out 10 scientific research projects.

8. China-ROK Cross-Border E-commerce Cooperation Signed January 10: China and the Republic of Korea (ROK) signed a memorandum of understanding on cross-border e-commerce cooperation, optimizing customs clearance processes, improving trade facilitation, with a target of 30% annual trade volume growth.

9. China-South Africa New Energy Investment Signed January 15: China and South Africa signed a new energy investment agreement, with China investing 20 billion yuan to build photovoltaic power stations, helping South Africa's energy transition.

Thank you for reading Issue 20. If you found this briefing helpful, I’d truly appreciate your subscription or a share with someone who might benefit. Your support means a lot. See you next week.