China’s new five-year policy blueprint laid out its ambitions to aggressively adopt artificial intelligence throughout the world’s second-biggest economy and dominate emerging technologies such as quantum computing and humanoid robots.

The country will “seize the commanding heights of science and technological development” and seek “decisive breakthroughs in key core technologies”, according to the plan released on Thursday to coincide with the opening session of the National People’s Congress.

A separate report by the country’s state-planning body also asserted that China was outpacing rivals in AI research and development as well as other key areas.

“China now leads the world in research and development and application in fields such as AI, biomedicine, robotics and quantum technology, and new breakthroughs were made in the independent R&D of chips,” it said.

Sweeping AI+ action plan

The 141-page five-year blueprint, which covered a wide range of socio-economic targets and policies, mentioned AI more than 50 times and included a sweeping “AI+ action plan”.

The focus on tech reflects China’s need to grapple with its rapidly ageing workforce and looming demographic crisis, its fierce battle with the United States for supremacy in core technologies, as well as dramatic progress made by Chinese AI model developers such as DeepSeek.

Specific measures in the plan include experimenting with robots to perform jobs in sectors suffering from labour shortages and deploying AI agents that can perform tasks with minimal human guidance.

“Beijing’s goal is to use AI and robotics to boost productivity and performance in a wide range of sectors, from manufacturing and logistics to education and healthcare,” said Kyle Chan, fellow in Chinese technology at the Brookings Institution think tank.

The government also highlighted its commitment to technology – an area it calls “new quality productive forces” – in the opening paragraphs of the main government work report presented by Premier Li Qiang. That was far more prominent than last year’s report.

China’s reliance thus far on US tech such as chips and planes has been a major source of frustration as trade tensions soared. Their tech war has seen both sides place export controls on some key products and resources – advanced chips most notably in the case of Washington and rare earths and critical minerals in the case of Beijing.

Humanoid robots, 6G and quantum

The government work report and five-year blueprint outlined plans to increase investment in quantum computing, 6G, embodied AI – the tech that powers humanoid robots – and areas at the cutting-edge of science, like machine-brain interfaces.

The five-year plan also pledged to achieve “key breakthroughs in nuclear fusion technologies”, develop a reusable heavy-load rocket, construct an integrated space-earth quantum communication network, develop scalable quantum computers, and demonstrate the feasibility of building a lunar research station.

It also emphasised China’s goal to become a world leader in frontier R&D by “accelerating breakthroughs in basic theories and foundational technologies” and investing in basic research and cultivating a world-class talent base in science and tech.

The Chinese government also promised to build out “hyper-scale” computing clusters supported by cheap and abundant electricity and also support the building of AI open-source communities.

“Open source wasn’t mentioned in previous reports, and this is also a key difference between the Chinese and American AI approaches,” said Tilly Zhang, technology and industrial policy analyst at Gavekal Dragonomics.

“I believe China has studied this very carefully and decided to make open-source AI a flagship strategy and a competitive advantage against the United States.”

Artificial intelligence startup OpenAI topped $25bn in annualised revenue as of the end of last month, The Information reported on Wednesday, citing a person familiar with the figure.

This is a 17 per cent increase from the $21.4bn in annualised revenue that the company generated at the end of the year, the report said.

Read more-OpenAI clinches $840bn valuation with new funding from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank

Reuters could not verify the report. OpenAI did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

OpenAI is expanding into the enterprise market by teaming up with four of the world’s largest consulting firms, betting that a more hands-on approach will help corporate clients move beyond pilot projects to full-scale AI deployments.

In the enterprise race, OpenAI faces competition from rivals such as Anthropic and giants like Google that are selling AI capabilities to enterprises.

Since late 2022, OpenAI has gone from effectively zero revenue to more than $20bn in annualized revenue in 2025. Its rival Anthropic has followed a similar trajectory, climbing to roughly $9bn in annualised revenue.

OpenAI is targeting roughly $600bn in total compute spending through 2030, as the ChatGPT maker lays the groundwork for an IPO that could value it at up to $1trn.

Dubai’s Fairmont The Palm remains fully operational after an incident near the entrance of the hotel during the latest regional escalation.

After Iran began firing missiles toward the UAE on Saturday, February 28, Dubai’s Government Media Office confirmed later on the weekend that an “incident occurred in a building in the Palm Jumeirah area”.

The situation was quickly brought under control and the hotel has continued operating, with management reassuring guests and partners that services remain uninterrupted.

Ugur Talayhan, general manager of Fairmont The Palm, said the property remains open and welcoming guests as normal.

“I would like to personally reassure you that Fairmont The Palm remains open and fully operational following the recent events and that our guests continue to be welcomed with the same warmth, care and exceptional service that define our brand,” Talayhan said in a LinkedIn post.

Talayhan also thanked partners and the wider community for their support.

“I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to each of you who so thoughtfully reached out with your prayers, messages and words of support over the past days,” he said. “Your kindness and consideration have been sincerely appreciated.”

He added that the hotel’s team has focused on ensuring the safety and wellbeing of both guests and employees.

“This has been a focused period for our team as we prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our guests and colleagues,” Talayhan said.

“I am truly grateful for your support and for the strength of the relationships we share.”

Interceptions

The incident that hit the hotel came amid a broader escalation in the region. According to figures released by the UAE Ministry of Defence overnight, more than 1,100 missiles and drones have been launched toward the UAE since February 28.

Read more: UAE successfully intercepts most of 1,100+ missiles, drones since Feb 28

Data published on March 4 shows Iranian forces fired 941 drones, 189 ballistic missiles and eight cruise missiles during the first five days of the escalation.

The UAE’s layered air defence systems intercepted the overwhelming majority of these threats, destroying 876 drones, 175 ballistic missiles and all eight cruise missiles.

A small number reached UAE territory. Authorities said 65 drones and one ballistic missile impacted inside the country, while 13 ballistic missiles fell into the sea.

Despite the scale of the attacks, the high interception rate highlights the effectiveness of the UAE’s multi-layered air defence network designed to detect and neutralise threats at multiple altitudes.

The UAE central bank governor, Khaled Mohammed Balama, said on Thursday, six days into the conflict in the Middle East, that the country’s banking and financial sector is resilient, strong, stable, and well-positioned to navigate regional developments.

He added that capital adequacy ratio currently stands at 17 per cent, while liquidity coverage ratio exceeds 146.6 per cent.

UAE stock markets fell in early trade on Thursday after reopening on Wednesday following a two-day suspension triggered by Iran’s missile and drone attacks on the Gulf state after US and Israel launched strikes on Iran on Saturday.

China’s political elite gathered in Beijing on Thursday as President Xi Jinping unveiled a sweeping roadmap for the country’s economic and political future, delivered against a backdrop of sharpening techcompetition with Washington and mounting geopolitical friction.

The National People’s Congress rolled out its ‘Five-Year Plan’ outlining goals for growth, budgets, industrial policy and defence, signalling Xi’s determination to propel the world’s second-biggest economy toward technological dominance.

Here are the main highlights from the NPC:

GDP, budget priorities

China is looking to grow its economy at a 4.5 -5 per cent pace, a touch below the 5 per cent rate achieved last year, opening the door to greater efforts to rebalance the growth drivers.

Beijing’s stimulus will also remain steady to rev up an economy stuck in a lower post-pandemic gear, setting a budget deficit of 4 per cent of GDP, similar to last year.

High-tech focus as US rivalry grows

Aiming for tech supremacy in key fields such as AI and quantum computing amid a fierce rivalry with the US, Beijing is accelerating efforts to “seize the commanding heights of science and technological development.”

As the world’s largest producer of rare earths, China is also moving to secure an edge in these critical minerals, which are used in everything from electric vehicles to aircraft engines and defence technologies.

Defence capacity

China will improve combat readiness and accelerate the development of “advanced combat capabilities”, Premier Li Qiang said, boosting defence spending by 7 per cent in 2026.

Military observers are watching closely as Beijing pushes to modernise its forces by 2035 and project military power amid the backdrop of rising regional tensions, including over Taiwan, and
global geopolitical strains.

Financial system

China will inject around $44bn into state-owned banks this year to guard against systemic risks and boost financing for technology companies.

Population

Promising a “childbirth-friendly society” in the next five years, Beijing aims to address concerns over employment, education and medical care as an ageing and rapidly shrinking
population complicates its larger economic goals.

Food security

Grain production capacity will be raised to around 725 million metric tonnes over 2026-2030 to meet the nation’s long-term food security objectives, highlighting its heavy reliance on imports of key agricultural products such as soybeans, with the US its second-largest supplier.

Emission goals

The government plans to accelerate cuts in carbon intensity over the next five years, marking a shift from targeting the energy intensity of its economy to directly targeting carbon intensity.