China pushes open AI innovation and previews industrial and ICT development at July press conference

China is promoting an open, win‑win model for artificial intelligence, highlighting that open‑source large‑model downloads have surpassed 10 billion globally and that open‑source communities now have over 1.1 million registered users. A domestic AI model has spawned more than 170 000 derivative models, and the AI sector is expected to exceed 12 trillion yuan by 2025, with the government launching the “AI+ International Cooperation Initiative” and related action plans.

The State Council Information Office will hold a news conference on July 20 at 10 a.m., where Ministry of Industry and Information Technology chief engineer Wang Weiming will report on the first half of 2026 industrial and information technology development. The same day will see the release of July’s loan prime rate (LPR) and data on the unlocking of restricted shares for 16 companies, amounting to roughly 300 billion yuan in market value.