AI Reshapes Online Public Opinion Governance, Chinese Official Argues, Calling for Stronger Safeguards
The rapid spread of artificial intelligence is becoming a key variable in managing online public opinion, according to an article by the head of Chongqing’s municipal cyberspace administration office. Citing Xi Jinping’s call to build legal, technical monitoring, risk warning and emergency response systems, and to keep AI under human control, the author argues that AI both creates new risks and offers new governance tools.
The author says AI is reshaping how opinion forms and spreads in three ways. Large models and deepfakes allow false content to be mass-produced cheaply, including through “AI troll armies.” Algorithms can also amplify and regenerate topics, prolonging controversies and manufacturing fake public sentiment. Finally, the contest between regulators and rule-breakers has become an escalating technological arms race, with evasion techniques such as text rewriting and image tampering.
These trends challenge traditional governance. Verifying authenticity is harder, assessments can be skewed by artificially inflated popularity metrics, and responsibility is difficult to assign among model developers, users and platforms.
The author proposes three sets of measures. First, tighten source controls: graded registration and safety assessment of large models, mandatory labeling and traceability of AI-generated content through digital watermarks, and crackdowns on the illicit industry behind AI-driven opinion manipulation, with clearer lines of liability. Second, build human-machine collaboration in analysis, in which AI gathers data and tracks accounts while officials make value judgments and final decisions, supported by regular algorithm audits and a joint fact-checking system among propaganda, cyberspace and media bodies. Third, create a closed-loop defense system featuring multimodal monitoring and early warning, differentiated interventions such as adjusting recommendation weights for divisive false content, and public education on spotting deepfakes, alongside training specialists who can validate AI outputs.
Source: Study Times, October 21, 2026
https://www.studytimes.cn/jjsh/202610/t20261021_93257.html
China Tightens Export Controls on Tunnel Boring Machines, Adjusts Rules for Dredgers and Drones
China announced a new batch of dual-use export control measures on Monday, placing tunnel boring machines under export controls for the first time and adjusting the rules governing dredgers and drones. The measures take effect on November 18.
The Ministry of Commerce and the General Administration of Customs said the controls on tunnel boring machines cover shield machines, rock tunnel boring machines and other large engineering equipment, along with key components and related technology. Walking excavators capable of operating in complex terrain and wet-spraying machines suited to high-altitude work are also included.
The two agencies also revised controls on dredger-related items, focusing on key equipment and parts such as mud pumps, drag heads and cutter heads, and clarified the technical specifications.
In a separate notice, issued jointly with the Central Military Commission’s Equipment Development Department, authorities refined the technical standards for controlled drones. Drones that can be flown beyond the operator’s natural line of sight, have a maximum endurance of 30 minutes to three hours, and can take off and fly stably in gusts above 46.3 kilometers per hour require a license for export, as do similar drones with endurance of three hours or more. The adjustment also eases some exports: drones meeting certain endurance and wind-resistance standards can be registered to obtain an export certificate before each shipment instead of applying for a regular license each time, and drones sent to non-defense, non-police exhibitions and returned unchanged afterward may also use registration.
A commerce ministry spokesperson said the items have clear dual-use characteristics and that the controls accord with international practice and help meet non-proliferation obligations. The spokesperson added that Beijing is willing to discuss export control policy with other parties through bilateral dialogue mechanisms. On drones, the spokesperson said some formerly advanced products have become mass consumer goods, and that China opposes the misuse of drones for non-peaceful purposes while supporting civilian drone trade.
A July report by a Chinese industry research institute put China’s global market share in tunnel boring machines at about 70 percent, with annual output of more than 700 units. Another think tank projected that China’s 2025 shield machine exports would reach US$4.5 billion, mainly going to Southeast Asia, Europe and the Middle East.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 19, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610190263.aspx
Beijing Projected to Become a “Severely Aged” Society by 2035 as Elderly Share Tops One-Third
As China’s birth rate hits repeated record lows and its population ages at an accelerating pace, official statistics show that Beijing’s share of residents aged 60 and over will exceed 33 percent by 2035, pushing the capital into the category of a severely aged society.
Citing official data, the Beijing Daily reported that by the end of 2025, the city had 5.288 million permanent residents aged 60 or older, accounting for 24.3 percent of its permanent population. That means roughly one in four residents is elderly, placing Beijing in the category of a moderately aged society.
The proportion has been climbing steadily. It stood at 22.6 percent at the end of 2023 and rose to 23.5 percent by the end of 2024. Officials project that by 2035, about one in three Beijing residents will be a senior citizen.
To cope with the demographic shift, the municipal government says it has continued to strengthen its elderly care security system. The basic pension standard for city residents has been raised year after year, benefiting a cumulative total of 1 million older people.
Authorities have also established and refined a system of elderly care service allowances and subsidies. In 2025, the city distributed approximately 3.51 billion yuan (about US$493 million) in such payments, covering around 11.958 million person-times of elderly residents, including those in financial difficulty, those with dementia and the very elderly.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 19, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610190113.aspx
China Cuts Civil Service Hiring for Second Year but Expands Share of Tax Officials
China plans to recruit 35,691 people in its 2027 national civil service exam, 2,428 fewer than last year and the second consecutive annual reduction. Tax authorities account for 24,013 of the openings, or 67.28 percent of the total, according to figures compiled by the exam-training firm Offcn. Registration opened October 15, and about 218,400 people had signed up by that evening.
Some provinces are bucking the national trend. Yunnan’s tax bureau raised its quota from 1,000 to 1,400, a 40 percent increase, and Hubei’s rose from 1,200 to 1,300, while Tianjin’s fell from 240 to 100. Some tax bodies are also hiring contract staff, such as a Guangzhou district center seeking two assistants with accounting or tax backgrounds.
Shandong-based finance scholar Si Ling told Radio Free Asia that the shrinking intake reflects deteriorating government finances and an effort to streamline the bureaucracy. He argued that the growing tax share signals tougher tax collection and auditing next year.
A Shandong man named Han, who formerly worked in the state system, said many local governments are heavily indebted and will have to raise money from ordinary people. He noted that individual income above 5,000 yuan ($704) a month is taxed. A retired Guangzhou resident surnamed Lu said retired civil servants often receive 7,000 to 8,000 yuan ($986 to $1,127) a month, and section-level officials over 10,000 yuan ($1,408). He said one neighboring couple receives a combined 30,000 yuan ($4,225), versus about 3,000 yuan ($423) for ordinary pensioners. He argued that hiring more tax staff will not fix the budget shortfall.
Tax revenue in 2025 was 17.64 trillion yuan ($2.48 trillion), up 0.8 percent. RFA estimated that 24,000 new tax staff, at 125,000 yuan ($17,606) each per year in pay and benefits, would cost about 3 billion yuan ($423 million) annually. Whether they will raise revenue remains uncertain.
Source: Radio Free Asia, October 16, 2026
https://www.rfa.org/mandarin/shehui/2026/10/16/china-civil-service-recruitment-taxation-chinese-economy/
China Proposes Export Controls on AI, Biomedical and Solar Technologies
China’s Ministry of Commerce announced on Oct. 16 that it plans to revise its catalogue of technologies prohibited or restricted from export, adding certain artificial intelligence, biomedical and solar photovoltaic technologies. Working with the Ministry of Science and Technology, it is seeking public comment until Nov. 15 and is simultaneously introducing pre-export registration requirements for the technologies concerned.
The proposal covers 40 technologies across three fields. In AI, 23 technologies are listed, including large models, intelligent agents, computing power clusters and information processing. Technologies already in the public domain through open-source release or academic publication are excluded from regulation.
The biomedical category contains five technologies, covering cell and gene therapy, small nucleic acid drugs and pathogenic microorganisms. Licensing arrangements that do not transfer ownership will benefit from automatic licensing and other facilitation measures. The solar category includes 12 technologies related to polysilicon, silicon wafer and cell manufacturing, and the controls also extend to the key and core equipment that embodies them.
A ministry spokesperson said the AI technologies could be used to attack critical information infrastructure, defense industry facilities and core government systems, or to bypass national security defenses. The spokesperson warned that if acquired by non-state actors or malicious entities, they could endanger national security and shared human security.
On biomedicine, the spokesperson said the rules exclude or ease controls in cases important to international cooperation. Outbound licensing of technology platforms with independent intellectual property, and outsourced research, development and production services using such technologies, will not be regulated.
The spokesperson added that solar technology is increasingly applied in sensitive areas such as aerospace, defense, unmanned equipment and high-security infrastructure, raising national security risks and warranting timely, moderate oversight. The controlled scope is limited, and technologies falling below the control thresholds can still be exported freely.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 16, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610160309.aspx
China’s State Council Shifts AI Focus From Strategic Planning to Practical Application
China’s State Council has twice in four months turned its attention to artificial intelligence, and experts say the two meetings reveal a clear change in emphasis. On June 29, Premier Li Qiang chaired an executive meeting that reviewed overall AI development and stressed seizing the initiative through better supporting policies and governance. On October 16, a second meeting reviewed progress on the “AI Plus” initiative and described AI as a key variable shaping future development, urging that technological innovation be driven by real-world applications.
Experts told 21st Century Business Herald that the first meeting focused on top-level strategy, while the second evaluated how earlier measures were working. Policy attention, they said, has moved from “planning the layout” to “tracking progress and deepening implementation,” with a stronger orientation toward the real economy.
The October meeting set out three priorities: strengthening the foundation through technological breakthroughs, algorithm innovation, coordination between computing power and electricity, and higher-quality data; empowering applications by linking supply and demand, encouraging joint research, and advancing pilot-scale testing; and balancing development with security through tiered, category-based oversight.
Analysts noted that the idea of letting applications lead innovation reverses the old approach of achieving technical breakthroughs first and finding uses later. It plays to China’s complete industrial system, rich application scenarios and strong engineering capacity.
Both meetings stressed AI security and China’s comparative advantages. The differences lay in emphasis: June highlighted basic research, supercomputing clusters and talent and funding, while October added computing-electricity coordination and pilot testing, and shifted from international governance cooperation toward industry-level risk assessment.
Wu Chaoming of Caixin Financial Holdings summed up the change as a move from “capability building” to “value realization.” He said the yardstick for AI policy is shifting from model metrics to productivity metrics, with deployment density replacing parameter scale as the core measure of success.
Source: 21st Century Business Herald, October 17, 2026
https://www.21jingji.com/article/20261017/herald/0c35422ad2758a9778be839f7c56e8b8.html
China’s Producer Prices Hit Four-Year High as Gap with Consumer Inflation Widens
China’s producer price index (PPI) rose 5.0 percent year on year in September, the highest level in four years, while the consumer price index (CPI) climbed just 0.9 percent, a mild and relatively low reading. The widening gap between the two has led experts to warn that small and micro enterprises in the middle and downstream sectors could face greater difficulties.
China’s PPI had contracted for 41 consecutive months between October 2022 and February 2026. It turned positive in March 2026, and gains have generally continued to climb since.
Dong Lijuan, chief statistician at the National Bureau of Statistics’ urban department, attributed September’s increase to rising international crude oil and non-ferrous metal prices, shifting supply and demand in some energy and raw materials industries, and stronger demand tied to the rapid development of artificial intelligence and computing-power-electricity coordination.
Zhang Lin, executive vice president of the Far East Credit Research Institute, said a prolonged gap between CPI and PPI essentially reflects a redistribution of profits between upstream and downstream industries. When PPI exceeds CPI, upstream resource producers generally benefit, while margins in downstream consumer and branded manufacturing, such as food and beverages, home appliances and light industry, as well as retail, are squeezed, often resulting in “more revenue but no more profit.”
Zhang Liqun, a researcher at the State Council’s Development Research Center, said a continually widening gap could create more operational difficulties for middle and downstream firms, especially small and micro enterprises. He noted that many small and medium-sized traditional manufacturers already face clearly insufficient orders, and sustained increases in raw material prices would deepen their troubles.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 18, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610180075.aspx
Shanghai Startup Quietly Unveils EUV Lithography Prototype at China International Industry Fair
A Shanghai-based startup has discreetly displayed a prototype of extreme ultraviolet (EUV) lithography equipment, the technology needed to produce the most advanced chips at 7 nanometers and below, at the China International Industry Fair now underway in Shanghai.
The display comes as the United States maintains export controls on advanced technology, while China pursues government-led efforts to break through those restrictions. After Washington blocked the Netherlands’ ASML from exporting EUV equipment to China, Beijing developed its own deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography equipment to strengthen its competitiveness in advanced chipmaking. ASML nonetheless still holds a monopoly on EUV machines, the type required for cutting-edge chips, so reports of a domestic Chinese effort have drawn close attention to the progress of its development.
The large prototype was not placed in the popular integrated circuit exhibition hall. Instead, it sat in the Shanghai municipal zone of the Innovation Technology Hall. When reporters asked for details, staff declined all interview requests.
According to a written brochure provided at the venue by the developer, Langdao Silex (朗道科技), the company launched its Langdao Light Source project in 2024, focusing on the light source for EUV lithography equipment, a core technology in semiconductor manufacturing.
While reticent about the product itself, the company was active in recruiting. The hall sits next to the exhibition area where Chinese universities showcase research, and staff promptly handed recruitment flyers for full-time and internship positions to young students who paused nearby. Staff said the firm is new and in great need of talent.
Source: Central News Agency (Taiwan), October 15, 2026
https://www.cna.com.tw/news/acn/202610150357.aspx