BEIJING: The Chinese government will introduce artificial intelligence (AI) classes for all primary and secondary schools in Beijing later this year, state media reported Wednesday.
The decision is China’s latest effort to accelerate AI development and foster talent in the sector.
China’s AI industry has garnered global attention this year after DeepSeek launched a new version of its AI chatbot in January, causing a stir in international markets. DeepSeek apparently can rival or even surpass the capabilities of Western competitors like ChatGPT.
Schools in Beijing will offer at least eight hours of AI classes per academic year from the semester beginning in early September, state news agency Xinhua said.
Schools can conduct them as separate courses or integrate them with subjects such as information technology or science.
“Innovative teaching methods will be introduced, utilising AI companions, AI research assistants, and other intelligent agents to facilitate human-computer dialogue learning,” said a statement from the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, dated last week.
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Beijing also plans to explore more opportunities for collaboration between universities and secondary schools to cultivate AI talent, it said.
This involves creating a series of “advanced AI education courses aimed at nurturing exceptional innovative talent from an early stage.”
Last month, President Xi Jinping held rare discussions with Chinese tech leaders, sparking optimism that it signaled increased support for the sector.
Xi has reinforced the role of state-owned enterprises in China’s economy while taking a firm stance against “disorderly” expansion across various industries.
DeepSeek was praised by authorities, with its founder also present at the high-level business symposium.
Last week Chinese tech giant Alibaba unveiled an artificial intelligence model called QwQ-32B, which it says has “comparable performance” to DeepSeek.
