At a Glance
- China’s Cyberspace Administration forces every public-facing AI tool into a public registry, revealing 1,000+ models.
- Nearly 80% cluster in four tech hubs: Beijing, Shenzhen, Shanghai, and Hangzhou.
- State-linked firms account for 22% of filings; foreign companies only 0.5%.
- Why it matters: The registry offers the world’s clearest window into a national AI ecosystem, showing how China’s regulation doubles as market surveillance.
China quietly built the world’s most detailed map of generative AI. Since 2023, any company releasing a model with “public opinion properties or social mobilization capabilities” must file it with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC). The result: a living database logging every approved algorithm, from chatbots to power-grid optimizers.
One Registry, 31 Risks
The filing process is rigorous. Developers must prove their product avoids 31 categories of harm, including age discrimination, psychological damage, and violating “core socialist values.” Applications start at local CAC branches, move to central headquarters, and, if approved, appear in the public algorithm registry.
Matt Sheehan, a Carnegie Endowment scholar, told News Of Fort Worth this creates an ad-hoc system. Rather than one sweeping AI Act like the EU, China targets specific algorithms and iterates rules over time. The US, by contrast, has no comparable national registry.
Geographic Power Centers
Kendra Schaefer and her team at Trivium China scraped every CAC update into a single enriched database. Their tally, current through April 2025, shows:
- Beijing leverages elite universities and national labs for large-scale innovation.
- Shenzhen taps dense hardware supply chains and deep engineering talent.
- Shanghai excels at commercialization thanks to multinational proximity.
- Hangzhou rides Alibaba’s e-commerce empire.
Beyond these coastal giants:
- Chongqing positions itself as an AI manufacturing and logistics node.
- Hefei, backed by heavy state investment, hosts iFlyTek and brands itself “China’s speech valley.”
- Guizhou runs massive data centers powering Huawei’s Pangu model.
- Inner Mongolia sees state enterprises weaving AI into mining and agriculture.
State vs. Private vs. Foreign
State-linked entities-SOEs, government-backed institutes-make up 22% of filings. PetroChina partnered with Huawei and iFlyTek to build oil-and-gas models; State Grid used DeepSeek to optimize power networks.
Private Chinese firms dominate. The six “AI tigers”-Moonshot, Minimax, Zhipu, Baichuan, 0.1AI, Stepfun-are all bankrolled by Alibaba or Tencent. ByteDance’s Doubao recently overtook DeepSeek as the country’s most-downloaded chatbot, yet its lead is fragile.
Foreign participation is minimal: only 0.5% of listings. Ikea filed a smart-shopper recommender; Yum China registered a menu-and-promo generator for KFC.
Niche Models Everywhere
While giants fight over chatbots, startups seed every sector:
Squirrel AI claims to leapfrog ed-tech rivals by diagnosing knowledge gaps and adjusting lessons in real time. After China’s 2021 ban on for-profit tutoring, the company pivoted to franchised learning centers. Its network now spans 3,000+ locations serving 1.2 million students. Founder Derek Li, who home-schools his sons on the platform, predicts teachers will evolve into “data analysts and psychologists.”
AI Kanshe applies traditional Chinese medicine, analyzing tongue, palm, and face images to aid diagnosis. Founder Li Wenhua trained the model on 100,000+ annotated images and sells the tool to clinics, pharmacies, and hospitals.
Zhongtan Puhui Cloud Technology, founded in 2024 by ex-Wall Street quant Wu Song, builds AI agents for carbon accounting. Clients range from China Minmetals and DHL to small Yangtze River Delta exporters.
Key Takeaways
- China’s algorithm registry is compulsory, public, and granular-no equivalent exists at this scale elsewhere.
- Innovation is hyper-regional, with four cities controlling the bulk of filings yet far-flung provinces finding specialized roles.
- State influence is significant but not dominant; private startups drive sector-specific breakthroughs.
- Foreign players remain barely visible, underscoring market access hurdles.
- As the CAC continues to approve new filings, the registry will keep serving as both regulatory chokepoint and real-time barometer of China’s AI boom.
