Directory

Industry alliance launched in 2017 under the guidance of NDRC, MOST, MIIT, and CAC, led operationally by CAICT, with 250+ members across companies and universities. Conducts AI safety/trustworthiness evaluation and standards work and issued a joint self-discipline pledge for the AI industry.

Technology conglomerate and developer of the Qwen open-weight model family via Alibaba Cloud. A central actor in China's AI ecosystem whose model releases, safety practices, and governance participation (standards, industry alliances) carry system-wide weight.

Fintech and technology company (Alipay) that applies AI across finance and has published AI ethics principles to guide its use of intelligent technologies; participates in national AI governance initiatives and international AI safety dialogues.

Leading AI company with full-stack capabilities from AI chips to the ERNIE model family and applications. Long-standing participant in AI governance, ethics, and standards initiatives, with in-house safety and security functions.

Non-profit AI research institution established in 2018 and a hub of China's AI research community. Active in AI safety and governance convening, including safety commitments and international dialogues, and a founding member of CnAISDA.

Non-profit research institute supported by the Beijing municipal government and MOST, in partnership with Peking and Tsinghua Universities, pursuing a unified theory of general intelligent agents; engages with AI safety and governance questions around AGI development.

New-type R&D institution dedicated to AI safety and governance, supervised by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology. Builds systematic safety and governance frameworks, released an AI Application Risk Assessment Tool, and works on AI ethics/safety evaluation systems and a Safe AI foundational model.

Key laboratory led by the CAS Institute of Automation, in collaboration with Peking University and Beijing Normal University, focused on safety risks of frontier AI and research breakthroughs in AI safety and superalignment.

Global technology company (Douyin/TikTok, Toutiao) and developer of the Doubao model family; operates large-scale recommendation systems and AI research teams, making its safety, alignment, and content governance practices highly consequential.

Research center associated with the CAS Institute of Automation focused on long-term AI safety and the trajectory toward advanced AI; co-initiated the AGILE AI Governance International Evaluation Index assessing AI governance across countries.

MIIT-affiliated national think tank and industry platform founded in 1957. A central node for AI policy support, standards, and testing/certification, including AI safety evaluation work such as the Fangsheng AI risk-testing platform, and the operational backbone of the AI Industry Alliance (AIIA).

Consortium of leading Chinese AI institutions (incl. BAAI, CAICT, CCID, CAS Institute of Automation, Peking University, Shanghai AI Lab, Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute, Tsinghua University) launched around the 2025 Paris AI Action Summit. Functions as China's counterpart in international AI safety institute dialogues, spanning AI safety research from theory to testing, audits, and governance.

Public institution directly under MIIT functioning as a national high-end think tank for the information technology sector, with work spanning policy research, consulting, and evaluation and certification for emerging technologies including AI. A member institution of CnAISDA.

A Ministry of Industry and Information Technology-affiliated institute that conducts electronics and information-technology standardization, testing, and certification. It serves standardization bodies working on AI and has published AI standardization research and guidance.

China's largest mobile network operator and state-owned digital infrastructure provider; develops and deploys AI at scale (including the Jiutian model series) and has published analysis on AI security risks and coping strategies.

Think tank within China's cyberspace governance system providing research and policy support on cybersecurity, data governance, and cyberspace governance; produces the annual China Internet Development and World Internet Development reports supporting the World Internet Conference.

National-level legal research institution and government think tank; a leading academic home for AI legislation research in China, including scholar-drafted model AI law proposals and work on the rule of law for AI and data governance.

Beijing- and Singapore-based social enterprise dedicated to AI safety and governance. Advises on AI safety and governance, supports China's AI safety community, promotes international cooperation, and publishes the State of AI Safety in China reports that make the Chinese ecosystem legible internationally.

National non-profit association established in 2016 under CAC supervision, spanning cybersecurity companies, research institutions, and experts. Serves as a bridge between industry and regulators on cybersecurity and data security governance, increasingly extending to AI security issues.

Central regulator for internet-related matters, covering online content, cybersecurity, data security, and personal information protection. Lead drafter and enforcer of China's core AI regulations, including the algorithm recommendation, deep synthesis, and generative AI rules, and operator of the algorithm and generative AI service filing regimes.

AI company founded in 2023 and backed by hedge fund High-Flyer, developing frontier open-weight large language models (DeepSeek-V and R series) in pursuit of AGI. Its Nature-published R1 work includes detailed frontier-safety and risk-evaluation disclosures, among the most substantive published by a Chinese lab.

Policy research institution under the direct leadership of the State Council, providing research and consulting on economic and social development. Contributes to national AI policy thinking on development, industrial transformation, and governance implications of AI.

Center inaugurated at WAIC 2025 building a collaborative platform connecting Shanghai, China, and the world on AI governance, talent development, and AI for social good, with the aim of contributing to global AI governance frameworks.

Chinese-language podcast at the intersection of AI and public issues — covering AI governance, safety narratives, technology law, and STS — that brings governance and safety discourse to domestic Chinese audiences. Hosted by Zhuoran Zhou, an AI governance researcher with a background in financial media and the cloud/AI industry.

A major Chinese AI infrastructure and model developer. It has published an AI Security White Paper and lifecycle-oriented guidance on security and privacy for AI systems.

Cross-cultural research center at the CAS Institute of Automation. Released the Beijing AI Principles (2019), endorsed by Tsinghua, Peking University, and AITISA, and co-initiated the AGILE international AI governance evaluation index.

AI company founded in 2022 developing proprietary multimodal foundation models (text, audio, image, video, music) that power consumer products and an open API platform; one of China's frontier model developers with in-house safety functions.

Primary agency for China's education system; increasingly involved in AI governance through rules and guidance on AI use in education, AI literacy, and ethics education, and as a co-issuer of the generative AI measures.

China's central diplomatic agency and a principal international voice on AI governance. Its AI issues page publishes the Global AI Governance Initiative, the Shanghai Declaration, the AI Capacity-Building Action Plan, and the Global AI Governance Action Plan.

State agency responsible for industry and information technology, overseeing the telecom, software, and AI industries. Co-issuer of key AI regulations, supervisor of CAICT and industry standards work, and a driving force behind AI industry development and safety/testing infrastructure.

Principal police and security authority. Co-issuer and enforcer of AI-related regulations touching public security and law enforcement, including security assessment and filing requirements for algorithmic and generative AI services.

Executive agency for national science and technology strategy. It coordinates implementation of the State Council's New Generation AI Development Plan, supports the New Generation AI Governance Professional Committee, and leads science and technology ethics governance, including ethics-review measures.

LLM startup founded in 2023 pursuing AGI, best known for its Kimi models and assistant. One of China's frontier 'AI Tiger' labs whose model releases and safety practices are closely watched in the ecosystem.

Body established in 2018 under SAC and MIIT guidance, with CESI as group leader, to coordinate the development of China's national AI standards system, including standards relevant to AI safety, risk management, and governance.

Coordinates national data infrastructure, data standards, and development of data as a production factor. Its work includes high-quality datasets for AI and data-governance arrangements that shape the safety and reliability of AI development.

China's primary macroeconomic management agency under the State Council. Shapes AI-relevant industrial policy, compute and data infrastructure planning (e.g., national computing networks), and co-issued the generative AI measures.

Expert advisory body under MOST's New Generation AI Development Plan Promotion Office focused on AI governance and ethics; issued the Governance Principles for New Generation AI – Developing Responsible AI (2019) and the Ethical Norms for New Generation AI (2021).

China's national legislature and highest organ of state power. Enacted the foundational laws underpinning AI governance (Cybersecurity Law, Data Security Law, Personal Information Protection Law), and a comprehensive AI Law has been placed on its legislative agenda.

National regulator for broadcasting and audiovisual content; a signatory regulator of the 2023 Interim Measures for Generative AI Services and active in rules on AI-generated audiovisual content.

National expert committee under the Central Science and Technology Commission that guides and coordinates China's science and technology ethics governance system, including AI ethics; associated with the Ethical Norms for New Generation AI and ethics review requirements covering AI research.

National standards body under SAC responsible for cybersecurity, data security, personal information protection, and AI security standards. Author of the AI Safety Governance Framework and the technical standards operationalizing China's generative AI regulations (e.g., GB/T security requirements for generative AI services).

The largest open AI safety community on the Chinese-language internet, centered on WeChat groups with presence on Bilibili, Zhihu, LinkedIn, and GitHub. An IASEAI (International Association for Safe and Ethical AI) affiliate. Focuses on AI risks, AI safety techniques, and AI safety governance, bridging international AI safety discourse into Chinese through curriculum translation (notably bringing BlueDot Impact's AI safety course into Chinese) and regular seminars. Partners include Fungimind, Tsinghua University Press, and According.Work.

Interdisciplinary center spanning computer science, law, and ethics with a core mission of preventing and managing risks from frontier AI; research spans AI ethics, value alignment, and safety governance.

AI safety and security company founded in 2018 out of Tsinghua University's Institute for AI. Provides AI security platforms and solutions (adversarial robustness, deepfake detection, model safety evaluation) for sectors including finance and government, and runs its own AI governance research institute.

The CAS Institute of Automation's dedicated center for AI ethics and governance research, focusing on responsible AI models, applications, and governance for sustainable AI development.

A major Chinese AI company with a Committee of AI Ethics and Governance. It has published a Code of Ethics for AI Sustainable Development and reports certification against the ISO/IEC 42001 AI management-system standard.

City-level public service platform for AI safety and governance unveiled at WAIC 2024, operating under the Shanghai AI Laboratory to support Shanghai's development as an AI governance hub.

National-level AI research institution unveiled at WAIC 2020 with a stated vision of open, controllable, and trustworthy AI. Alongside frontier research, it runs prominent safety-relevant efforts including the OpenCompass evaluation platform and the FLAMES and SALAD-Bench safety benchmarks, and hosts the Shanghai AI Safety and Governance Institute.

Law school hosting the Shanghai Collaborative Innovation Center for AI Social Governance, a municipal platform for research on the social governance of AI. Co-organizes AI governance forums with the National Experimental Comprehensive Base of Intelligent Social Governance, connecting legal scholarship to Shanghai's AI governance experimentation.

A Shanghai-supported research institute founded in 2020, with programs spanning artificial intelligence, information security, and quantum computing. It has participated in the International Dialogues on AI Safety and China's AI-safety research ecosystem.

Joint center of the SJTU AI Institute and the China Institute for Law and Society focusing on AI governance, AI and law, legal AI, and data governance through interdisciplinary research and policy/legal frameworks.

Competent authority for national standardization work, operating under SAMR. Administers China's national standards system, including AI standards, and co-issued the 2024 Guidelines for Building a National AI Industry Comprehensive Standardization System that set targets for AI standards development.

Ministerial-level market supervision agency responsible for competition, product quality, certification, and national standards administration. Relevant to AI governance through standards (via SAC), certification, and oversight of algorithmic market conduct.

Shanghai-based AI company founded in 2023 by former Microsoft researchers, specializing in multimodal large models (Step series across text, vision, video, and audio); a frontier Chinese model developer engaged in the domestic AI ecosystem.

Technology conglomerate developing the Hunyuan model family and applying AI across social, content, and gaming businesses. Maintains named security research units (e.g., Zhuque Lab) and research arms engaged in AI ethics and governance.

Policy think tank at Tsinghua University bridging government, industry, and academia on security and strategy, including Track II dialogues and policy work on AI security and international AI governance.

University-level research institution established in 2020 focused on major theoretical and policy issues in global AI governance; provides intellectual support to China's participation in international AI governance and convenes international dialogues.

An intergovernmental international organization established July 16, 2026 in Shanghai on the eve of WAIC 2026, with 29 founding member countries. Following the UN Charter, WAICO's mission is to promote cooperation on global AI governance, capacity-building, and safety, with an emphasis on bridging developed and developing economies. The signing ceremony was jointly hosted by China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, MIIT, and the Shanghai Municipal Government; Foreign Minister Wang Yi signed on China's behalf, with UN Secretary-General António Guterres in attendance. Shanghai AI Laboratory and Fudan University served as the de facto secretariat during the establishment process. First proposed by Premier Li Qiang at WAIC 2025, reiterated by President Xi Jinping at APEC 2025, and formally announced by Xi in his July 17, 2026 WAIC 2026 opening keynote titled "Joining Hands to Build a Just and Equitable System for Global AI Governance" (Xinhua English full text linked as reference URL; additional coverage via Xinhua Chinese, gov.cn, CGTN, and China's State Council Information Office). No standalone WAICO website has been established at time of entry.

Tsinghua-spun AGI company founded in 2019, creator of the GLM model family. Active participant in Chinese AI safety and governance initiatives, including safety commitments and evaluation work alongside its frontier model development.

Concordia AI's dedicated English-language publication tracking Chinese AI safety and governance developments — technical safety research, governance moves, lab practices, and expert views — the companion channel to its State of AI Safety in China reports. (Concordia AI itself appears on the Inside sheet.)

Professor of Law at the USC Gould School of Law and a leading authority on Chinese tech regulation. Her scholarship and commentary on how China regulates its technology sector, including AI, shape international understanding of Chinese digital governance.

Major US think tank whose China Center and AI governance research interpret China's technology policy for policy audiences; co-organized with Tsinghua University's CISS a sustained US-China Track II dialogue on AI, one of the principal bilateral channels on AI governance.

Global think tank whose AI program includes leading research on China's AI governance system and US-China AI relations, anchored by Matt Sheehan's widely cited work tracing how China's AI regulations are made.

Washington national security think tank whose Technology and National Security program analyzes US-China AI competition, military AI, and China's AI safety and governance discourse for US policy audiences.

Georgetown University policy research organization producing data-driven analysis of AI and emerging technology for security policy, with a strong China focus including a program translating original Chinese AI policy and strategy documents.

Oxford-based non-profit research organization dedicated to the governance of advanced AI, founded in 2018 out of Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute. Builds the global AI governance research field through research, fellowships, and convening; its team and affiliate community span US-China relations, and it has served as an institutional home for China-focused AI governance scholars including Jeff Ding.

A fortnightly newsletter that tracks AI development, governance, and safety in China by monitoring and contextualizing Chinese-language primary sources. It is maintained by the Safe AI Forum.

Translation project run by Jeremy Daum of Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, providing timely English translations of Chinese laws and regulations — including the algorithm, deep synthesis, generative AI, and AI labeling rules — that international researchers rely on as primary sources.

Jeff Ding's weekly Substack translating writings from Chinese thinkers on China's AI landscape, including AI safety benchmarks, governance reports, and policy debates. Running since 2018 with tens of thousands of subscribers, it is the canonical translation channel between Chinese-language AI discourse and English-speaking audiences. Ding is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at George Washington University.

Newsletter and podcast covering China, technology, and US-China relations, with deep coverage of Chinese AI labs, semiconductor policy, and AI governance through interviews with leading researchers and policymakers.

Washington think tank center (est. 2023) researching AI policy, governance, geopolitics, and national security. Its analysis of US-China AI competition and semiconductor export controls — anchored by Gregory C. Allen's work — is among the most influential interpretation of China's AI trajectory for US and allied policymakers.

Stanford-based collaborative project translating and analyzing Chinese digital policy, including authoritative annotated translations and expert analysis of China's AI regulations and governance institutions.

A researcher focused on the Chinese AI governance ecosystem and broader questions of technology governance. She writes China AI Bulletin and has published research and commentary that interprets Chinese AI policy for English-speaking audiences.

A nonpartisan AI policy think tank. Its International Governance & China research includes Chinese AI-safety institutions, comparisons of US and Chinese approaches to general-purpose AI governance, and prospects for bilateral or multilateral safety dialogue.

CSIS project providing English translations of Chinese primary sources — policy documents, speeches, and articles — paired with expert analysis, with the stated goal of enabling a more objective understanding of China. Supported by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, with an advisory board of leading China scholars, and documented selection criteria (publisher affiliation, citation weight, official-line vs. novel argument, signaling intent). A core primary-source layer for China AI governance research.

Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, where his research covers AI development and policy with a focus on China. His work explores China's AI policy ecosystem, the role of technology in China's political economy, and U.S.-China competition in AI. Key analyses include 'Tracing the Roots of China's AI Regulations' (2024), 'How China Views AI Risks and What to Do About Them' (2025, on TC260's AI Safety Governance Framework 2.0), and 'China is Worried About AI Companions' (2026, on the Anthropomorphic AI regulation). Previously a fellow at the Paulson Institute's MacroPolo think tank leading research on Chinese technology issues. Author of 'The Transpacific Experiment' (Counterpoint Press, 2019). Lived in China 2010–2016; reads, writes, and speaks Mandarin Chinese.

An Oxford-based nonprofit research group focused on China, emerging technology, and policy. Its work examines how US–China competition—especially around AI and other emerging technologies—can generate global risks and how policy can mitigate them.

Partner and China/technology policy lead at DGA-Albright Stonebridge Group and honorary senior fellow at the Asia Society Policy Institute. Veteran interpreter of China's AI, semiconductor, and technology policy for international audiences, with 25+ years of prior US government experience and participation in Track II dialogues with China on AI and data governance.

Global policy research organization whose Global and Emerging Risks division — including the Center on AI, Security, and Technology and the Center for the Geopolitics of AGI — and China Research Center produce research on China's AI ecosystem, US-China AI market competition, China's science and technology strategy, and verification approaches for international AI agreements.

Weekly newsletter tracking and decoding developments in China's AI ecosystem — model releases, AI companies, chips, and policy — written for international audiences. Author Tony Peng is a former AI reporter (Synced) and former Baidu global communications lead.

A US 501(c)(3) nonprofit working on global coordination around extreme AI risks. It maintains China AI Bulletin and co-convenes the International Dialogues on AI Safety with Chinese research partners.

Research Scholar in Law and Senior Fellow at Yale Law School's Paul Tsai China Center, focused on China's cybersecurity legal system, data governance, and the US-China technology relationship — foundational context for China's AI regulatory regime.

A researcher working on global AI development and governance with a focus on China. He co-founded the Oxford China Policy Lab and is a fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Head of China, AI Research and Strategic Initiatives in the Office of Eric Schmidt, and former Bloomberg News China reporter. Writes on China's AI trajectory and US-China technology competition for major outlets including co-authored New York Times essays with Eric Schmidt that have shaped elite US understanding of China's AI momentum.

English-language podcast launched in 2026 by Tsinghua University's Center for International Security and Strategy, featuring leading Chinese experts on AI competition, shared security risks, and US-China cooperation — a rare outward-facing channel conveying how Chinese strategists themselves frame AI risk. (CISS appears on the Ecosystem Actors sheet.)

An independent digital publication focused on business, economic, and policy coverage of China for a Western readership. Notable for its 'Who's Who' series profiling key figures across Chinese industries — including a comprehensive directory of 52 entrepreneurs, scientists, and policymakers shaping China's AI ecosystem, compiled from corporate documents, government statements, scholarly articles, and media reports. Also operates WireScreen, an AI-powered research platform for China corporate intelligence. The Who's Who AI directory covers leaders at DeepSeek, Zhipu AI, Moonshot, MiniMax, Baidu, Tencent, ByteDance, SenseTime, Huawei, and government officials including at MOST and CAS.

Beijing- and international-based policy research consultancy that monitors Chinese policymaking daily; its tech policy team provides close, practitioner-oriented tracking and interpretation of China's AI and data regulations for international audiences.

Shanghai-based research publication founded by media executive Zhou Jiangong, analyzing China's technology, AI, and energy transformation through industrial logic. Publishes an English-language Substack (part of the TechBuzz China content network) whose close readings of China's AI industry — DeepSeek releases, token economics, open-source dynamics — interpret the industrial layer of the ecosystem for international readers.

AI governance researcher and entrepreneur based at UC Berkeley. MPP from UC Berkeley Goldman School of Public Policy with an AI governance specialization; Berkeley AI Safety Fellow; Co-Founder of AI Safety Sandbox, an AI governance startup incubating at Berkeley SkyDeck Pad13. Collaborator at MIT's AI Risk Repository (airisk.mit.edu). Consulting background spanning both U.S. and Chinese government agencies — including the U.S. Department of Energy, WWF, the Pacific Economic Cooperation Council (PECC), China's Cyberspace Administration (CAC), and the Shanghai City Government. Contributed to PECC conference recommendations as a partner event to the 2025 Paris AI Summit. Active on Xiaohongshu (小红书) covering AI governance and China tech policy discourse: https://xhslink.cn/m/52DWYMaOBtb

Programme Associate (Research) at the Oxford China Policy Lab, researching China's AI governance and development and the broader socioeconomic implications of AI. Holds a Master's in Social Science of the Internet from the Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford. Concordia AI affiliate. Notable published work includes analysis of China's AI registry system and the AIGC algorithm filing dataset for ChinaTalk ('China's AI Landscape: a free-for-all, not a central plan', 2026), and investigation of China's proxy economy for accessing Western AI models ('How to Buy Cheap Claude Tokens in China', ChinaTalk 2026). Research supported by the Tarbell Center for AI Journalism. Previously covered China's humanoid robot policies and Singapore's role in the US-China AI competition.