The way China regulates its tech industry can seem highly unpredictable. The government can celebrate the achievements of Chinese tech companies one day and then turn against them the next. But there are patterns in how China approaches regulating tech, argues Angela Huyue Zhang, a law professor at Hong Kong University and author of the new book High Wire: How China Regulates Big Tech and Governs Its Economy. Chinese policies almost always follow a three-phase progression: a lax approach where companies are given relative flexibility to expand and compete, sudden harsh crackdowns that slash profits, and eventually a new loosening of restrictions. Zeyi Yang, our China reporter, recently spoke with Zhang about her new book and how to apply her insights to China's tech industry, including significant new sectors like artificial intelligence.

China has published plans to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025, as Western companies including Elon Musk's Tesla race to produce their own humanoids. Goldman Sachs has predicted that the market for humanoid robots could be worth $150 billion a year worldwide within 15 years - and that humanoid robots will be viable in factories between 2025-2028 and in other jobs by 2030-2035. The technology will have a positive impact in many fields, believes Marga Hoek, author of Tech For Good, but people need to prepare for it. How will robots change the world of 2035? Hoek said that predictions suggest that up to a quarter of all jobs could be impacted by robotics and AI technology.

China plans to open its new space station up to'tourism' within the next decade - sparking what the country hopes is a race to compete with the likes of private American space tourists such as Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Richard Branson. China launched its Tiangong space station in 2021 - its first long-term space station project - with the final modules set to launch later this year. The country's announcement also comes as China continues to produce new billionaires at a blistering pace - much faster than any other nation on Earth. While there were no specific details included to determine what the future of space tourism in China will look like, officials have said it is likely that people without formal astronaut training could be launched into orbit'relatively soon.' Yang Liwei, who became the first Chinese astronaut back in 2003, said tourists visiting Tiangong'is not a matter of technology but of demand.' China is also thought to be working on a more tourist-friendly reusable spacecraft that could take up to seven astronauts at a time into space.

China is looking to boost research into what it calls "frontier technology" including quantum computing and semiconductors, as it competes with the U.S. for supremacy in the latest innovations. In its five-year development plan, the 14th of its kind, Beijing said it would make "science and technology self-reliance and self-improvement a strategic pillar for national development," according to a CNBC translation. Premier Li Keqiang said on Friday that China would increase research and development spending by more than 7% per year between 2021 and 2025, in pursuit of "major breakthroughs" in technology. China's technology champions such as Huawei and SMIC have been targeted by U.S. sanctions as tensions between Beijing and Washington have ramped up in the past few years. As such, China has concentrated on boosting its domestic expertise in areas it sees as strategically important, such as semiconductors.

In November of 2018, the South China Morning Post reported that researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences intend to construct an underwater base in the South China Sea. According to the report, not only would the base be populated with AI robots, but the machines are expected to run it autonomously. Aside from this information, most elements of the project have remained under wraps – until now. Now, details are emerging about what could be the world's first Artificial Intelligence colony. With access to prototypes and scientific documents, New Scientists created a picture of what to expect.

Chinese technicians were making final preparations Monday for a mission to bring back material from the moon's surface for the first time in more than four decades – an undertaking that could boost human understanding of the moon and of the solar system more generally. Chang'e 5 – named for the Chinese moon goddess – is the country's most ambitious lunar mission yet. If successful, it would be a major advance for China's space program, and some experts say it could pave the way for bringing samples back from Mars or even a crewed lunar mission. The China National Space Administration said in a statement that the Long March-5Y rocket began fueling up on Monday, ahead of a launch scheduled for between 3 p.m. and 4 p.m. EST Monday at the Wenchang launch center on the southern island province of Hainan. The typically secretive administration had previously only confirmed the launch would be in late November.

In 2017, China published its "Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan", which laid out plans to ultimately become the world leader in artificial intelligence, with a domestic AI industry worth almost US$150 billion. The first step of that plan is to catch up with the US on AI technology and applications by 2020. China now dominates AI funding. Last year, 48 per cent of total equity funding of AI start-ups globally came from China, compared to 38 per cent funded by the US, and 13 per cent by the rest of the world. This is a significant jump from the 11.3 per cent of global funding China made in 2016.

China used the "Next Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan" in 2017 to kick off how it aims to build a domestic industry worth almost US$150 billion to surpass the rest of the world as a global AI innovation hub by 2030. The first step of that plan is to catch up with the US on AI technology and applications by 2020. China now dominates AI funding. Last year, 48 per cent of total equity funding of AI start-ups globally came from China, compared to 38 per cent funded by the US, and 13 per cent by the rest of the world. This is a significant jump from the 11.3 per cent of global funding China made in 2016.

China plans to use artificial intelligence (AI) and drones to protect the Great Wall. Under an agreement between the government and the US tech giant Intel, the world's second largest manufacturer of semiconductors and microprocessors and the China Foundation For Cultural Heritage Conservation will explore ways to collaborate in the inspection, repair and preservation of the Great Wall, Xinhua news agency reported. To begin with, Intel drones will collect images from sections of the monument and use 3D modelling to identify damaged areas. "The use of the latest technologies, will provide a new perspective of the protection of the Great Wall, and show us the great potential of science and technology in cultural heritage protection," said Li Xiaojie, director of the China Foundation For Cultural Heritage Conservation. The Great Wall, a symbol of China, is actually not just one wall, but many interconnected walls built between the third century B.C. and the Ming Dynasty (1384-1644).

China aims to implement artificial intelligence technology in at least half of all its new cars by 2020 and cover 90 percent of its big cities and highways with a wireless network so the cars can talk to each other and the roads, its top state planner said on Friday. These goals are part of a draft for a national smart car strategy that the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) wants to seek public feedback for, it said in a statement. China is aiming to become a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2025, and intends to grow its core AI industries to over 150 billion yuan ($22.15 billion) by 2020. Smart cars are a key part of the project. The NDRC said it wanted to build a national team with officials from the State Council to guide smart car innovation and planned to encourage the launch of preferential policies for related businesses which could include tax cuts.