Science-power drive, AI-agent rules · Jul 12

Xi sets 2035 target to build technology power.

Today's events

Science-power push.
Xi's July 8 science-awards speech, echoed across today's state press, set 2035 as the deadline to build China into a science and technology power.¹Jul 12 · Gov.cn
Carbon-peak plan.
The State Council issued its 15th Five-Year-Plan carbon-peak blueprint, cutting carbon intensity 17% by 2030 and lifting non-fossil energy to a quarter of consumption.²Jul 9 · State Council
AI-agent standards.
The market regulator issued China's first national standards for AI agents, seven rules letting autonomous agents interconnect across platforms with unified identity and safety controls.³Jul 11 · SAMR
Price-war crackdown.
The market regulator blacklisted a batch of firms for selling substandard goods in “involution-style” price competition, naming them to deter cut-throat undercutting.⁴Jul 10 · SAMR
Central bank holds course.
The central bank's policy committee kept monetary policy “moderately loose” and pledged stronger counter-cyclical support to lift prices back to a reasonable level.⁵Jul 8 · PBOC
Factory prices jump.
June producer prices rose 4.1% from a year earlier, led by a 16.5% surge in mining and extraction and an 8.6% rise in raw materials.⁶Jul 9 · Stats Bureau
World's highest dam.
The first generator started up at the 315-metre Shuangjiangkou hydropower station in Sichuan, the world's tallest dam, feeding the southwest's clean-energy base.⁷Jul 10 · NEA
Two officials expelled.
The Party's anti-graft body expelled a former Shangrao politics-and-law secretary and a Hainan high-court official from the Party for corruption and judicial graft.⁸Jul 8 · CCDI
North Korea ties.
Xi and Kim Jong Un exchanged messages marking 65 years of their 1961 friendship treaty, and Xi hosted Pyongyang's visiting premier in Beijing.⁹Jul 11 · Qiushi

Voices

“We must fully implement the Party Central Committee's arrangements for science and technology, and march firmly toward the goal of building a science and technology power by 2035.”
Xi Jinping, CPC General Secretary · July 8¹

“The so-called ‘China squeeze’ does not fit the facts. A great country's greatness lies in benefiting the world; China keeps offering the world opportunity through its own development.”
Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning · July 10¹⁰

“Interconnecting vast numbers of AI agents across platforms and domains is now inevitable, but their ‘information islands’ must be broken down by standards that unify rules and guard against risk.”
Zhu Meina, SAMR Standards Dept. · June 26³

“We will continue a moderately loose monetary policy and step up counter-cyclical and cross-cyclical adjustment to promote steady economic growth and a reasonable recovery in prices.”
PBOC Monetary Policy Committee · July 4⁵

“By 2030, carbon dioxide emissions per unit of GDP will fall 17% from 2025 and non-fossil energy will reach 25% of consumption, ensuring the carbon peak arrives on schedule.”
15th Five-Year Plan Carbon Peak Action Plan, State Council · July 9²

“The ruling party in Taiwan deliberately manufactures tension and escalates cross-Strait confrontation, winning no hearts; bravado through military drills buys no real security.”
Defense Ministry Spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang · June 25¹¹

Sources

State Council (gov.cn), “People's Daily Commentary: March Firmly Toward Building a Science and Technology Power by 2035” (on Xi's July 8 speech to the national science-awards congress), July 12, 2026. gov.cn/yaowen/…/science-technology-power-2035
State Council (gov.cn), “Notice on Issuing the 15th Five-Year Plan Carbon Peak Action Plan” (Guofa [2026] No. 22), July 9, 2026. gov.cn/zhengce/…/15fyp-carbon-peak-plan
State Administration for Market Regulation, “Press Conference on AI-Agent Interconnection Standardization” (first national standards for AI agents), July 11, 2026. samr.gov.cn/xw/…/ai-agent-standards
State Administration for Market Regulation, “Firms Behind ‘Involution-Style’ Competition Placed on Serious-Violation Blacklist,” July 10, 2026. samr.gov.cn/xw/…/involution-blacklist
People's Bank of China, “Monetary Policy Committee Holds Q2 2026 Regular Meeting,” July 8, 2026. pbc.gov.cn/goutongjiaoliu/…/mpc-q2-2026
National Bureau of Statistics, “Producer Prices Up 4.1% Year-on-Year in June 2026,” July 9, 2026. stats.gov.cn/sj/…/ppi-june-2026
National Energy Administration, “First Unit of Shuangjiangkou Hydropower Station, the World's Highest Dam, Connects to the Grid,” July 10, 2026. nea.gov.cn/20260710/…/shuangjiangkou-dam
Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, “Former Shangrao Municipal Standing Committee Member and Politics-and-Law Secretary Wu Shujian Expelled from the Party and Public Office,” July 8, 2026. ccdi.gov.cn/yaowenn/…/wu-shujian
Qiushi, “Xi Jinping and Kim Jong Un Exchange Congratulatory Messages on the 65th Anniversary of the China–DPRK Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance,” July 11, 2026. qstheory.cn/20260711/…/china-dprk-treaty-65th
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Mao Ning's Regular Press Conference,” July 10, 2026. mfa.gov.cn/wjdt/…/mao-ning-jul-10
Ministry of National Defense, “Spokesperson Zhang Xiaogang: The Ruling Party in Taiwan Deliberately Manufacturing Tension Wins No Hearts,” July 10, 2026. mod.gov.cn/gfbw/…/zhang-xiaogang-taiwan