A concept picture of AI city File photo: VCG

China's innovation is distinctly characterized by openness and open-source collaboration, with the pursuit of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, Lin Jian, a spokesperson for China's Foreign Ministry, said on Friday, when asked to comment recent media reports by the Financial Times, the Economist and other outlets about China becoming an innovation powerhouse, and exploring the reasons behind it, with some pointing out that China has transformed from the "world's factory" into the "world's laboratory," and Western countries need to catch up in the competition.

In his response at a regular press briefing, Lin said that innovation has indeed become a key word in China's economic and social development, noting that the Recommendations of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China for Formulating the 15th Five-Year Plan for National Economic and Social Development mentioned "innovation" 61 times.

In recent years, China has seen a concentrated surge of major scientific and technological achievements, and its ranking in the Global Innovation Index has risen from the 34th place in 2012 to the 10th place in 2025, according to the spokesperson.

For many years, China has regarded science and technology as the primary productive force. Through strengthened conceptual guidance, policy incentives, and institutional reforms, while fully leveraging the advantages of its market and talent pool, China has made enterprises the principal actors in innovation. With persistent, long-term efforts, it has forged a successful path in which technological innovation drives industrial innovation, and industrial upgrading in turn promotes iterative advances in technology. This approach has transformed innovation into a deep-seated driving force for China's economic development, Lin noted.

The process of innovation may involve competition, but competition is by no means the purpose of innovation, and China's innovation is distinctly characterized by openness and open-source collaboration, pursuing mutual benefit and win-win outcomes, Lin said.

The spokesperson further noted that China's space station has attracted participation from 17 countries and 23 entities in its first batch of international cooperation projects, while China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) is open to observation applications from scientists worldwide. 

The country has advocated for the creation of a global AI cooperation organization and proposed the AI+ International Cooperation Initiative, committing itself to promoting open, inclusive, and beneficial development of AI. DeepSeek has been made available to developers around the world in an open-source manner for use and improvement, Lin added.

"There are many more examples like these," the spokesperson said, adding that China is willing to share its original technologies and innovative scenarios with the world. "Through open cooperation, we can empower one another, grow together, and ensure that the fruits of innovation better benefit all of humankind," Lin said.

Global Times