Chinese ministry backs growth of national AI open source community and encourages startup participation

On September 4, 2026, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released the 'AI SME Startup Support Plan (2026-2028)'. The initiative aims to foster innovation and growth in AI startups over three years, with targets including cultivating over 10,000 new tech and innovative SMEs, exceeding 2,000 'specialized, refined, unique, and new' enterprises, and emerging a number of瞪羚 and unicorn companies. The plan emphasizes expanding affordable computing power through the Chinese Computing Power Platform, enabling startups to access cost-effective resources. It also promotes data sharing in sectors like manufacturing and biomedicine, while supporting data service providers to reduce costs for startups. Additionally, the ministry encourages the growth of 'smart-native' companies and open-source communities like AtomGit, urging startups to contribute to the open-source ecosystem by sharing models, tools, and datasets, fostering a collaborative AI environment.