appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

hooksArticlePageFloatingButtonConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Xinmei Shen

China has significantly closed the gap with the US in artificial intelligence development, but remains years behind in cutting-edge semiconductors, according to analysts at investment group Citic CLSA.
The China-US AI gap has narrowed to around three months from more than a year, thanks in part to the influx of AI talent, fast technology iteration and a boom in AI applications on the mainland, said Tony Zhang, head of China technology research at CLSA, in a media briefing on Tuesday.
While Chinese companies face a shortage of high-performance processors for their AI projects because of geopolitical issues, the technology’s development has not been hindered by that constraint, according to Zhang.
He attributed that resilience to the foresight of Chinese cloud services providers, who managed to accumulate enough AI chips for training purposes. The country has also seen a growing number of domestic chip designers develop AI processors for both training and inference tasks, he added.
CLSA’s assessment reflected how China has managed to overcome US export restrictions that have limited domestic firms’ access to advanced chips used for AI projects in data centres.
The breakthroughs made by start-ups like DeepSeek in open-source AI models and Huawei Technologies in AI chip design have also enabled China to bolster its tech self-sufficiency efforts amid US sanctions.

Harry Shum Heung-yeung, renowned computer scientist who was Microsoft’s head of AI and research until 2020, said in June that China was “following very closely in algorithms” in spite of a large gap in advanced chip production.
To compete in AI, China is leveraging its advantages in areas such as open-source algorithms and applications, according to Zhang.
China is also expected to generate “a lot of innovation” from improved AI training efficiency because developers “have a massive incentive”, said Bhavtosh Vajpayee, CLSA’s international head of technology research.
Meanwhile, China is also advancing quickly in some aspects of AI infrastructure, including optical transceivers, printed circuit boards, copper cables and power management, according to Zhang.
“China has become an essential part of the global AI supply chain,” he said.
Still, the US continues to have a clear advantage in computing power, he added.
China’s leading integrated circuit developers must contend with a gap that would take years, instead of months, to narrow, Zhang said. He also pointed out that greater computing power gives the US an advantage over China in developing multimodal AI models that generate images or videos.


Singapore’s finance firms pledge to train 80,000 local staff in AI skills

Don’t let AI take over our human creative expression

Alibaba unveils ‘pragmatic’ AI road map to drive monetisation, infrastructure efficiency

China, US hold first AI dialogue amid mounting tech tensions: commerce ministry

Artificial intelligence (AI)

China narrows AI development gap with US, but remains behind in advanced chips: CLSA

AI development in China has managed to overcome US tech restrictions. Photo: Shutterstock

China continues to lag the US in the development of advanced semiconductors. Photo: Shutterstock

China targets global leadership in AI-driven energy sector by 2030

People attend the launch event of the first commercial application of artificial intelligence for the mining industry in Jinan, Shandong province, on July 18, 2023. Photo: EPA-EFE

Yajiang-1, a cutting-edge computing centre, leverages Tibet autonomous region’s extreme environment to make massive AI training tasks radically more energy-efficient. Photo: Handout

China cities feed AI economies with dedicated services as race with US picks up pace

At July’s World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai, a humanoid robot hands out soda. Photo: Reuters

Chinese companies could start making money from AI agents next year, UBS says

A UBS branch in Lucerne, Switzerland. Photo: Reuters 

Tech war: Huawei executive claims victory over US sanctions with computing, AI ecosystem

Huawei is pushing the boundaries in semiconductors, computing power, cloud services and AI amid US tech restrictions. Photo: Shutterstock

Tao Jingwen, president of Huawei Technologies’ quality, business process and information technology management department. Photo: Handout

People visit Huawei Technologies’ cloud computing booth at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 26, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Tech

Tech War

Tech Trends

Business

China Business

News

China Future Tech

Semiconductors

The China-US AI gap narrows to around three months from more than a year previously, CLSA’s head of technology research says


The China-US AI gap narrows to around three months from more than a year previously, CLSA’s head of technology research says.


China narrows AI development gap with US, but remains behind in advanced chips: CLSA

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}The China-US AI gap narrows to around three months from more than a year previously, CLSA’s head of technology research says

The China-US AI gap narrows to around three months from more than a year previously, CLSA’s head of technology research says