Shanghai has issued a new development plan for its software and information services industry, setting a 2030 goal of reaching 4 trillion yuan in industry scale and more than 1.1 trillion yuan in value added.
The document, released by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy and Informatization, describes the sector as a future “engine” for economic growth, a main base for AI-enabled applications, and a bridgehead for global competition. It also says Shanghai aims to deliver breakthroughs in artificial intelligence and key software, raise the number of companies with revenue above 10 billion yuan to 35, and increase the share of high-end software, digital content and digital intelligence services.
Plan maps out 18 tasks across three areas
The plan lists 18 major tasks grouped into three broad areas.
The first focuses on the role of artificial intelligence in lifting industry competitiveness. It covers the digital-intelligence upgrade of the internet sector, reshaping the software industry, upgrading digital content, iterating cybersecurity products and services, transforming the intelligent computing cloud segment, improving fintech quality, and strengthening services for industrial digital-intelligence transformation.
The second centers on emerging tracks aimed at creating new industry formats. In AI gaming, the plan calls for breakthroughs in core technologies including multi-agent collaborative decision-making, dynamic environment generation, real-time emotional interaction, long-term memory reasoning and accelerated physics simulation. The goal is to foster a new generation of immersive intelligent games with self-generated storylines and real-time dynamic interaction.
It also calls for work on lightweight game-specific large models and edge deployment so complex agents can run smoothly on end devices. Shanghai wants to build agent-based open-world ecosystems that support nonlinear storytelling and personalized plot generation, while also allowing players to interact with games through voice, text, movement and facial expressions rather than pre-set plotlines and fixed interaction boundaries.
The third part of the plan addresses industry support systems. It calls for a more active open-source ecosystem tied into global software and information industry innovation and application networks. Shanghai said it will rely on platforms such as the White Magnolia Open Source Institute, OpenLoong and OpenDataLab to support first launches in the city for open-source projects involving intelligent software, corpora, algorithms, models, agents, and humanoid robot software and hardware.
The plan also mentions paid open source and dual-licensing mechanisms as ways to create more flexible benefit-sharing arrangements. It backs commercial secondary development based on open-source software and says Shanghai will support enterprises and institutions participating in the global open-source ecosystem and international rule-setting.
Quoted remarks from Mark Zuckerberg and Jiang Yao
Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said open models help prevent excessive concentration of AI capabilities and give more individuals and businesses access to advanced tools. He said the current open-source ecosystem is “powerful,” and argued that restricting open-source AI would push AI toward greater concentration, which he said would be unfavorable for safety and economic development. He also said learning from other models is an important principle in the open-source ecosystem and that distillation should not be simply treated as harmful behavior.
Jiang Yao, founder of Oaknut Robot, said language is not an innate instinct and must be acquired through data-driven training, while operational behavior is different because it is instinctive from birth. He said a newborn placed in an unfamiliar environment will reach out to grab objects as long as the child can see them, and that this response pattern is broadly consistent across people.
China tech updates: WeChat AI features in limited testing, WorkBuddy adds sync
Tencent customer service said on Aug. 11 that WeChat’s new AI-assisted Moments features, called “AI帮写” and “AI点评,” are still in limited testing. The first offers writing suggestions for posts, while the second analyzes friends’ updates. Both run through Tencent’s native assistant Xiaowei. The company said there is no separate test entry point for now, and users can access the experience through the Xiaowei icon in the upper-left corner of the WeChat home screen if they have test access.
Tencent WorkBuddy also announced support for multi-device synchronization across PC, app and mini program, allowing tasks, conversation records and outputs to sync in real time. It also supports remote authorization and stopping of PC-side tasks from a mobile phone, along with remote use while the device is locked.
Tmall Flash Buy’s home-delivered dining project, “Jiayan,” started a second round of gray testing in Shanghai and Hangzhou in early August. The project is working with 12 restaurant brands across more than 20 stores. It had previously completed a first round of external testing in Chengdu and Shenzhen. A person close to the project said it is aimed at family banquets and business dining rather than being a simple extension of traditional food delivery. Orders must be placed at least one day in advance, with meals freshly prepared by partner restaurants and delivered through customized packaging and temperature-controlled logistics.
Overseas companies: SK hynix restarts Dalian NAND plant project, Samsung SDI expands in North America
SK hynix has reportedly restarted construction of the second plant at its NAND flash production base in Dalian, China, with plans to increase capacity by about 50%. Construction began four years ago, but the project had been stalled for a long period because of weakness in the memory market. The company plans to bring in semiconductor manufacturing equipment before the end of this year and begin formal production in the first half of next year.
In aviation manufacturing, Mammoth Freighters and STAECO reached a strategic cooperation agreement to build China’s first Boeing 777 widebody passenger-to-freighter conversion line at Qingdao Jiaodong International Airport. Mammoth’s global layout includes nine conversion lines in total: five in Fort Worth in the United States, two in Manchester in the United Kingdom, and two in Qingdao. The first Qingdao line is scheduled to begin production in September 2026, with the second expected to be completed and put into use in 2027.
Samsung SDI said it had reached an agreement with General Motors to jointly develop next-generation electric vehicle batteries. The prismatic battery products developed under the agreement are expected to be used in GM’s next-generation EV models.
Samsung SDI also agreed to acquire all of General Motors’ 49.99% stake in Synergy Cells, their joint venture in Indiana, and take over the company. Synergy Cells has a planned annual production capacity of 27 GWh and a planned investment of $3.5 billion. The factory is currently under construction. Samsung SDI said the deal gives it its first standalone battery factory in North America.
Regulation and policy: 764 CCC certificates revoked
China’s State Administration for Market Regulation said it had completed a 2025 validity inspection covering products subject to compulsory certification. The inspection covered 2,483 batches across 39 categories, including electric fans, toys, load-bearing vehicles, household gas stoves, electric bicycles, and wires and cables. Certification bodies covered in the inspection accounted for 41.18% of the total.
The regulator said it had notified relevant certification bodies of producers and products found not to meet certification requirements and instructed them to carry out quality traceability and risk checks. Certification bodies later revoked 764 certificates in accordance with the rules. For products found to have serious non-compliance and whose certificates were revoked, certification bodies will not accept certification applications for the same products for six months.
Also on Aug. 11, the Artificial Intelligence Industry Alliance said it had started the solicitation process for the Embodied Intelligence Industry Map (2026). The application period runs from now through the end of September 2026.
Another regulatory update came from financial product online marketing. The Measures for the Administration of Online Marketing of Financial Products will take effect on Sept. 30. According to information from relevant channels, regulators are already checking and rectifying disorder tied to online accounts in the insurance sector to prepare for implementation. Interviewed sources said the direction of travel is toward institutional accountability, identity consistency between person and certificate, and traceability.
Capital markets: Intel expands stock sale to $20 billion, OpenAI buys back employee shares
On China’s STAR Market, QuantumCTek Technology (Hefei) Co. officially listed in Shanghai under the ticker 688828. The company priced its offering at 21.22 yuan per share, issued 40.01 million shares, and raised 849 million yuan. Founded in 2016, it focuses on research, production and sales of quantum precision measurement instruments.
Avatr Technology President Chen Zhuo said the brand must preserve independence in computing-power scheduling and complete-vehicle solution design in order to avoid becoming a “hardware integrator.” He said future research and development will focus on original design, customized scenarios and AI smart cockpits. He also said the company plans to launch a new six-seat flagship SUV in the fourth quarter. On IPO progress, Chen said the company is steadily advancing the approval process in line with regulatory requirements.
Intel said it priced its registered public offering of common stock at $95 per share, with 210,526,315 shares to be sold. The offering was increased from the previously announced $15 billion to $20 billion. The transaction is expected to close on Aug. 12, 2026, subject to customary closing conditions.
ETF assets also kept rising. Wind data showed that as of Aug. 10, ETF shares had increased by 374.2 billion units in the second half of the year to 3.4 trillion units, while total assets rose by 253.4 billion yuan to 4.99 trillion yuan. That leaves the market just short of the 5 trillion yuan mark. A total of 48 new ETF products were launched in the second half, bringing the total number to 1,629. The financial theme saw the largest share increase, tracked by 31 funds. Semiconductor materials and equipment was the index target with the biggest share increase, while gold equities delivered the highest return among index targets.
OpenAI has reportedly repurchased about $7 billion of employee shares as it prepares for a possible future initial public offering on Wall Street. Two people familiar with the matter said the tender offer did not involve outside investors and that the company bought the shares directly from current and former employees. The transaction valued the AI startup at $852 billion, unchanged from its most recent fundraising round. The report added that OpenAI had previously invited investors including Thrive Capital and SoftBank Group to buy employee shares.
Other notable figures and industry developments
Box office data from online platforms showed that 2026 annual movie ticket sales in China, including pre-sales, passed 24.5 billion yuan as of Aug. 11. “Pegasus 3,” “Kung Fu Women’s Football,” and “A Love Letter for Grandma” ranked in the top three.
The China Passenger Car Association said retail sales in China’s passenger vehicle market totaled 1.461 million units in July 2026, down 20.9% from a year earlier and down 8.8% from the prior month. Year-to-date retail sales reached 10.173 million units, down 20.3% year on year.
Air China said its Beijing Capital–Ulaanbaatar CA723/4 service will begin operating with the domestically produced C919 aircraft from Aug. 12. That will mark the first international commercial flight for the C919.
The China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing said the e-commerce logistics index stood at 111.2 in July, down 0.2 point from the previous month. It said supply conditions remained stable and inventory turnover efficiency improved. Total e-commerce logistics volume and rural business volume both maintained year-on-year growth above 20%, while rural e-commerce logistics activity in western and northeastern regions continued to improve.
This roundup was compiled from CCTV News, Zhongxin Jingwei, China Securities Taurus, Shanghai Securities News, Securities Daily and other sources.