China’s top priority should be wages, not AI

China’s top priority should be wages, not AI

China’s pressing economic problem is that ordinary people still have too little money in their pockets

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Lijia Zhang is a rocket-factory worker turned social commentator, and the author of a novel, Lotus.

Published: 9:30am, 24 Sep 2026

“Whoever wins with AI wins,” US President Donald Trump has declared, dismissing warnings about the risks of developing artificial intelligence too rapidly and citing rivalry with China.

The technological competition is real. China has reason to fear becoming dependent on America for advanced chips and AI technology, particularly as Washington has repeatedly restricted its access to cutting-edge semiconductors. China, meanwhile, is directing enormous resources towards AI. Stanford University’s 2026 AI Index estimates that Chinese government guidance funds deployed US$184 billion into AI-related companies between 2000 and 2023.

I am no technology expert. But as someone who spent 10 years greasing machine parts in a factory, I wonder whether China has got its priorities right. Should winning the AI race be such an overriding national ambition when the country has another pressing economic problem? Namely, ordinary Chinese people still have too little money in their pockets.