Chinese President Xi Jinping reads during a speech by Premier Li Qiang at the opening session of the National Peoples Congress, or NPC, at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing on March 5, 2025. Charlie Campbell is a correspondent at TIME, based in the Singapore bureau.

As a trade war with the United States begins, China wants to fire up its economy and plans to increase defence spending.

“DeepSeek adheres to an open-source approach and promotes the widespread application of AI technology globally, which contributes Chinese wisdom to the world. Through the rise of companies like DeepSeek, we can see the innovation and inclusiveness of China’s technological development” -Lou Qinjian, Spokesperson for China’s parliament.

Premier Li Qiang has emphasised boosting consumption and improving people's livelihoods through stronger and more targeted measures, in a bid to strengthen the fundamental role of consumption in ...