China Proposes AI Division of Labour

China could deliberately concede certain high‑end layers of the AI value chain (cloud, frontier chips, top models) in exchange for guaranteed market access and leadership over open‑source models, inference at scale, industrial apps and devices. The maneuver — framed as "advance through concessions" — aims to avoid a damaging bifurcation and to lock in customers and standards influence through supply relationships rather than raw technological parity. — If Beijing adopts this bargaining posture, it would reshape trade negotiations, standard‑setting fights, and how third countries choose suppliers, with broad implications for industrial policy and tech sovereignty.