The new year opened with a striking illustration of China’s expanding technological footprint. A leading Chinese aerospace company, PIESAT, showcased advanced satellite-and drone-related technologies, particularly remote-sensing and Artificial Intelligence (AI)-enabled applications, at the AI Rise Expo in Islamabad, engaging directly with Pakistan’s national space agency, SUPARCO. What appeared to be a routine technology exhibition, in fact, signaled a deeper strategic moment in the evolving convergence of China-Pakistan cooperation in space, AI, and advanced technologies.

The timing of this development is significant. The intensifying U.S.-China competition for technological supremacy has placed AI and emerging technologies at the center of global strategic rivalry. The U.S. Artificial Intelligence Commission Report captures this anxiety cogently, warning that AI is widening a “window of vulnerability” for the United States and threatening its long-standing technological dominance (NSCAI). The report argues that China possesses the scale, talent, and ambition to surpass the United States in AI leadership if current trends persist, and that AI will be a decisive source of power for states and corporations alike.

This sense of vulnerability underscores a broader reality: China has emerged as a central technological actor and is actively integrating with partner countries. Technology is now embedded across nearly every domain of economic, social, and security life, rendering the technology sector intrinsically global. While the United States and China promote distinct AI governance models, their underlying emphasis on technological leadership is similar.

The critical difference lies in strategic orientation: the United States seeks to contain or deny China’s technological rise in pursuit of continued supremacy, whereas China emphasizes integration, connectivity, and shared technological ecosystems.

The U.S. National Security Strategy (2025) seeks to close this perceived window of vulnerability by reaffirming American scientific and technological primacy and sustaining unrivaled “soft power” to advance U.S. interests globally. In contrast, the Communiqué of the Fourth Plenary Session of the Communist Party of China calls for deep integration between technological and industrial innovation, expanded domestic demand, wider global opening, and high-quality Belt and Road cooperation. This dual strategy combines self-reliance with outward connectivity, aligning domestic modernization with multilateral trade, infrastructure, education, and cultural exchange.

Against this backdrop, this policy brief examines the evolving trajectory of China-Pakistan cooperation in technology and AI. It argues that this cooperation has both strategic and operational dimensions. Strategically, it is three-dimensional, anchored in land, water, and space, and driven by science and technology cooperation. Operationally, it manifests through infrastructure connectivity, maritime and underwater security, and cyberspace. Together, these domains reflect both the breadth and depth of an increasingly consequential China-Pakistan technological partnership.

<RCAS Report-China-Pakistan Technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) Cooperation: How Is It Evolving?>