TECHNOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AND VALUE BALANCE: DUAL PATHWAYS IN CHINA’S TECHNOLOGY GOVERNANCE POLICIES FOR THE AI ERA

Abstract

The deep embedding of artificial intelligence (AI) technology is reshaping global governance. The tension between “technological empowerment” and “value balance” has become a common governance challenge for countries worldwide. Based on a dual-pathway framework of “technology-driven modernization of state governance” and “technology-embedded multi-actor social co-governance,” this paper systematically analyzes the internal logic and operational mechanisms of technology governance in China in the AI era. The study finds that China’s technology governance is not a single efficiency-oriented application of technology; rather, through the coordinated operation of dual pathways, it comprehensively achieves four major governance functions: efficiency improvement, equity promotion, security assurance, and institutional reconstruction. In terms of model characteristics, China has developed a distinctive paradigm centered on “enabling governance”-one that takes state capacity as its foundation, institutional flexibility as its safeguard, and plural public values as its goals. This paradigm transcends the single efficiency-oriented governance logic of the West and offers a non-Western pathway with both theoretical inspiration and practical reference for global digital governance. This paper argues that the core of “enabling governance” lies in resolving the tension between technological empowerment and value balance through institutional design, and that the transferability of its experience depends on the conditions of fit in specific institutional contexts.