Industry Overview - The artificial intelligence agent industry in China is defined as software systems driven by large language models (LLMs) that integrate various plugins to make autonomous decisions and learn from their environment [1] - The industry has formed a complete system covering the foundational, technical, and application layers, with hardware and computing power providers at the base, model providers in the middle, and application developers and service providers at the downstream [2][5] Market Size and Growth - In 2023, the AI agent market in China reached 55.4 billion yuan, with projections to grow to 852 billion yuan by 2028, reflecting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 72.7% [12] - The demand structure for AI agents is diverse and rapidly growing, with the intelligent customer service market exceeding 7 billion yuan in 2023 and expected to reach 18.13 billion yuan by 2027, a CAGR of over 27% [13] Development Trends - The AI agent industry is still in its early stages, evolving from simple chatbots to more complex agents capable of autonomous reasoning and decision-making [8] - The penetration rate of AI agents in enterprises is currently below 5% but is expected to rise to 25% for large enterprises and 15% for small and medium-sized enterprises by 2028 [15] Policy Background - Since 2015, the Chinese government has been promoting AI technology development and application through a comprehensive policy framework that includes ethical norms and data security [10][11] Competitive Landscape - The competitive landscape is characterized by a concentration of leading companies such as Alibaba, Tencent, and Baidu, which dominate the large model layer, while vertical players focus on specific industry applications [21][24] - Initial companies are leveraging technological breakthroughs and innovative models to disrupt the industry, with examples like Manus and Dify gaining significant traction [25] Future Outlook - The AI agent market is expected to experience significant growth, with industrial and medical applications showing strong potential due to the rapid release of smart manufacturing and automation needs [27] - Key technological breakthroughs in multi-modal interaction, autonomous decision-making, and multi-agent collaboration are critical for the industry's future development [30]