Summary of Key Points
China's agent industry is entering a critical period for large-scale implementation, shifting from single-point applications to cross-system collaboration. At the 2026 Global Digital Economy Conference, experts emphasized the need to upgrade infrastructure and deepen integrated applications for the agent internet. Meanwhile, China has released its first national standard for "Artificial Intelligence and Agent Interconnection," aimed at addressing communication barriers between different agents and providing support for the standardized and scaled development of the industry. The industry still faces challenges such as unclear technical architectures and inadequate security governance, which will need to be addressed through technological breakthroughs, infrastructure upgrades, integrated innovation, and coordinated management in the future.
I. The Critical Transition from Independent Agents to Collaborative Systems
Agents can be understood as "intelligent assistants" with autonomous capabilities—capable of perceiving their environment, remembering information, making decisions, and interacting with other systems. Previously, they might have been individual software programs or robots (such as a single robotic arm in a factory). Now, they are expected to work across industries and platforms (for example, the robotic arm in a factory coordinating with logistics systems, or intelligent customer service in government systems collaborating with approval processes).
Experts at the conference stated that 2026 is a "golden window" for the large-scale implementation of agents: The government's work report for the first time mentioned the creation of a new form of intelligent economy and explicitly called for the promotion of agents. Artificial intelligence has also evolved from being a single-point technology (such as an AI that can only play chess) to a system that can solve complex tasks. However, to achieve collaborative systems, issues such as how to connect agents, ensure their reliability, and manage them effectively must be resolved first.
II. The First National Standard: Providing a "Unified Translator" for Agents
Agents from different companies were previously like people speaking different languages—agents from Company A could not recognize those from Company B, and the capabilities of Agent C were invisible to Platform D, leading to high adaptation costs (companies had to spend a lot of money to make agents compatible) and low collaboration efficiency (they could not complete tasks together).
This national standard acts as a "universal translator":
- Identity Verification: Each agent is assigned an identity code and credentials to ensure that other systems know who they are and prevent impersonation during cross-system interactions.
- Ability Disclosure: Agents must clearly communicate what they can do (e.g., "can process orders" or "can detect faults") so that other systems can find and utilize them effectively.
- Interactive Collaboration: It specifies how agents should communicate and transfer tasks to ensure smooth cooperation.
- Tool Invocation: If an agent needs to use a particular software, it can be invoked through standard procedures without the need for custom interfaces.
Although similar protocols exist internationally, there is no unified consensus. This standard represents an important milestone for China in the field of agents.
III. The Benefits of the Standard: Cost Savings, Efficiency Improvements, and a More Organized Ecosystem
This standard can directly help companies reduce costs and increase efficiency:
- Cost Reduction: Companies no longer need to develop custom adaptations for each agent; they can follow the standard.
- Efficiency Improvement: Agents from different platforms can be quickly matched and coordinated. For example, an intelligent quality inspection system in a manufacturing company can directly use transportation services from a logistics system without manual intervention.
- Organized Ecosystem: It prevents fragmentation and promotes more standardized development. For instance, embodied intelligent robots (such as humanoid robots) will be able to interact with other systems according to the standard when they enter the physical world.
Experts from the China Electronics Technology Standardization Institute noted that this standard transforms agent "islands" into an "agent network," moving from a disordered state to a more organized one, and it also establishes safety boundaries, making the development of AI more controllable.
IV. Current Challenges in the Industry
Despite the standard, the agent industry is still in its infancy:
1. Unclear Technical Framework: There is no mature framework for integrating agents with networks, computing power, and data.
2. Infrastructure Upgrades Needed: Existing networks and computing resources may not be sufficient to support large-scale agent collaboration; more intelligent and reliable infrastructure is required.
3. Inadequate Security Governance: How to ensure data security and privacy when agents interact across systems remains an issue that requires improved regulations.
4. Unresolved Business Models: The business models for the agent industry (whether selling agents or providing collaborative services) are still being explored.
V. Future Directions: A Comprehensive Approach with Technology, Infrastructure, Applications, and Governance
Experts have suggested four key areas for development:
- Technological Advancements: Strengthening core technologies such as autonomous decision-making and collaboration capabilities.
- Infrastructure Upgrades: Making networks and computing power more intelligent to support the coordination of a large number of agents.
- Integrated Innovation: Finding new use cases in advanced manufacturing, digital consumption, government services, etc., to truly enhance industry productivity with agents.
- Coordinated Governance: Encouraging innovation while regulating development, improving standards, testing, and monitoring mechanisms to create a safer and more trustworthy industry ecosystem.
In summary, the agent industry is like a newly emerging "intelligent collaboration network," and national standards are like the "traffic rules." The future of this industry depends on a combination of technology, infrastructure, applications, and governance to truly empower various sectors.