Gree’s Dong Mingzhu Says Don’t Fear AI—Use It; Renews Call to Lift China’s Tax Threshold

A veteran manufacturer’s take on AI anxiety

Dong Mingzhu, the influential chair of Gree Electric (格力电器), has pushed back against rising “AI replacement” anxiety among China’s youth. In a recent media interview, she argued that even seasoned executives like herself are not worried about being displaced by algorithms—so why should graduates be? The answer, she said, is to outlearn and outthink the tools. It has been reported that Dong already deploys AI in daily office work to speed routine tasks and lift productivity.

Tax thresholds and the hunt for demand

Dong also reiterated a long-standing policy pitch: raise China’s monthly personal income tax threshold to RMB 10,000. The current threshold stands at RMB 5,000. Her argument is straightforward—lighten the tax load on ordinary earners to spur “want to consume, dare to consume, able to consume,” while collecting more from high-income groups. Can such a move unlock spending power? With China’s consumer recovery uneven and property woes lingering, the proposal speaks to a wider debate over how best to stimulate domestic demand without reigniting leverage risks.

Why it matters: China’s intelligent manufacturing push

For Gree—a bellwether of China’s appliance sector and a champion of in-house manufacturing—the message doubles as a strategic roadmap. Dong framed manufacturing as a creative industry locked in constant self-upgrade, with intelligent transformation now the core challenge. That means sustained investment in automation, AI, and talent pipelines. The backdrop: intensifying U.S. export controls on advanced chips and tools are reshaping how Chinese firms adopt AI, nudging them toward domestic hardware and software stacks even as they race to digitize factories.

The bottom line

Dong’s stance fuses boardroom realism with policy advocacy: embrace AI to lift efficiency, and adjust tax policy to bolster demand. In a market where competitiveness increasingly hinges on smart production—and where geopolitics pressures the tech supply chain—the signal from one of China’s most outspoken industrial leaders is clear: innovate relentlessly, and build the talent to match.