China is officially promoting artificial intelligence-powered one-person companies as a vehicle for entrepreneurship, but the policy is drawing skepticism as survival data suggests the vast majority of such businesses fail within their first year.
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology included one-person companies in a national entrepreneurship support program for small and medium-sized businesses covering 2026 to 2028, announced Sept. 4. The move follows rapid expansion of similar programs across the country.
Industry figures cited by Chinese media tell a difficult story. According to data from Zhuanzhi Think Tank OPC Research Institute, which tracked more than 500 one-person companies, 80 percent failed within their first year, leaving a survival rate below 10 percent.
Two China-based technology industry insiders spoke to The Epoch Times on condition of anonymity out of concern for reprisal. A former Chinese VPN operator said that AI has lowered the barrier to starting a business but not the barrier to keeping one alive.
The policy context
The government’s inclusion of one-person companies in a national support framework reflects broader pressure on Chinese authorities to address unemployment, particularly among younger workers who have faced record youth unemployment rates in recent years. Promoting entrepreneurship as a policy response is common across governments, but the one-person company model being championed here is specifically dependent on AI tools enabling solo operators to perform work that previously required small teams.
The gap between starting a business and sustaining one is the central challenge the Zhuanzhi data identifies. Lowering startup barriers through AI capability and government support programs does not address the demand side of the equation. A one-person company still needs customers, and consumer demand in China has remained constrained by economic conditions that have weighed on household spending.
What one-person companies are
A one-person company in this context refers to a sole-operator business that uses AI tools to handle functions ranging from content creation and customer service to code generation and accounting, enabling a single person to operate at a scale that previously required a team. The model has gained traction globally as AI capability has advanced, but the survival rates in China‘s compressed and competitive digital economy appear consistent with the high failure rates seen in solo venture models elsewhere.
The skepticism from inside the sector
The two anonymous sources cited by The Epoch Times represent a form of inside skepticism that public policy statements rarely capture. The characterization that AI lowers startup barriers but not survival barriers is a practical distinction that the Zhuanzhi data appears to support.
Whether government inclusion in a support program meaningfully improves the survival rate for these businesses depends on what the support actually provides. Funding, mentorship and market access all contribute differently than general recognition in a policy framework.
