Currently, the intelligent economy centered on digital technologies such as artificial intelligence is reshaping the global economic structure and production methods at an unprecedented speed. The Opinions on Deepening the Implementation of the "Artificial Intelligence+" Action issued by the State Council in August 2025 require that by 2027, artificial intelligence should be widely and deeply integrated with six key areas, with a new generation of intelligent terminals, intelligent agents, and other applications having a penetration rate of over 70%. The core industry of the intelligent economy should grow rapidly, and the role of artificial intelligence in public governance should be significantly enhanced. The open cooperation system of artificial intelligence should be continuously improved. From empowering thousands of industries with large-scale models to achieving functional innovation through AI intelligent agents that combine industry orientation and autonomous execution, the new economic formats carried by intelligent technology are deeply integrated with the real economy. However, the rapid advancement of technology has also given rise to security risks that cannot be ignored: data abuse, algorithm discrimination, AI fraud, proliferation of false network information, data poisoning, infringement liability determination and other issues occur frequently, not only threatening citizens' personal information security and property rights, but also posing real challenges to market order, public interests and even national security. In response to this trend, the State Council has clearly stated the goal of "improving artificial intelligence governance and accelerating comprehensive legislation for the healthy development of artificial intelligence" in the 2026 annual legislative work plan. The newly revised Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China, which will come into effect on January 1, 2026, also explicitly proposes to strengthen risk monitoring and assessment, security supervision, and promote the application and healthy development of artificial intelligence. These legislative developments indicate that China is striving to set clear legal boundaries for the development of the smart economy while unleashing technological innovation vitality. In the face of the "double-edged sword" effect of intelligent technology, China follows the core governance concept of "balancing development and security". The country vigorously promotes the development of intelligent economy and reserves sufficient innovation space for various digital technologies as much as possible. This is not to encourage completely free and disorderly wild growth, but to require technological innovation to always operate on the track of the rule of law. In practice, whether it is e-commerce platforms using artificial intelligence algorithms to implement differentiated pricing, big data to kill acquaintances, unauthorized use of others' portraits for AI face swapping, or the shirking of human-machine responsibility in intelligent driving accidents, all reveal the limitations of relying solely on market regulation or industry self-discipline. Therefore, the current governance approach in China emphasizes the establishment of a legal bottom line for innovation through legal means: improving algorithm filing, supporting security assessment and ethical review systems, and implementing classified and graded supervision of high-risk scenarios of artificial intelligence. On the surface, it may seem like setting up many mandatory clauses, but in essence, it is regulating the healthy development ecology of new formats, new technologies, and new applications, and delineating legal boundaries for industrial development. Furthermore, by establishing clear legal rules to stabilize market expectations and eliminate the implicit costs brought about by "business compliance uncertainty," we can open up broader development space for truly valuable technology applications that serve humanity. The rule of law and technological innovation are not in opposition, nor are they a zero sum game where one goes against the other, but rather an organic whole that complements and empowers each other. Recently, the open-source project "Colleague. kill" aimed at refining colleagues has sparked a heated discussion among the public about the "skill digital avatar industry chain". 'Refining colleagues' may seem like a technological tool that can significantly improve productivity for enterprises in a short period of time, but the risks it brings, such as job substitution, ethical concerns, personal information abuse, and data security compliance, are more worthy of attention. Therefore, China's "Regulations on the Management of Information Services for Digital Virtual Humans (Draft for Comments)" specifically includes AI digital humans in the regulatory scope, clearly stating that for the authorization modeling of sensitive information of natural persons, separate consent from natural persons must be obtained, and digital virtual human service providers and service users should establish mechanisms for monitoring, warning, and emergency response of digital virtual human service security risks. The design of these institutional provisions is aimed at providing legal basis for the intelligent economy industry related to digital humans. The establishment of the bottom line of the rule of law is precisely to correct the potential deviation in the development direction of the intelligent economy, and to enhance the overall quality and sustainability of the digital industry. The "technical frenzy" without rule constraints is often accompanied by various economic foam and chaos, which ultimately damages the follow-up power of industry development. For example, mandatory addition of tamper proof explicit and implicit labels to content generated by artificial intelligence, as well as recent requirements for online platforms to classify and label network information content as "fictional plot", can not only protect the public's right to know, but also provide necessary technical support for the tracing of infringing parties. The rule of law provides a predictable institutional environment for technology, forcing enterprises to actively embed technological ethics and compliance design in research and operation, thereby shifting the focus of innovation from "going to great lengths to exploit loopholes in rules" and "creating obstacles for competitors" to "forming technological innovation advantages with market competitiveness". The development of the intelligent economy requires a balance between innovative development and risk prevention, and the use of good laws to support the high-quality development of the intelligent economy. Building a legal system that adapts to the development of the intelligent economy cannot be limited to a specific type of artificial intelligence technology, but must be based on the development of the entire digital economy ecosystem, and carry out integrated and systematic legal norm design. The development of the intelligent economy relies on the efficient collaboration of innovative resources such as data, computing power, algorithms, and the transformation of technological achievements. Any institutional weakness in any link may constrain the overall quality of the development of the intelligent economy. Therefore, the future construction of the rule of law should cover the entire chain from basic research to industrial application: on the element side, basic legislation should be carried out around data ownership, data element circulation rules, high-quality data element supply, and standards for computing infrastructure construction; On the main body, it is necessary to clarify the responsibilities of platform enterprises, research and development institutions, users, and other parties in algorithm design, data management, and content review; On the ecological side, it is necessary to improve the incentive mechanism for the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, the ethical review system for science and technology, and the rules for cross-border data flow. Only by extending the tentacles of the rule of law to every key node in the innovation chain, industrial chain, and supply chain, and realizing the coordinated efforts of "law+standards+ethics", can we truly provide solid institutional guarantees for the smart economy. Some regions in our country have begun to explore innovative practices such as "pilot innovation" and try them out in controllable scenarios, which is a manifestation of systematic thinking. Only in this way can the intelligent economy unleash sustained and strong development momentum on the track of the rule of law, providing solid support for high-quality development. (Outlook on the New Era) (Author Zhao Jingwu, Deputy Director of the Cyberspace International Governance Research Base at Beihang University)