China to enhance global AI cooperation

China stands ready to work with other countries to promote the healthy development of artificial intelligence, facilitate global growth and help improve the well-being of people from all countries, President Xi Jinping said on Thursday.

Xi made the remarks in a congratulatory message sent to the World Intelligence Expo 2024, which opened on the same day in Tianjin under the theme of "Intelligence: Extensive Development Space, Sustainable Growth Driver".

Xi said AI is an important force driving the latest round of the science and technology revolution and industrial transformation, and will have a far-reaching influence on the development of the global economy and society, as well as on the progress of human civilization. China attaches great importance to the development of AI, and has actively promoted the in-depth integration of the internet, big data, AI and the real economy, he said.

The country has also worked to cultivate a stronger intelligent sector and grow new quality productive forces at a faster pace to provide new momentum for its high-quality development, Xi said.

China hopes to work with all other countries to seize the opportunities brought by digitalization, networking and smart technologies, and deepen international cooperation on AI development and governance, Xi said.

Chen Min'er, secretary of the Communist Party of China Tianjin Municipal Committee, attended the opening ceremony of the expo and read out the congratulatory message. He emphasized the importance of promoting the development of AI industries, saying that Tianjin will make more efforts to accelerate the integration of AI with other emerging fields and promote the development of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization.

Liu Liehong, head of the National Data Administration, said AI has become a new growth engine for Tianjin to accelerate the formation of new quality productive forces, as the revenue of the city's AI-related industries exceeded 300 billion yuan ($41.32 billion) in 2023.

"AI has become a strategic emerging industry leading the science and technology revolution and industrial transformation with (positive) spillover effects that drive development, playing a pivotal role in the advancement of the smart industry," he said. "We need to accelerate the construction of a nationwide integrated computing power network."

Shan Zhongde, vice-minister of industry and information technology, said China has made considerable progress in promoting AI development, as the country has cultivated 421 national-level intelligent manufacturing demonstration plants, over 10,000 provincial-level digital workshops and smart factories, and over 4,500 AI enterprises.

In the next step, he said the country will intensify efforts to make breakthroughs in core technologies such as intelligent chips and algorithm frameworks, support the construction of high-quality data systems in key industrial sectors, accelerate R&D and innovation in industrial large models and promote the integration of AI with manufacturing.

More efforts will also be made to support enterprises that use special and sophisticated technologies to produce novel and unique products, build globally competitive industrial ecosystems, and construct advanced manufacturing clusters with international competitiveness, Shan added.

Zhou Hongyi, founder of Chinese cybersecurity company 360 Security Group, highlighted the necessity of fostering new quality productive forces and pursuing innovation-driven development, saying the key is to embrace AI technologies, particularly large models.

"With the emergence of large models, AI will lead human society into the era of intelligence, bringing profound impacts on our way of life and production," he said. "As a crucial supporting technology for new quality productive forces, AI technologies, notably large models, will usher in a new round of industrial revolution."

Zhou said he hopes his company could make use of its technical capabilities in specialized large models to help Tianjin build its large model industry ecosystem.