AI to boost China’s economy

2017-07-24
english.gov.cn/People’s Daily

As a guideline on artificial intelligence (AI) development was recently issued, China is set to upgrade its economy with AI as a main driving force.

China has huge market potential for AI development. The guideline estimates that by 2020, the scale of core industries of AI will exceed 150 billion yuan. By 2025, that number will become more than 400 billion yuan as AI is widely applied in intelligent manufacturing, medical care, city development and agriculture.

However, many weaknesses still exist for AI in China, such as lack of innovation in the core algorithm, high-end chips, talent reserves, and influential industrial chains, according to Vice-Minister of Science and Technology Li Meng.

To tackle these problems, the guideline brought up six topics, including establishing a cooperative AI innovation system, cultivating a high-end intelligent economy, building a secure and convenient intelligent community, exerting AI’s power to support the military, constructing intelligent infrastructure and planning major AI projects.

Some traditional industries have already sensed the transformation and tried to seize opportunities.

The Yangquan Coal Industry Group recently announced its cooperation with Baidu Inc, to utilize Baidu’s advanced AI, big data and cloud computing to manage its coal exploitation, chemical production and logistics.

“AI is not only a blue ocean industry for itself, but also a motivator for the transformation of traditional industries. The online car-hailing, targeted notification push, and care for seniors are typical cases of this kind,” said Liu Xiangdong, a senior researcher at China Center for International Economic Exchanges.