2019 Smart China Expo: Artificial Intelligence Industry Development and Cooperation Forum Held in Chongqing

On August 27, 2019, the 2019 Smart China Expo: Artificial Intelligence Industry Development and Cooperation Forum was held at the Chongqing International Expo Center. The forum was co-hosted by China Economic Consulting Corporation and Qualcomm. China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd., Thunder Software Tech Co., Ltd., Zhongguancun Artificial Intelligence Park, China Zhigu (Chongqing) Science and Technology Park, Chongqing Xiantao International Data Valley are the co-organizers of the forum. On behalf of the Chongqing Municipal Government, Deputy Mayor Qu Qian attended the forum and delivered a speech. Zhang Dawei, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of China Center for International Economic Exchanges; Meng Pu, Chairman of Qualcomm China; Li Deyi, Chairman of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Academician Eurasian Academy of Sciences; Zhu Weilie, Chief Information Officer of China Huaneng Group Corporation; Chen Fengwei, deputy head of the Leading Group on Promoting 5G network at China Unicom and deputy general manager of Unicom Vsens Telecommunications Co Ltd, addressed the forum. About 220 guests from home and abroad participated in the forum, including officials, scholars and experts from government departments, artificial intelligence companies, telecommunication companies, Internet companies, media, universities and research institutes.

China Economic Consulting Corporation released the research findings of the project, “Research on the Development of China’s Artificial Intelligence Industry”. The research took 5 month’s hard work and the team visited many high-end companies and research institutes, such as Qualcomm, Baidu and Alibaba.

On behalf of the research team, Dr. Zhang Yingqiang, researcher of the China Center for International Economic Exchanges, presented the major views of the white paper. The research team believes that AI, genetic engineering and nano-science, are considered as the three cutting-edge technologies of the 21st century. AI is becoming an important driving force for the transformation of China’s economy from a high-speed growth phase to a high-quality phase and the new round of industrial transformation. Although China has made significant progress in AI, there is still a big gap between China and other industrial countries like the US in terms of core technology and patent applied. Furthermore, further improvement is needed in the aspects of data protection. In the long run, China needs to pay attention to the relationship between AI and ethics, employment, data security, intellectual property protection and international cooperation. At the end of the report, the research team put forward six policy recommendations based on the analysis of specific problems and challenges of the AI development in China, including taking a rational view on the AI industry, strengthening policy guidance and support, promoting commercial applications, improving training for AI labor force, making breakthroughs in key technologies, and promoting cooperation.

In his speech, Zhang Dawei, Vice Chairman and Secretary-General of CCIEE said that the development of China’s AI industry requires the government to work with market players and create appropriate regulatory frameworks. The local government should give all the support the industry needs while implementing prudential supervision on the industry. Furthermore, it is necessary to guide enterprises to clarify their safety management boundaries, firmly grasp the lifeline of “healthy development” in their own hands, and avoid detours that new enterprises should not take.

Meng Pu, Chairman of Qualcomm China said in his speech that as an important partner of Chinese companies and industries, Qualcomm has worked closely with their partners and grown together for the past 20 years. They have made a great contribution to the development of China’s mobile internet. The era of 5G and AI has begun and it will provide huge opportunities for China and the global mobile ecosystem. Qualcomm will continue to work closely with China’s eco-partners to seize the opportunities of 5G, and build the future of intelligent interconnection.

In addition, the medal presentation ceremony of the AI Innovation Competition was held during the meeting. The competition was jointly sponsored by Chongqing Economic and Technological Development Zone, Qualcomm Wireless Communication Technology (China) Co., Ltd. and Thunder Software Tech Co., Ltd. More than 50 innovation projects entered the competition, including smart vision, smart cars, smart cities, and smart medical care.

Experts from Qualcomm, CCIEE, ZTE Corporation, China Automotive Engineering Research Institute Co., Ltd. and Thunder Software Tech Co., Ltd discussed various issues, such as the trend and opportunities of the artificial intelligence technology, traffic intelligence, integrated development of artificial intelligence and 5G network, the difficulties in building artificial intelligence industry, policy recommendations for artificial intelligence development, and the promotion of international cooperation in this field.