China vowed on Thursday to accelerate efforts to achieve greater technological reliance, pledging to boost still young domestic industries such as semiconductors, aerospace and artificial intelligence.
It will also nurture unicorn enterprises in future industries such as quantum technology, embodied AI – the tech that powers humanoid robots – and 6G, as well as promote the commercial and large-scale application of AI in key sectors, according to copies of the reports seen by Reuters.
China plans to launch new data centre projects and coordinate the distribution of computing capacity across the country. It also plans to establish a system for AI security risk prevention and control.
“Beijing is making AI and especially embodied AI a major area of focus,” said Kyle Chan, fellow in Chinese technology at the Brookings Institution think tank.
“Beijing’s goal is to use AI and robotics to boost productivity and performance in a wide range of sectors, from manufacturing and logistics to education and healthcare.”
Although U.S. tech firms have much more funds to invest than their Chinese competitors, Beijing is counting on its world-leading supply chains, low-cost manufacturing and fast R&D cycles to scale quickly.
There may be limits to that growth though.
U.S. research group Rhodium said in a January report that China’s emerging industries would not generate enough investment to replace traditional industries in a way that would sustain 5% GDP growth over the coming years.
Reuters
