Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Zhao Yang.
Coming up, China's top political advisory body starts its annual session.
What are the key issues dominating this year's agenda?
As Trump's new tariffs take effect, China hits back with retaliatory measures.
How will the trade war escalate in the coming months?
The United States pauses military aid to Ukraine.
What's behind this decision, and what are the potential consequences?
China's national political advisers are gathering in Beijing for the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, or CPPCC, which kicks off on Tuesday.
– deputies are bringing proposals on key political and social issues to government bodies.
As China accelerates its push into artificial intelligence, a prominent scholar says challenges remain before the country can better establish itself as a dominant player.
Dr. Ko Gong is a CPPCC member and distinguished professor under the Changjian Scholars' Program at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics.
He says overcoming these obstacles is crucial for China's AI ambitions.
In an interview with my colleague Sun Raishin, Dr. Koh also suggests that AI could help address regional development disparities.
First of all, Professor Koh, can you briefly introduce your key proposal for this year?
Well, this year, I have three key proposals.
which focused on artificial intelligence.
First, I propose that we need to remove the barriers to innovation by establishing a national open source platform.
This platform will stimulate new scenarios and create internal momentum for fresh innovative models.
Second, to support Chinese companies in going global, I propose addressing the challenges they faced abroad, particularly issues related to data transparency and the cultural differences.
Third, recognizing that AI development is a heavily dependent on stable power supply.
I suggest, we secure its foundations by innovating a voluntary energy emission reduction mechanism.
This will include auditing electricity achieving certificates and integrating them into our current green electricity trade market.
So in summary, by advanced technology innovation, Strengthsen's regulatory framework and in showing reversed energy support, we can drive a new area of rapid I .I.
development in China.
Ok, so let's move on to like global competition in the AI industry.
It is kind of becoming increasingly fierce, with the emergence of Chinese AI apps like Deep Seek, how do you view the advantages and disadvantages of China's AI industry at the moment, especially compared with major Western developed economies like the US?
We've seen that global competition in AI is indeed heating up, and we are witnessing a significant surge on certain activities in China.
Over the past few weeks alone, More than 100 eight -share listed companies from the industry, from the automotive to healthcare to telecommunications and consumer electronics have made rapid moves.
In Shenzhen's Foutian District, for instance, over 70 I .S.
civil servants have already taken office.
While it is true that the United States currently maintains a lead in certain areas such as computing power chips, where we still encounter critical bottlenecks.
That gap is closing at an impressive pace, even if the US got off to a stronger start, I firmly believe China is well positioned to emerge as the venture winner in the global race.
And there are several reasons for my point of view.
First, we have this scale advantage.
This is the new oil for AI.
and China is uniquely endowed in this area.
We are over 1 .1 billion internet users.
Our country generates massive value of data every day.
This abundance of data fills continuous algorithm improvements and provide a robust foundations for innovation.
Secondly, China is the largest single market in the world, particularly in vertical industries.
This means we have an expensive and diverse stage for AI applications, allowing us to experiment with and implement solutions across a wide array of different fields.
In addition to that, often overlooked by the critical advantage in China is in energy cost.
The US face high energy intensity and overall energy cost in applications where we can see that in real advantage in China, in contrast, China benefits from regulated affordable electricity and strong government support from renewable energy suppliers.
Okay, like you've said we have got abundant data collection and affordable electricity, So professor Koh, you are from Sichuan Province rights, which is located in southwest China.
I suppose you have witnessed the region's growth firsthand.
In 2024, I see it has been reported that Sichuan introduced a work plan for expanding its AI industry from 2024 to 2027, which is a three -year plan.
What's your take on this unbalanced development we see today in China's AI landscape?
Do you think inland areas can catch up to tech hubs like Hangzhou?
especially, people are saying Liu Kangju currently has six litre dragons.
But what other cities have?
Well, interestingly actually today, before I come to Beijing I visited Hanzhou.
Well, during the past years, I've witnessed a first kind of unique challenge or opportunities that the inland region of China has faced compared to the coastal tek -kap like Hanzhou.
Well, it's true that in an area currently lacking infrastructure, the lack of talents and also it's in the limits of the market environment.
While I would say this unbalanced environment isn't a zero -sum game for China.
Rather, it's an opportunity for each region to care about its own niche.
Airplus is not an end on itself, but it means to drive high -quality, efficient, low -consumption and low -emission growth in the real economy.
Instead of trying to replicate the scale of companies like DeepSig, the inland regions should focus on leveraging their local services, such as regional resources and industries, to develop specialized applications, where a large AI model can deliver significant value.
With strategic industry planning tailored business environments and patient ecosystem driving approach, such inland areas increase complementary advantage with the coast regions, and both of them contribute to the overall advancement of China's AI industry.
Professor Ko, from your observation, are China's policymakers doing enough to, let's say, to ensure the country will be able to develop a self -reliant and healthy AI industry?
I mean, especially against the background of increasing US restrictions of advanced cheap exports to China.
How can China's policy making in this area be further strengthened?
We can see that China's policy makers have been proactively in laning strong foundations for healthy AI industry.
In 2017, I think the government has introduced a new generation AI development plans to boost the deep integration of AI with our economy and society, aiming to secure an early lead in our development.
This vision was further reinforced in 2021, when the Open Source Initiative was incorporated in the 14th five -year plan, sparking independent technology innovation across the nation.
Today, we have boasted over 30 million open source projects spanning the inter -insert images from chip design and software framework to applications.
There's more than 9 .4 million developers actively participating, ranking us the second globally.
Where are U .S. restrictions on advanced chip exports have posed these challenges.
They have also drive us to accelerate our efforts in our own innovations.
As seen in the success of companies like DeepSeek, I believe that continuing to invest in domestic R &D, fostering open -source collaboration and enhancing supportive policies, China can not only overcome these handles but also thrive in a global air area.
But quite a few developed countries have stepped up efforts to lead international dialogue on AI global governance and regulation.
For example, Ukraine and France have hosted international conferences on this.
So what else do you think China should do to make sure the country has a seat at the table of AI global rulesmaking?
Well, ensuring that China has a secure seat at the table in shaping global AI rules, I believe that we must actively promote a fair, inclusive and effective international governance framework for AI.
For example, at the AI Action Summit in Paris in last month, China took a leading role by promoting a United Nations resolution on strengths in international cooperation or AI capacity building.
These efforts led to 60 countries signing a declaration on developing inclusive and sustainable AI that benefit humanity and the planet.
To further extend our influence, China should focus on several statistical actions.
At the forms such as the UN and G20, we can introduce proposal by ISX and also cross -border data flows that emphasize the universal benefit of technology, while opposing overly -broad national security measures.
So initially, like a build and a load, China can share its IS infrastructure solutions globally by promoting our own standards such as those for model compression and multi -model interfaces as industry benchmarks will not only enhance our technological influence but also contribute to share the global AI norms.
Professor Keoh, one of your proposals addresses data privacy as concerns over data breaches and surveillance grow?
What steps or measures should countries take to strengthen the regulation of AI industries to protect users' data?
I mean, is that really a big deal?
Well, to protect user data while regulating the AI industry, countries should adopt a comprehensive multilayered approach for country.
First, it's essential to ensure that or train the data is legally sourced by enforcing plan form, accountability, and establish the best data traceability systems.
As a service provider, must implement tired traceability and data classification measures.
Setting clear standards for different type of data, such as government open data, public domain data, and authorizer data, to ensure that every piece of data used in training has proper legal clearance, thereby reducing the risks from the start.
Second, technological safeguards should be enhanced by developing a full circle copyright protection framework using automated screens during the training phase to filter or copyrighted contents like watermarks, trademarks, and patents.
Applying similarity detections during contents generation to prevent reproducing existing works and embedding digital certificates in generated contents to record the key details, such as date sources, generation times, and the model you used, which together improve the contents traceability.
Finally, government and industry bodies should work together to build a compliant data pool through a dedicated copyright database that allows platform to verify data usage and enable copyrights holder to manage authority, the authorizations.
A parent first strategy, initially focusing on data, government open data and the news contents before extended to commercial data can pave the way for standardized data authorizations practices that ultimately strengthen data privacy and the booster use trust in AI system.
That is, Koh Gonsi, PPPCC member and professor of the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics speaking with my colleague Xiong waiting.
This is World Today, Stay with us!
This is World Today, I'm Zhao Yang.
China has announced the targeted response to U .S.
tariffs. Beijing has added 15 U .S firms to its export control list and initiated legal action against Washington at the WTO.
China has also announced retaliatory levies of 10 to 15 % covering a range of U .S.
goods. These affect mostly agricultural and food products like soybeans and pork.
The move coincides with additional U .S.
tariffs on Chinese exports, which come into effect on Tuesday.
The fresh tariffs effectively result in a cumulative 20 % tax on thousands of Chinese goods.
China says the U .S.
move under the pretext of fentanyl issue is an act of unilateralism and bullying.
China urges Washington to revoke his unilateral tariffs and resolve differences through equal dialogue.
For more, we are joined by Yotian Loan, Associate Professor at Wienan University.
China's new tariffs hit U .S.
agricultural exports like soybeans, corn and chicken.
What message is China sending through this approach and how significant do you think what the economic fallout will be for the U .S.
agricultural industry?
I think that this is a conventional technique.
Last time we also talked to those agricultural experts like soybeans and coins, because that's the major export from the United States to China.
However, it also related to the voter base, the voter bloc of Trump administration.
He mainly earned his support from those bombers in the Midwest.
They may convey their anger towards Washington right now.
Trump is in power. Well, China also adds 15 U .S.
entities to its export control list.
And this mainly targets defense -related and tech -related companies.
How would you interpret this move?
This is not new because we have already extended the list with those defense -related and tech -related companies.
This time, I think we are trying to send a signal to them that this is reciprocal.
If they are attacking against targeting our tech companies, we are attacking them.
But how do you think the Trump administration's tariff hike will impact Chinese exporters?
And will it push them to fine alternative markets?
I would say that it's really hard, because right now Trump's arbitration is not only targeting Chinese exporters but also Canadian and Mexican exporters.
So basically, Trump penetration is waging a tariff war against the whole world.
The United States may trade honors all over the world.
So, just like the news said a couple days ago, Trump penetration also raised tariffs to Canadian market and Mexican market to 25 percent.
Which means if we try to circumvent the US tariffs through Canada and Mexico, it's not workable right now.
And also, I don't think any other consumer market can be an alternative to the United States.
How do you see this tit for tat escalation playing out in the coming months?
and also with tariffs escalating on both sides, how might global supply chains be affected?
I think it's going to be escalated for a period of time until the United States can realize they cannot win this war easily.
And I also believe next year it's going to be the midterm election.
They will not allow this tariff war extended well into mid -term election year, so hopefully this tariff tick -tack escalation will stop at some point within this year.
I believe, however, very likely the leaders of two countries will meet very soon and this tariff war will ended well before that.
With regard to the global supply chain which has been under transformation for a period time for a couple of years already, because this is not the first time United States waged a death war against China.
We have been doing quite a good job on shifting our supply chain to elsewhere to other countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, I think, will continue doing so.
It's just another accelerator behind this transformation.
Well, the promise of Trump's tariffs was to bring manufacturing back to the U .S., but with supply chains rattled and costs rising for goods like cars and electronics, isn't this more likely to herd American manufacturers than help them?
I agree with you. I don't think Trump is doing economic accumulation in this matter.
Basically, everything he has been doing is against the very principle of economics.
So I don't think it will help manufacturers going back to the United States.
But for certain companies, such like Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing company right now declared that they were going to invest 100 billion US dollars to establish three new more factories.
I think it will help certain manufacturing going back to the United States, but not all of them.
Especially for certain sectors like low end sectors.
It's impossible for those companies moving back to the United States such as like garment industry, toy industry, is definitely unwise to build a toy within US territory because their human cost is so high.
Okay, but also it is estimated that Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China could cost the typical US households over $1 ,200 a year.
How might those economic pressure influence public opinion as Trump's term progresses?
it is really hard to say because it depends on the narrative, it depends on what kind of story Trump's administration is telling them.
They may say, OK, it's kind of short period time pain, you gotta suffer, just like Trump weeks ago said so, But also, they may blame China like, okay, yes, you did pay more just like right now they say.
Even acts in the United States become more expensive than ever.
But it depends on how they were going to do the blame game.
So what is really happening?
Do you think this will be just short term pain or will it have some long lasting impact on the US economy?
I think there will be a lasting impact on US economy.
we can see right now Trump and situation has been in powerful more than amounts but inflation right again.
The egg is very expensive even one of their secretary telling people to have their own chicken in their backyard.
That's something ridiculous.
Well as we mentioned earlier Trump's tariff escalation seems to treat the US allies like Canada and Mexico as adversaries countries alongside China.
So could this isolationist gamble backfire politically?
And could this multi -country trade war lead to some sort of a broader realignment of global trade relationships?
Yes, I believe so. There will be a broader realignment, for example, Canada and Mexico, are Americans' neighbors, which they cannot move.
They have to stick to the US market.
So they have to readjust their trade policy in one way or another.
I think they will bow down to Trump's pressure because apparently their economy heavily rely on the US market, but for the rest of the world, for example China, for the Europe, they may have different strategies.
It's really hard to tell how they gonna realign different camps And that kind of realignment is not purely economic strategy.
It may be driven by other factors, such as geopolitical factors.
For example, right now maybe European countries may get in closer to China not because they want to have a better relationship in trade and economic terms, but also because they don't believe the United States will give them military protection.
So, it's very hard to say what's going to happen in the next few months.
Yeah, so now that China and the US seem to be locked in a cycle of tariff escalations, but are there anything that can be done by both sides to kind of de -escalate the tensions?
I think right now for China we have to figure out who is the go -between person that can channel our opinion directly to Trump.
For example, apparently, the Secretary of State is not the closest ally of Donald Trump.
So if we go through the traditional diplomatic channel, it doesn't work that well.
So probably we have to find some support from people like Elon Musk.
You mean in the business community?
Probably, yes, very likely.
Thank you, Yochi Anlong from Yunnan University.
This is World Today, stay with us.
You're listening to World Today, I'm Zhao Ying.
US President Donald Trump has paused all military aid to Ukraine.
A White House official says the US is reviewing its aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution.
Speaking Speaking earlier at the White House, President Trump suggested that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky would not be around very long if he did not reach a ceasefire deal with Russia.
Zelensky said in his evening address that Ukraine needs security guarantees for real and fair peace.
Meanwhile, Russia said Zelensky needs to be forced to make peace after his clash with Trump.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the public row between the two presidents in Washington demonstrated the difficulty of reaching a settlement with Ukraine.
For more we are joined by Kamal Makhiliyeliyev, affiliated researcher at Rawal Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden.
Thanks for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
So, first of all, what are the immediate consequences of the U .S.
suspending military aid to Ukraine?
Well first and of course creating the pressure on both Ukraine and European allies to follow in the United States or Trump's lead in terms of negotiating a peaceful solution or at least ceasefire with Russia and Ukraine.
And that puts a lot of pressure of course on European allies as basically Washington pulses the assistance or the posture assistance.
The European partners are are going to be pressed to fill that void, and recent statements from not officials in Brussels, they underscore that there is an urgent goal for the great European military support to Ukraine, which could lead to rapid chase in regional defence priorities for Ukraine.
That means that immediate operational strain, because Ukrainian forces have already been facing equipment shortages, and they must then recalibrate how they are going to defend their country.
And of course that also is going to affect the pace of counter -offenses and leave even critical sectors vulnerable.
It can also affect negatively the morality this uncertainty about the longer term commitment of the United States to military support.
It can create this uncertainty and drop in morale and public support in Ukraine.
So yes, there are already immediate consequences of that.
So how would you interpret Donald Trump's rationale for this decision?
Well, of course, there is this question of putting pressure on Ukraine after he got very disappointed at the meeting with Vladimir Zelenskyi, president of Ukraine.
This underscores this kind of economic bargaining situation.
When you put the pressure on them in the business circles, you put the pressure on the side that can be on the path of a list resistance so to say, and that would create an advantage in the negotiating position.
But it also shows how transactional this is for Trump.
There is no actually moral backup that was signaled by the United States during the previous administration.
There's also this kind of strategic repositioning, by suspending aid, Trump appears to be attempting to force the recalibration of the U .S.
role in the conflict, just moving from an open -ended security guarantor to a negotiator who expects direct benefits in return for these negotiations.
So that also means that this reposition is aimed at reducing U .S.
expenditure and shifting pressure towards Kiev and its European allies rather than the United States becoming the maintaining role of the main guarantor of security.
Okay, well, Bob Karolbiel actually hinted at that this suspension is part of a broader push to get Russia to the table.
How do you think this move might be received by Kremlin and will it be more willing to talk or will it capitalize on those pause to press ahead in the conflict?
Well, there is of course, both of these kind of theories diplomatic opportunity versus tactical exploitation.
And there is a, you know, in the analysis, there are two sides of analytical dispute.
Some suggest that Moscow actually can see this pose as a window to open back channel talks with United States to see this as an opportunity to start negotiating the best possible positions.
But then there's others that warn that Russia is unlikely to slow its momentum on the battlefield because of that.
And then it's actually going to press this, press its, you know, newly found advantage on the battlefield, instead of actually going towards, closer towards the talks or the negotiations with us about the war in Ukraine.
There's separate side of negotiations about the bilateral relations, but it's not going to be affected by that.
I am leaning towards the second theory that the Kremlin is going to interpret this as weakness as it has been doing previously in its history of international relations so to say.
And Moscow can use this period to intensify its military pressure and Ukrainian positions, betting that it's going to get reduced support and that would allow it to consolidate its territorial gains if not gain more territory in a shorter amount of time with less expenditures.
So I think that's the Kremlin philosophy.
Okay. Well, we know that Donald Trump has been trying to agree a deal with Kyiv for access to Ukrainian critical minerals.
And actually last Friday, Vice President JD Vance said, and I quote, the very best security is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine.
So do you think this sort of prioritizes US economic plan over peace and stability in the region?
Well, there's of course, if you listen to Jay de Vence and other US officials, this framing of economic access, especially to Ukraine's reaminers, seems to be essential to the US security and the understanding.
And Vice President Vance, he argued that the very best security is to give Americans, because they'll probably say economic upside in the future of Ukraine.
That means that the economic leverage is going to be prioritized as a tool in this long -term strategic advantage that the United States has.
The problem here is, I would say, the risk of prioritizing economics over immediate peace, or even the peace in the long -term, because critics in both US and European media, they actually warned that this kind of approach, that this approach kind of risk sidelining the immediate stabilization.
So, by showing that there is a discord between the US and European allies on Ukraine on the one side, they're just weakening their positions to negotiate peace, if that is actually the goal here.
So, while security resources, it can boast the US industry in the midterm, in the short term and in the longer term, it might actually hurt United States positions in terms of being any kind of an actor negotiating peace in Ukraine.
Okay. Thank you. K affiliated researcher at the Wollordberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Swinton.
This is World Today, we'll be back.
You're listening to World Today, I'm Zhao Yang.
Austria has sworn in a new government, ending five months of political deadlock over forming a coalition.
Christian Stalker, leader of the People's Party, took office as chancellor, heading a three -party coalition alongside the Social Democratic Party and another partner.
Last week, the three parties jointly presented their government program.
The formation of the new government marks the end of Austria's longest -ever wait for a new administration following a general election.
For more, we are joined by Chen Weihua, China Daily's EU Bureau Chief, based in Brussels.
Weihua, thanks for joining us.
Thank you, Zhao Ying for having me.
So this three -party coalition is Austria's first since World War II.
What do you think drove these ideologically diverse parties to finally unite?
Well, I would say, I mean, if you look at the recent Germany election, the way it's trying to form a coalition government, There is some similarity because the centrist party are still the mainstream in both of the countries.
The public still prefers centrist party, whether center -right, center -left, or even liberal.
They are overwhelmingly against parties labeled as far -left or far -right.
Sometimes I would challenge, disagree with such labeling.
But anyway, I mean, if you look at the German case, they have these firewall against AFD.
Not talking to AFD for forming a coalition government.
The case in Austria is different.
I mean, the Freedom Party, which was is labeled a far right, actually was in the government before, was in the government the coalition talks just a little earlier, but now I mean, But they are different because the Freedom Party's differences on many issues are very different from the centrist party.
So it's easier for the centrist party to compromise, even they also have issues with each other.
Well, we know this coalition took five months to form, which was also the country's longest government formation process since the Second World War.
Or does this delay indicate on some deeper political fractures in Austria?
And how stable is this alliance?
Yeah, I mean, I, you know, I don't pretend to be, you know, to know the old nuance there.
But I think, you know, it's hard to say because if we look at the Austrian politics, I mean, it's a lot of new government in the last 10 years.
And so it's hard to predict whether this new coalition, how long will it last?
Because given the sort of the 200 -page document, they agree.
But a lot of people ask when it comes to detail.
It's like European leaders too.
They always agree on principle, but once you go detail, and the action individually must take, and whether it's on migration, it's on budget, all these key issues.
They might clash with each other.
I would say it's very hard to predict, but obviously, they have challenges with the recession, you know, how to bring about economic growth, how to tackle this public sentiment about migration.
Well, Christian Stalker became Austria's chancellor without campaigning for the position and actually with limited national experience.
So was he sort of a compromise candidate to hold this coalition together and could this weaken his authority as he leaves this coalition through Austria's economic and social challenges?
Well, I wouldn't enjoy such a conclusion so quickly, because even we look at the German case, the CDU replica murts, which is most likely to become the next chancellor.
He didn't have a government experience really.
He campaigned, for the CDU alliance.
But I think Mr. Stocker still has been the party leader for some time, So he knows, obviously, the country situation, the politics.
So I would think what comes next, whether, as I mentioned a little earlier, the economy, migration, which really the budget, which is really the key issue during the campaign in September, if he can do a good job in those regards.
He could be successful, I would say.
Well, one of the government's immediate priorities is reducing the budget deficit through spending cuts and tax hikes on big businesses.
How will these measures impact Austria's economy and different social groups?
Yeah, I think that's actually really why, I mean, the three parties of the current new government didn't succeed in their first attempt to try to form a coalition government, because they do have different views on this, whether you should cut social welfare, you should the you know, how in the, in chat, you know, the big challenge of a cut deficit deficit because Austria's deficit is likely to be 4 % this year, more than 4%, which is, you know, EU has a ceiling of 3%.
So a lot of EU country have member states have this challenge.
So, but if you cut a deficit and you might have a challenge to grow economy is argued by many.
So, this is a good, really a challenging balancing work for the party.
I think they have to deal with this very skillfully to cut a deficit, but not to hurt economic growth.
And also, you know, people in Europe are used to this welfare state, so that's a big challenge, I would say.
Well, the coalition agreement also includes plans for stricter asylum rules and tougher measures against extremism and this political Islam, and this follows a recent deadly knife attack.
So how much do you see this as a pragmatic response versus a concession to far -right pressure within the country?
Well, I think again, I would rather also raise the German case because in both countries, you have this rise of the so -called far -right parties and the current mainstream party also actually moves towards that, through far -right policy in terms of more strict measures regarding migration if you look at the Austrian coalition government, they are already adopting some of the measures, strict measures on asylum and others.
I think this is also trying to move to appease the far -right supporters, because otherwise you are going to have more of them supporting the far -right party in the next election.
okay thank you Chen Wehuaciana Daily's EU bureau chief based in Brussels you're listening to World Today, stay with us you're listening to World Today I'm Zhao Ying.
Xin Zhen has released an action plan to expand the city's AI industry to 1 trillion yuan or about a hundred and forty billion US dollars by 2026.
The action plan aims to enhance the southern cities' industrial competitiveness by leveraging AI innovations.
It seeks to consolidate at least 10 leading AI -powered industrial enterprises and launch over 50 innovative products across sectors such as smartphones, computers, and wearable devices.
The city plans to establish an industrial ecosystem to transform smartphones from smart tools to intelligent assistants and upgrade computers from traditional devices to AI -powered workstations.
With more, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Yan Liang, a professor of economics at Will Lomond University.
So, Yan, Shenzhen has released an action plan to support the development and application of the AI industry.
What do you make of that, and what advantages does Shenzhen have on this front?
Well, we know this plan is really to enhance the city's industrial competitiveness by leveraging on the latest AI innovations.
So I think this is really the right call, because we know that the AI technology is the leading cutting edge technology, and that it has general application to the traditional industries, from manufacturing to services.
So it's really the technology that needs to be implemented and applied to the entire, I think the economy.
So I think this is the right call to have the action plan to enhance the AI innovations.
And when you ask what advantages Shenzhen has, so we know this is a very vibrant city in China.
It has become a major technological hub in China, right?
This is in Guangdong Province that was, has been the pioneer in some of the reform and opening process.
So, it has a long history, right, of very pragmatic governments, a very complete innovative system, also very good supply chain, a very good industrial ecosystem and also has a large amount of talent pool.
So I think it does stand to really have the competitive advantage in leveraging AI and develop its economy further.
And what do you think is Shenzhen's role in the Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, Greater Bay Area that can help its innovation on the AI technology and applications?
Yeah, I think that's a great question.
I think this Great Bay Area really are able to put all these different cities that are very dynamic, that have their own advantages together to form a really organic ecosystem.
I think this will be helpful to leverage on each of the city's advantages.
We know that, for example, Hong Kong has a very advanced financial system.
Shenzhen has a lot of tech companies.
Many of the national champions, in fact, are headquartered in Shenzhen.
We know that Guangdong Province and many of these cities in Guangdong Province have very solid industrial basis have very good industrial supply chain.
So I think, you know, this initiative by bringing these cities together, you get these very complete sort of the ingredients right, you get a finance, you get a tail end, you get a technological center, and you get these industrial supply chain.
So altogether, I think it would really form a very nice ecosystem to not only promote AI development, but also its applications in various industries, And what specific measures are in this action plan to support the AI related industry?
Well, this plan has a number of initiatives.
So one of the key initiatives is to accelerate AI talent development, increase investment in data security and also ramp up standardization of the industry.
So these are high level I think, in terms of the initiatives right that you are able to build up the tail -and -pole that you invest in the data centers, data security, and improve the standardization of the industry.
And some of the key, I think, really the focus is to provide a policy support and also encourage the private sector to seek more AI applications.
They're also thinking about consolidating some of the leading AI -powered industrial enterprises.
I think that is an effective way to achieve the economies of the scale and also to reduce some of these very fierce competition by consolidating some of these enterprises.
And last but not least, they're also focusing on launching over 50 innovative products across a number of sectors such as smartphones, computers, and also wearable devices, and so this is a way to apply AI to some of the key products and also key industries like smart finance, smart manufacturing, and also smart medical care.
So I think this action plan has very specific actions from the government, but also very specific goals, how they wanted to achieve this AI innovations and applications.
And the municipal government of Shenzhen will allocate resources, effectively optimise the business environment and provide funding for the growth of a AI -powered new industry.
So could you elaborate more on that?
Yeah, I think all these are really important as a specific concrete action plans.
So for example, by providing financing, it's able to enable some of these private enterprises that get credit to invest in their R &D's and also invest in the upgrading of their manufacturing facilities.
These financing also allow for some public investments, right in some of the data centers and also securing data when it comes to the post -collection of data, processing of data, and uses of data because I think this is also very essential for these AI developments.
I think the government has also been establishing a very good track record when it comes to helping to attract and also retain the talents, so I think that is another other thing that the government can do, and last but not the least, by facilitating some of these important industrial clustering to settle in Shenzhen.
So in other words, this is where you can see from other examples where a complete ecosystem is very important.
So to be able to develop AI, not only you need these tech startups to develop models, but you also need a data center.
center, you also need cloud services to be able to utilize the AI for influences or applications.
So it's a complete ecosystem that requires governments to place and facilitate their role to bring all these different enterprises together.
So I think this is some action plans on the part of the government.
And for the AI development in China, we know that there are six little dragons based in East China's Hangzhou city, which include deep sea, unified robotics, et cetera, et cetera, and people are also talking about the Hangzhou model.
So how do you compare these two cities?
What are their similarities and differences between them?
Well, that's a great question.
I think Hangzhou has been playing a lead role due to a number of factors.
First of all, they have very robust digital economy.
This is one of the first cities that started to build their digital economy as early as the 2010s, early 2010s.
Like Shenzhen they also have very robust policy supports.
The government also are equally, you know, problematic in facilitating all these industrial upgradings.
They're also spending very heavily on science technology out of their cities' fiscal budgets.
They also have very innovative ecosystem.
They have major labs, major innovation platforms.
They also have been attracting a lot of tailings.
they also have very solid you know supply chain.
So in some sense I think there are some competition I think between Hangzhou and Shenzhen but that's not not necessary a bad thing I think there could be also collaborations different locations could focus on you know different different things I would say.
So if you know Hangzhou is very good in developing the AI models then Shenzhen may be ratcheting out on the applications of AI in various industries and manufacturing sector.
So I think there are some competitions, but also collaborations between these different cities.
And we also know that it's not just Hangzhou and Shenzhen.
Shanghai, Xi 'an, Hefei, Chengdu, many of these cities are also trying to develop their AI systems.
But interestingly, I think each has their very specific unique focus in terms of where they wanted to integrate the AI system into.
So for example, Shanghai has been focusing a lot on biotech, 6G, quantum and fission.
Xian has been really focusing on internet -based things and Hebei has been focusing on quantum and space exploration.
So I think what we're going to see is that many of these cities will enjoy efforts in developing some of these AI models, but then they would also focus on different areas where they can leverage on the AI and really build their unique advantages and competitiveness in certain industries.
And I think that would be really the ideal way to go because we don't want, you know, duplications of the same kinds of things, same kind of innovations and applications in various localities that will only intensify price competitions and some of the other, I think, undesirable outcomes.
So the idea is that we want to develop these cutting edge emerging technologies, and at the same time, gradually apply these technologies and integrate them into the more traditional sectors, be it manufacturing or services, and that is how we'll be able to promote the so -called total productivity, total factor productivity.
And so that is going to be what drives the economy forward.
That is Yanliang professor of economics at Wollam prophets University, speaking with my colleague Zhao Yang.
And that's all the time we have for this edition of world today.
I'm Zhao Ying. Thank you so much for listening.
See you next time.
