Daily news and analysis.
We keep you informed and inspired.
This is World Today.
Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
Coming up, China celebrates the 70th founding anniversary of Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region.
China has made a landmark pledge to cut the country's climate emissions.
Chinese tech giants are racing to boost their bets on artificial intelligence.
And Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile and Bangladesh are seeking to join the RCEP trading bloc.
To listen to this episode again or to catch up on our previous episodes.
You can download our podcast by searching World Today.
China has held a grand gathering to mark the 70th founding anniversary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
President Xi Jinping and a central delegation attended this particular event in Urumqi, along with local officials and representatives from all sectors.
Central delegation head, Wang Huning, addressed this gathering, highlighting Xinjiang's achievements over the past seven decades.
On Wednesday, President Xi Jinping attended a meeting with regional officials in Xinjiang, calling for efforts to build a modern socialist Xinjiang that is united harmonious prosperous, culturally advanced, peaceful and ecologically sound.
So for more.
Joining us now on the line is Dr Wang Xingsong, Associate Professor from the School of Government Beijing Normal University.
So thank you very much for joining us today, Dr. Wang Xingsong.
We know China has positioned Xinjiang as a transport hub for the country's road and rail link to Central Asia and even beyond.
To serve that goal.
How do you rate the importance of maintaining stability and achieving prosperity in Xinjiang?
Yes, and I think stability and security in general is extremely important in the neighborhood and I think since the early 1990s, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the region of Central Asia that neighbors Xinjiang has been plagued by issues of terrorism and in Xinjiang we've seen cases and the problems of separatism and extremism, as well as terrorism.
So overall, with security you can guarantee the prosperity and economic cooperation, as we have seen today, which is emerging and growing very fast.
I think last year, over 70% of trade or export of Xinjiang goes to Central Asia.
So if you think about any cases of terrorism or extremism, that would destroy everything.
And it took quite a number of years for the government, both in Kazakhstan and in China, to make the horgos dry port, to cut the clearance of customers to three hours.
So any security issue would again distract everything.
Prosperity also is very important.
And if you think about the trade between Xinjiang province and the neighboring countries, It happens only because the local population on both sides have the affordability to purchase items.
So, with security and more prosperity, I think the whole region, including both Xinjiang and neighboring countries, are going to see a more bright future.
President Xi Jinping has stressed cultivating new quality productive forces in Xinjiang.
In the context of the region, what could be the direction of cultivating Xinjiang's own new quality productive forces?
Xinjiang traditionally has been viewed as a place that exports fossil fuels, oil and gas.
But in recent decades, with the support of central government and with efforts of local people, Xinjiang has become a very important foundation for new energy.
New and green energy in terms of solar energy, wind energy and so forth.
So now we're talking about Xinjiang exporting a huge amount of electricity to 22 provinces in China, generated primarily by the renewable energy resources.
At the same time as China is going into a new frontier technology, including AI.
A lot of data centers are being built in Xinjiang province, which not only features a large amount of power electricity but also the very good condition of temperature, which is cool enough for data centers to cool down.
So overall, I think Xinjiang has built a very solid foundation in terms of energy, in terms of manufacturing capacity and in terms of the capacity to trade with neighboring countries.
And all these elements matter in creating a Xinjiang economy that features new productive forces.
Another point that President Xi Jinping emphasized in his meeting with local officials is about boosting the integration of tourism in a culture.
He has actually also visited an exhibition at a cultural center in the city of Urumqi.
So what do you make of the role that tourism can play in terms of preserving and enriching the unique culture of Xinjiang?
Yes, i think across the world and you will see this phenomenon where economic development has the tendency to to dilute local cultural identities, and i think another way of looking at this is that, with economic development and there will be more opportunities to develop other sectors, service sectors such as tourism, which brings in many, many tourists.
I think in 2023, 23 million trips were made to Xinjiang, which creates a huge consumption demand as well as income, job opportunities and so on and so forth.
All these income and benefits will go back into the local cultural conservation.
For example, museum tickets will be.
Ticket sales will then feed into a better conservation of cultural relics and historical heritages.
And the performing arts and other cultural performance shows will then cultivate jobs and opportunities for the locals.
So, instead of migrating to other provinces, Xinjiang is more able to retain local residents, local employment opportunities, which then enrich the local community and further preserve the local culture.
Yeah.
So we know, over the past decade or so, a focal point of Chinese authorities, be it the central government or the regional government, a focal point of their work in Xinjiang, is about forging a strong sense of community for the Chinese nation.
And this was once again repeated by President Xi Jinping on Wednesday.
So, in your understanding, Professor Wan, Why is this task, why is this particular mission conducive rather than detrimental to Xinjiang's local ethnic culture?
I think there might be a misunderstanding of what building a Chinese national identity really means criticize that building a Chinese national identity is to replace the existing identities of all ethnic groups, which I think is completely wrong.
I think the Chinese national identity is to be built upon the existing identities of all ethnic groups rather than to replace them, and the Chinese national identity has always been a combination and organic integration of various cultural traits and roots.
So in that sense, I think in Xinjiang, the central government has made it very clear in order to build a sense of community, many policies have been rolled out to preserve historical heritages, consolidate the existing sense of community based upon the Xinjiang local culture as you can tell from the cash transfer from the central government to local provinces in terms of building infrastructure that links Xinjiang with other provinces so that more tourists can find it easier to travel over there as well as So investments inject it into the local tourism in terms of museum building and other things, which are all conducive to preserving the Xinjiang cultural identity rather than diluting it. hmm so looking back in retrospect what do you make of the significance or the kind of political wisdom of the chinese central government's decision to establish this xinjiang wiggle autonomous region seven decades ago right i think seven decades ago xinjiang was um in a chaotic situation where you know warlords control various corners of the region and so on and so forth but since 1955 after xinjiang was designated to be a autonomous region things have gradually changed and in terms of the economy as you can tell that in 1955 the gdp was 1.2 billion and 2024
That's 2 trillion RMB, a huge leap from a very low economic basis.
At the same time, the central government has invested very heavily in local infrastructure building.
It has promoted the development of renewable energy sources and the upgraded manufacturing capacity and so forth.
So this new relationship since 1955, an institutional relationship between the central government and an autonomous region, both ensures that the central government has more capacity to give positive policies to the local and the same to ensure that the local identity is preserved and the local policies are catering to the local demands.
But more importantly, I think, with the designation of an autonomous region in 1955, Xinjiang has been more able to maintain overall a good security situation, especially after the 1990s when the Soviet Union collapsed.
Xinjiang was facing kind of daunting security situation.
But over the past decade or so, under the leadership of Xi Jinping, I think the Communist Party of China has been more able to ensure that Xinjiang is continuing to be a prosperous country without the worry of security problems.
Thank you very much for joining us and for your observation.
Dr. Wang Xingsong, Associate Professor from the School of Government, Beijing Normal University.
Coming up, China has made a landmark pledge to cut the country's climate emissions.
You're listening to World Today.
Stay tuned.
Hello, I am Dr Digby James Wren, a political analyst and international relations scholar specializing in China area studies.
World Today offers unmatched in-depth perspectives on China's politics economics business, technology and society.
World Today's team of reporters and contributors provides valuable information from all of the world's major economies.
I hope you can join me on World Today for the very best insights and news from China, on China, and help to build a better understanding of China's role in the world today.
This is World Today, I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
China has announced a new target to reduce the country's greenhouse gas emissions across the economy by 7-10 by 2035.
President Xi Jinping made the announcement in a video address to the UN Climate Summit held in New York.
By 2035, China will increase the share of non-fossil fuels in total energy consumption to over 30 and expand the installed capacity of wind and solar power to more than six times compared to the 2020 level.
In the meantime, China is also going to scale up the total forest stock volume to more than 24 billion cubic meters and make electric vehicles the mainstream of any new auto sales.
President Xi Jinping said these new targets represent China's best effort based on the requirements of the Paris Agreement.
So joining us now on the line is Wu Changhua, president of the Global Climate Academy and the chair of the Governing Council of Asia Pacific Water Forum.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Thank you for having me.
So back in 2021, President Xi Jinping announced that China would aim to reach carbon neutrality by 2060.
So in the context of that longer term goal, how should we understand the latest pledge by China?
Sure, let me start by a little bit of correction.
So China's current pledge to the Paris Agreement is to peaking our emissions before 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality before 2060.
So it's not by, it's before.
In the context of those pledges already.
So now, with the new pledge up to the 2035 timeline, There are a few things we can learn from that process.
Domestically.
I think it's a major step forward in terms of policy clarity and certainty, because we all know China has been advancing this dual carbon target or dual decarbonization agenda and really using decarbonisation as the lead or as a threat to pull a fundamental, systematic sort of transformation.
So now, of course, the newly announced 2035 commitment definitely adds further clarity in terms of policy and incentives, so that we are going to deliver the carbon neutrality before 2060 agenda.
Now globally.
No doubt it has become a major or strong booster to the international multilateral global climate governance in the backdrop of the US withdrawal from the Paris Agreement already.
And so China, built upon its own successes and learning experience so far, decided to continue to honor its commitment to the Paris Agreement and, reaching out to the broadest global community to work together to advance clean energy transformation.
China actually has a track record of exceeding many of the country's international climate commitments.
For example, China had once pledged to reach a capacity of 1200 GW for wind and solar power by 2030.
But that target was actually reached last year, six years early.
So, regarding the latest targets announced by the Chinese president, do you expect China to reach them ahead of the schedule?
And some say there is mounting evidence that China's emissions are almost peaking.
What is your observation?
Well, I wouldn't really ask questions this way.
I think it's a little bit too simplistic to see okay, China has been already overachieving targets and there are many cases, and then down the road, we'll definitely do that again.
I will be careful in terms of let's really look at efforts, endeavors.
Now we have targets, we have pledges already.
The most important next step is about how to pull the acts together, particularly in terms of the alignment of policies, the finance, the institutions, the innovators, the industrial value chains, the products, infrastructure you name it so that we will be able to really deliver, not only you know, according to aligned with the timeline but, more importantly, if possible, of course, we could try to overachieve that.
Now, in terms of peaking, there are many studies globally saying China probably either already peaked or close to peaking already.
Again, different studies have different methodologies and models that are doing that.
And, according to the investment installations of renewable energy, shifting away from fossil fuels towards more renewable energy.
Yes, China definitely is on a solid foundation, achieving peaking down the road.
As I said early on, the commitment is to achieve peaking before 2030.
So we're sort of in that time range now.
So hopefully somehow we'll see when the government will officially announce the outcome in terms of the time point when China actually delivered peaking emissions before 2030.
China has just officially announced its decision to stop seeking the benefits that are available to developing countries when we talk about the World Trade Organization negotiations.
That seems to be a separate issue.
But what do you think this decision would mean, what it entails to China's contribution to global climate funding and finance?
Well, as you said, those two issues are not really closely connected with each other.
They're sort of separate.
But of course, then you ask the question, let me see, OK, the trade, the WTO deal is on the track.
It's about reforming or remaking global trade system centered around the sustainability, uh.
So on one side, it's rule making process.
China definitely is participating very actively in terms of resetting, reshaping global trade deals for the coming decades.
But in the meantime actually, it's not just the deals, it's about the transformation of the industries, transformation of your, you know, of the infrastructure financing uh, you name it.
From that perspective, you know, aligned it back to the new president's newly announced pledges there, you can be very, very confident that china would definitely invest more aggressively in terms of clean energy, clean industry, clean products clean, clean infrastructure.
From that perspective, by just you know, being cleaning, actually greening uh revolution, China definitely will help tremendously in terms of investing in climate mitigation.
Now, in the global context, when we talk about climate finance, in many cases actually it's about investing or supporting other developing countries there.
From that perspective I wouldn't really say too much through this sort of WTO announcement and this Climate Paris Agreement negotiation because at the end of the day that will depend on the negotiation, particularly in the upcoming COP 30 in Brazil.
We'll see how much, to what extent, China will continue to shift its global climate finance policy.
You know, besides investing in South-South collaboration, what additional steps China will take?
So earlier you warned against being overly optimistic about China meeting those targets.
But regarding these latest targets announced by the Chinese president, some international observers actually seem to be skeptical, or one thing they are saying is that they are probably not enough for this global longer-term goal of limiting the global warming within 15 degrees Celsius.
Well, I think it's understandable in a way, because China is the world's largest emitter today and we contributed about a third of global emissions there.
So to what extent China will be able to bend down the emission curves definitely will have a major repercussion to the global economy.
Temperature rising goals.
Yes, of course, we are already living in a world of 1.5 degrees temperature warming already.
In the last year, we made that sort of, you know, sort of a breakthrough already.
But of course, longer term, it's not too late.
We still need to make more aggressive efforts, more concerted efforts to reduce emissions, to drive the clean energy revolution as quickly, at a much, much larger scale as possible, because only by doing so we'll be able to really, you know, honor the 15 degrees Celsius global warming target within 15 degrees.
Very importantly because it's about devastating consequences.
It damages the losses that will incur to our lives, our properties, our economic and the social economic situations there.
So, from that perspective, of course China, you know already a major step forward in terms of announcing 2035 pledges.
But hopefully through that process not only China itself but also China will be able to work more cooperatively with the global community to really accelerating bending down the curves not only in China but also globally.
So Changhua, we still have about like one minute before we need to finish.
So the very final question.
I mean.
China's latest pledge came a day after American President Donald Trump urged the global leaders at the UN General Assembly to abandon their respective climate efforts.
So was the United States out of the picture seemingly?
Is China in effect taking on a global leadership role in terms of tackling the climate issues?
Well, what a contrast.
I think it's all over the media globally, right?
The contrast is so obvious.
Obviously China and the US, from the climate change, from a clean energy transition perspective, are literally taking on a very divergent sort of pathway already.
That's given today.
But in the meantime, to be fair in the US it's not like you know there's still investment in clean technologies.
There are still companies actually driving, you know, renewable energy, clean energy revolution.
The only consequences is about the pace and the scale.
So, China is on its way and continue to gear ahead its clean energy revolution without the US.
China has already built upon, achieved milestones, key milestones already.
It will carry on actually to this transitional pathway.
I wouldn't really say, you know, using this language like leadership.
Now there's a leadership vacuum created by the U.S.
Then China needs to step in.
Come on.
Climate change is a global issue.
It's a global crisis.
So every single individual on this planet needs to take on his or her responsibility to take actions there.
So I wouldn't really just naively just say, OK, yeah, U.S. is not doing that.
Your point's well taken.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Wu Changhua, you're listening to World Today.
We'll be back.
Welcome.
I'm Elav Elad, economics professor and member of the Data Science and AI Center at New York University, Shanghai.
On the World Today program, you can find in-depth and impartial insight, as well as critical commentary, on key trends in the Chinese economy, financial technology, business and blockchain.
To prepare for the world tomorrow, join me on World Today.
You are listening to World Today.
I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
An official from Sierra Leone says ties with China have strengthened, expanding from trade and agriculture to exchanges on local governance experience.
Alfred Moe Jamiro, deputy minister of the country's local government and community affairs office, highlighted China's global governance initiative, saying this initiative offers essential ideas regarding peace, shared prosperity and equality.
He also stressed China's support during his country's public health crisis, noting that it has helped boost South-South cooperation.
My colleague Song Ruixin had a talk with this official.
So Alfred.
China and Sierra Leone have maintained strong ties since establishing diplomatic relations in 1971.
With recent upgrades to the Comprehensive Strategic Cooperative Partnership from the local governance perspective, how can both countries learn from each other's experience to improve community development?
Thank you very much.
That's a very good question.
I want to reference that question to the visit my President made His Excellency retired Brigadier Dr Julius Marderbuehl in February of 2024, as you alluded into the question, which actually upgraded that partnership, which is about 54 years old today.
His Excellency the President had very fruitful conversation with President Xi Jinping and along those lines, on his return we started working on some of the interactions and engagement with the creation of economic zones in Sierra Leone.
To your question, how does that fit into local council?
First of all, all of the business interventions, whether it is company, it is trade, etc.
Are done within localities, and so the local countries are a direct beneficiary to whatever that creation will end up bringing.
So there is potential for growth, especially from our local government standpoint.
V's recognizing that china have walked this path before.
China came from an experience of wars that it never wanted to fight, but those wars also shaped its current situation, aware of the fact that all of what we are going through now, after our own experience with the war trying to get into developing our country, China already has walked that path and therefore is in a position to be able to provide their own experience.
We are always reminded that China does not want any country to do what China is doing.
Look at your own circumstance.
Look at your own environment and adapt to your own environment and your own circumstances, with the support of China.
So we are hoping that the partnership, which was strengthened by my president, His Excellency retired Brigadier Dr Julius Marderbue, will transcend into a continued friendship because, as we said, China and Sierra Leone have come 54 years and that is not 54 days, and it is the partnership that we continue to benefit from.
I'm here today as a scholar to Peking University because of that partnership, and I'm here today specifically because I'm deputy minister of local government and community affairs And it was necessary for me to be here based upon what was communicated by the Chinese embassy in Freetown to me.
And being here, I have gone to the local councils.
I've seen what is being done there at their local levels, et cetera, what have you.
And it is those experiences that we are learning from, so that at least we can take back to Sierra Leone to be able to improve our situation, whether it is in the area of technology, whether it is in the area of agriculture, whether it is in the area of animal-horse boundary, or whether it is in the area of human capital development.
And so we think that the China Sierra Leone relationship is at a point where we are very, very confident that we can grow this partnership beyond where it is right now.
With cities like Freetown and Chinese cities including Hefei and Ganzhou?
Do you see city-to-city or community-level partnerships as an effective way to promote this kind of South and South cooperation?
In fact that, I think, is one of the major ways to link the Global South or to give meaning to the Global South cooperation, because in my almost three weeks here, When we went to Doha, that is one of those issues that I really try to pursue.
You know how can we train our cities, our district councils not just cities, our district councils with cities and our councils here and especially in areas that look similar.
So for example, in in the southeast we are more agricultural oriented.
So i am i am looking to explore that opportunity on behalf of the local councils to get the local councils to train with cities here in china.
Partnerships like that, especially the training, will be of economic value to both countries, will improve the cultural diversity of both countries.
We as a ministry have been fortunate to have hosted the deputy governor of Jiangsu province, who went to Sierra Leone.
Although it was a very tight schedule it was just a one-day program, a one-day visit but we had some very interesting conversation.
And some of the commitments that Jiangsu deputy governor made, he had delivered on it.
Also, we had the opportunity last July to come to Guangzhou, myself and the director.
Unfortunately, this time also, our schedule is so tight that we are not able to break off, to be able to meet with the governor, just to have some conversations with him.
But those are the issues that I think we would like to really focus on.
Let me say this just for our viewers.
It is important to know that China had come to the aid of Sierra Leone at the time that Sierra Leone needed China the most.
And I'll tell you this, that is in the times of Ebola outbreak in 2014 and the corona outbreak in 2020.
I think that those are the times that you know who your friend is, When you know everything is against you.
You know we lost, as you guys know, we lost thousands of people to Ebola.
But at least China was still there to support us.
When the coronavirus outbreak came, you know, yes, we lost a little over 100 people.
But yes, China was still there to help us.
And China also have investments in the mining sector.
For example, I met with one of the CEOs that have a mining going on in Sierra Leone, Afro-Asia.
He actually came to Guangzhou to meet with me.
So it's all looking to me like the world, as they say, is a global village.
Because I never knew that I met him in Sierra Leone, but I will meet him in China.
And that is only possible because of some of these partnerships.
So it is our hope that this partnership might grow to even a greater height.
You talked about Ebola.
I'm just wondering what kind of role Chinese medical teams are playing in local communities.
So I do know for a fact that China has a hospital in the city of Freetown that they run.
I also know that China is involved in building one of our biggest hospitals in the Western community.
But over and above that, China, like I said, is involved in so many things.
From your perspective, how do you understand Global Governance Initiative?
So Global Governance Initiative is first of all, I will use what the Chinese are popularly using.
And which is really true of our current situation.
For example, global governance should ensure one global peace, you know, and that global peace is not just within your own environment.
But if any country of the world, however far away you are from that country, if that country is under threat, the rest of the world is under threat.
Because, as we know, there are spillovers of those threats and the potential for that to also really become a challenge to government.
The other issue that is very widely promoted here It's also global shared prosperity.
I was just having a conversation with a colleague in the lectures.
And I was telling him, I said, you know what?
Global shared prosperity is such an important vision of the world.
Because when you look at the natural distribution of natural wealth, no one country has everything.
So therefore, if you have something that I don't have, I mean we could exchange so that what I have you can have, what you have i can have, and we could have a common world.
But um, global governance really should be understood.
Most importantly, it should be understood through the lens of respect and equality for big or small nations, because that is really what the problem is.
Many of our big powers, you know, look on, look down on countries that are small, you know as nothing, And that is why we from the developing world really look up to China, especially in the area of the Global South Corporation, the Belt and Road Initiative, as really one of the best things that have happened to the world.
We think that that collaboration, that partnership has potential to really feed in and support the global shared prosperity which China is so, so committed to.
Alpharet Moe Jamiru, Sarah Liang's Deputy Minister for Local Government and Community Affairs, talking with my colleague Song Reixin.
Coming up, Chinese tech giants are racing to boost their bets on artificial intelligence.
You're listening to World Today.
We'll be back.
You're listening to World Today.
China's tech giants are ramping up efforts in artificial intelligence.
This week, Alibaba unveiled three new large-language models, including Cuban 3 Omni, a multi-model system that can simultaneously process text images, audio and video.
Two of the models are open-source, aimed at accelerating global adoption and innovation.
Meanwhile, DeepSeq has introduced its upgraded V31 Terminus model, which improves language consistency and boosts performance in coding and search applications.
Experts say that this rapid development is marking a shift in China's AI push from pure tech competition to creating real-world value in industries like finance, healthcare and manufacturing.
To delve deeper into this, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Andy Mark, a senior research fellow with the Center for China and Globalization.
Andy, so Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba updated three large language models.
So how transformative are they?
Well, Zhao Yang think.
In and of themselves, I think they represent meaningful improvements and, in particular, the ability to take multimodal data so not just text, but video audio, etc and integrate them is very it's an important step, and here's why because I think the real progress is is not just having better models, but the shift to what's called agentic AI, meaning AI that can act independently to take care of more complex tasks.
And one of those tasks, of course, will be robots that can maybe cook dinner.
Look after a patient.
Work in a factory.
So I think this is an important building block.
The other thing I want to mention too, since we're talking about Alibaba, is they also released something called tongi deep research, which is also another very important building block, uh for agentic ai and embodied agentic ai, so basically, robots that can act independently.
And why this is so important too, is that this is a 30 billion parameter model, but it only needs to use about 3 billion at a time, And what this means it's smaller, cheaper and more efficient to run.
So the implications of this are that these models taken together are again are the building blocks where I think China very likely could lead in a world where ai that can act independently to do valuable jobs are not only possible but cheap and efficient to run.
So i think this is very, very important, but really as a building block, not necessarily as an end in it in and of itself.
And what improvements stand out in the deep six latest update and what do they tell us about china's ai development?
Well, I think there's two things.
One is that so it improves language consistency between English and Chinese.
And if we look at what China is doing in terms of opening to the world, deeper integration, the ability to work across languages is very important.
So I think this is important.
But maybe even more important than this, Zhao Yang, is the improvements in coding.
And here's why because whenever we want to use AI, whether for a consumer application in manufacturing and health care or whatever, someone has to write the software to do it.
So, by making coding more efficient, what deep seek is now doing is that they're actually empowering developers all around the world.
And here's the really interesting, exciting thing.
China has almost 10 million software developers.
The US has about 1.5 million.
So when we look at this scale difference, combined with the ability to have better AI tools to write more software at a higher quality, I think this is going to play a very, very important role in the implementation of all sorts of AI applications.
And how significant is China's recent acceleration in the large language AI model releases compared to the global trends?
Do you see China competing with the U.S. in AI or carving out its own path?
Well, I think it's a bit of both.
So, and I think we should not only look at large language models because again, you know we think about what is the end point.
The end point for many scientists businesses, investors is a world where embodied and agentic AI can make life better for everyone around the world.
Right?
It can make things more cheaply, higher quality, et cetera.
And what that means is we have to look at the entire AI stack, from electricity generation to data centers, to the models whether these are LLMs or other types of models to the applications themselves.
And here, I think China clearly is leading.
So if we look at, say, electricity production, China produces about twice the electricity.
In 2023, China produced about 9000 terawatts of electricity compared to the US's 4800 terawatts, so almost twice as much.
And what this means is that now, without electricity, nothing in ai will work.
So i think china has already strategically recognized the importance of electricity generation data centers.
Of course we see data centers being built, but also a coherent national strategy of eastern data, western compute, where data centers are placed in the western part of china, where electricity may be cheaper.
There are other factors that make it more attractive.
So again, i think China is able to work at a national scale in a coordinated way.
So I think in this way it's not just the cadence of the release of these various large language models by Alibaba, by deep seek, et cetera, or high flyer, et cetera.
But we really have to look at the entire value chain, the entire stack, to really appreciate China's acceleration in this area.
And the focus of China's large language models is shifting from technological competition to value creation.
So which industries are benefiting the most?
Is that finance, healthcare, manufacturing, or what else?
Well, I would say all of the above, Zhao Yang.
So yes, we can say it's a focus on value creation.
I think maybe I see it more as a focus on actual implementation, meaning practical applications.
So the US emphasis has been largely on frontier models, trying to get to artificial general intelligence.
And these are very important, but these are largely focused on pushing the frontier.
Whereas the Chinese approach, of course, China is also doing research in this area as well.
But I think China's emphasizing the practical value of AI.
So, yes, manufacturing, I think, is one very, very important sector.
Finance, you know, we see this as well.
Healthcare, you've mentioned all of these.
I would also again emphasize again the impact on software development because again, without the ability to write high quality code, we really cannot see the benefits of AI.
So I think this is another very important area.
The other area I would mention too is education.
So one thing that's great about AI is that it is very knowledgeable and infinitely patient, right?
So I think it is such an important resource for students that may Struggle with whether that's learning a new language, whether that's learning physics, chemistry that this is another very, very important area.
And the open source model lowers the technical barriers, creating a business model of open source foundational models plus paid value-added services.
So is this the future of the AI business model?
And how critical is the open source push to building a sustainable ecosystem?
Well, that's another very good question, Zhao Yang.
So, of course, the traditional thinking on this is, yes, that is exactly what you do.
But I would not be surprised if just as we've seen tremendous innovation on the the.
Model side of artificial intelligence in China.
We may actually see innovation on the business model side as well.
So you know, one possibility is that AI comes bundled with your car, with your robot, with your appliance.
Maybe it's embedded in super apps like WeChat, that they use this to increase engagement and that's how they make their money.
And It's also very possible that the government may treat certain AI capabilities and services as a utility, as infrastructure like water electricity sanitation, as another possible business model.
So yes, I think traditionally this is how you make money in AI is you give away, you know the source code and then you sell these services around it.
We may also see unexpected innovation in terms of revenue model and business model as well in China.
Andy Mauck, a senior research fellow at the Center for China and Globalization, talking with my colleague Zhao Yang.
You're listening to World Today.
I'm Ding Hen in Beijing.
Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile and Bangladesh are seeking to join the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.
RCEP officials say they have few objections to accepting new applicants and will work towards bringing the four economies into the bloc.
RCEP officials are meeting on the sidelines of a gathering of ASEAN trade and economic ministers in Malaysia this week.
RCEP represents the world's largest trading bloc.
It currently consists of China Japan, South Korea Australia, New Zealand and all 10 members of the ASEAN.
So joining us now on the line is Dr Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Thank you.
So why do you think the RSAP is holding such openness to accepting new members?
And some analysts say that have.
Some analysts have described the RSAP as a as a potential buffer against the tariffs imposed by the United States.
What is your take?
I would say that ARSA is the largest FDI in the world right now.
So it has included so many different economies.
So it's provided so many possibilities about what we can do in trying to explore a better way of development.
Well, from another side, I think that stability and certainty will be one of the most important characteristics of ARSA.
So all these members agree that we are able to provide our promises and we want to fulfill those promises, which is kind of a very important in such a kind of uncertain world.
We see some of the protagonism, some countries trying to violate their commitments, but in this regard, i would say our step is attracting more economy, economies because more of us want to fulfill our commitments.
So, realistically speaking, what would Hong Kong, Sri Lanka, Chile and Bangladesh, these four economies, what would they bring to the RCEP if they join officially?
Well, you know, all these countries or economies are the neighboring economies around the RCEP region.
So I think they will have a better complementary part in the package of the RCEP region.
They have a different development stage and some of them are more developed than some of them are still developing.
So by the cooperation of these different economies.
I would believe that it will provide the package with more diversities.
And the inclusiveness is one of these characteristics for RCEP.
So we accept them means that we have to try to consider about their status and their willingness, together with their abilities.
I mean, this kind of cooperation will provide the enterprises with more choices.
If they are going to establish a better tea-related industry, they can explore the market of Sri Lanka.
Well, if they want more resources, like from financial sectors, they can go to Hong Kong.
There are so many possibilities if we are including more economies in this package.
Yeah, when we talk about Sri Lanka, we think of the red tea, the Ceylon tea from Sri Lanka.
When we talk about Chile from the perspective of Chinese consumers, we think of wine, fruits and seafood.
For Hong Kong, it's all about finance.
And what about Bangladesh?
What kind of benefits will Bangladesh bring to the bloc?
Well, Bangladesh is a country, you know, they have a lot of people.
Well, it is one of the most important advantages.
That's the reason why they have a very strong abilities in the textiles, in the clothing, the garment, the shoes, making.
So I think that Bangladesh is also developing very quickly.
So it's providing so many new opportunities for the manufacturing and they can establish a better arena in this region.
The South Asian region is one of the most populated areas in the world.
We have so many possibilities for the urbanization and the industrialization.
So do you think the trading bloc's possible membership expansion in the foreseeable future would somehow make it harder to upgrade RCEP's relevant terms and provisions?
Well, it is true.
If you're looking back, you know when the RCEP members right now when they reached the agreement.
It took them about 80 years to fulfill all these kind of negotiations.
I think that more members, when they come here, there may be giving us more challenges, but I have to say that you know the terms and the conditions of RCEP is already considering about the differences, so we have some treatment like for the special and differential treatment for the developing economy.
They have the great spirit, so it will take us more consideration about the possibilities and whether they are able to fulfill their commitments in the short.
If they are not able to do that, we can provide better capabilities, buildings and like to help these governments to improve their abilities in the kind of trade-related issues and regulations.
So I would say that there will be a lot of, you know, challenges together with more opportunities.
We can do more to improve the diversification and trying to help the economies in the RCEP region to fight against the protagonism and uncertainty of the world, which is one of the most essential for us to deal with what we are going to do for global trade.
So, finally and very briefly, what about the Chinese government's position or stance towards future RCEP membership expansion?
I think that we always welcome new members to join this pack.
We don't think that it's a kind of game, you know, just by us.
We can provide more opportunities by connecting.
The interconnecting is the concept and we will believe that it will benefit all of us.
Thank you very much for joining us.
Dr Zhou Mi, Senior Research Fellow from the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation.
That's all the time for this edition of World Today.
A quick recap of today's headline news.
China has celebrated the 70th founding anniversary of the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region.
China has made a landmark pledge to cut the country's climate emissions.
Chinese tech giants are racing to boost their bets on artificial intelligence.
To listen to this episode again or to catch up on our previous episodes, download our podcast by searching World Today.
I'm Dinghan in Beijing.
Thank you so much for listening.
Bye for now.
