Trade war not to hold back hi-tech sector
CEEC leaders impressed by China’s AI products
With broad international market prospects and intensified scientific research and development, China’s high-tech manufacturing industry will not be obstructed by trade disputes with the US, Chinese analysts said.
The comments come amid Chinese Premier Li Keqiang’s ongoing visit to the Central and Eastern European countries (CEEC), during which Li introduced innovative products made by Chinese enterprises to leaders of the CEEC.
“Hi, Prime Minister Borissov,” Premier Li said in Chinese to a translation machine at an exhibition Saturday. His words were immediately translated into Bulgarian for Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov, according to the Xinhua News Agency report.
As Borissov showed interest in the machine, Premier Li inquired about the price and bought one for him. Borissov then expressed gratitude in Bulgarian, which was translated into Chinese, “Thank you, Chinese Premier.”
“The exhibits of innovative Chinese products marked that China’s cooperation with the CEEC has deepened and transformed from raw materials to high-tech products, which will help China forge stronger ties with the CEEC,” Zhao Junjie, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences Institute of European Studies in Beijing, told the Global Times.
“It also signaled that China’s innovative manufacturing industry has a stronger international competitiveness, and China has successfully widened its market to the CEEC,” Zhao said.
Despite trade disputes with the US,
China’s creative manufacturing technology has stepped into a wider world through the Belt and Road initiative, including Southeast Asian countries and African countries, experts said.
China exported its facial recognition technology to Zimbabwe in May, which will help government to build a smart service network at airports, railway stations and bus stations. This was the first time that China’s artificial intelligence (AI) technology entered the African market.
Bai Ming, a research fellow at the Chinese Academy of International Trade and Economic Cooperation, told the Global Times on Sunday that the US tariffs, especially in China’s high-tech industries, may only marginally impact China’s manufacturing industry, as China has turned the pressure of the tariffs to a driving force for the development of the industry.
China has made great progress in recent years on automation and industry upgrades with intensified research, Luo Jun, CEO of the International Robotics and Intelligent Equipment Industry Alliance, an industry thinktank, told the Global Times on Sunday.
“The application of robots in fields including automobiles, healthcare, textile and chemical industries has helped China develop automated production and prompted intensified research on innovation by robotics companies,” Luo.
The Chinese AI industry has undergone explosive growth since 2015, with the number of AI enterprises reaching 4,040 as of May this year, Science and Technology Daily reported on July 2.
During the 18th summit of Shanghai Cooperation Organization in June, several types of robots provided services for the meeting, such as security robots that patrolled the media center, robots that carried goods for guests, as well as robot guides that spoke Chinese, English and Russian.
According to a report from a Chinese news portal chinanews.com, all the smart robots at the summit were made in Qingdao, which is a flagship area for the country’s “Made in China 2025” program.
Currently six of the world’s top 10 robotics companies have moved to Qingdao, East China’s Shandong Province.
Stable economy
China’s progress on high-tech manufacturing benefits from China’s stable economic development and opening-up policy, experts noted.
Premier Li reassured the CEEC during his visit that the Chinese economy is fully capable of maintaining a stable and positive development momentum with an accelerated pace of transitioning to high-quality growth, Xinhua reported.
The premier also reiterated China’s stance of sticking to the path of market reform and greater openingup and said that the opening-up measures are in line with China’s own development needs and will not change due to external factors.
However, Luo told the Global TImes on Sunday that China’s manufacturing level is still quite low compared with western countries including the US and Germany, and much of the core technology of the AI and high-tech manufacturing is still controlled by them.
He said that China needs to put huge investment in its own research, train more talents for high-technology and strengthen cooperation with western countries.