CHINESE INNOVATORS STEP BACK FROM CES
For the past few years China has used CES, the world’s largest consumer electronics trade show, to raise its profile as a game-changing digital and technological innovator. China made its mark once again at the show held earlier this month in Las Vegas, but for a different reason.
Some of China’s key tech firms, such as Alibaba, JD.com and Tencent, were noticeably absent in a sign that the US-China trade war and the Trump administration’s focus on limiting the reach of Chinese tech firms continues to affect relations.
The number of Chinese exhibitors at CES declined for the second year in a row as a direct result of the trade dispute. About 1,000 of the 4,500 exhibitors at the show were from
China, down from some 1,200 last year, a pivotal moment that marked the reversal of a seven-year growth trend, from 400 exhibitors in 2011 to more than 1,550 in 2018.
As a further sign of souring relations, China advised exhibitors from the country to travel with intellectual property (IP) certificates in hand. As well, its trade watchdog provided free onsite legal advice in case Chinese firms were challenged by US authorities at the show, according to reports.
Despite the challenges, those Chinese exhibitors present in Las Vegas continued to raise the bar for innovation.
Lenovo launched Yoga 5, the world’s first 5G laptop, as well as the ThinkPad X1, touted as the world’s first foldable PC.
Livox Technologies, which was formed in an incubator backed by the drone maker DJI, showcased the lidar sensors Tele-15 and Horizon, which use laser-based technology to measure distances. These relatively low-cost and highly accurate sensors can be used in the guidance systems of autonomous vehicles as well as for mapping and robotics.
Byton, China’s leading electric car manufacturer which has displayed a number of concepts at CES in the past, this year introduced its first production vehicle, M-Byte. The car features a number of innovations including a 48-inch digital driving display.
AutoX, an autonomous vehicle startup that is backed by Alibaba and is partnering with Fiat Chrysler, introduced the Chrysler Pacifica minivan, a hybrid vehicle that uses a 360-degree array of lidar sensors produced by DJI and RoboSense, another Chinese tech exhibitor at the show.
While it will take some time for
China and the US to iron out their trade differences, it is encouraging to see that current problems cannot hold back the wave of innovation from China or scare off international companies from working with Chinese firms.
Let’s hope that next year’s CES will provide an opportunity for us to see a resumption of cordial relations and an upswing in technology collaborations between China, US and other countries. After all, we can all benefit if we can innovate together.
Suwatchai Songwanich is an executive vice-president with Bangkok Bank. For more columns in this series please visit www.bangkokbank.com