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Zhou Xin

Choi Chi-yuk

Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Wednesday that China must develop, control and use artificial intelligence (AI) to secure the country’s future in the next technological and industrial revolution.
The comments underscored Beijing’s continued ambition for technological dominance despite Washington’s allegations of theft and unfair practices in relation to intellectual property.
Xi made the comments at a Politburo “group study” session about AI, after the Communist Party’s 25-member policymaking body met to decide on a new game plan to handle an expected worsening in the economy from the trade war with the United States, according to the official Xinhua news agency.
Washington and Brussels have repeatedly complained about China’s state-sponsored plans such as “Made in China 2025”, in which AI is an important part.
Watch: Beijing’s plan to dominate AI technology


And while many Chinese businesses, from Tencent to Alibaba, are investing heavily into AI, this is the first time that the Chinese leader has gathered the Politburo to study the technology and required the country to embrace it.
Alibaba owns the South China Morning Post.
Xi said China must develop its own AI technology, saying it was important for economic development, social progress and global geopolitics.
“AI is a vital driving force for a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation, and accelerating AI development is a strategic issue to decide whether we can grasp opportunities,” Xi was quoted by Xinhua as saying.
Predicting Beijing’s thinking with the help of artificial intelligence and People’s Daily
Xi said China must ensure that it “occupies the high ground of AI core technology” and could firmly keep the technology in its hands by leveraging “China’s massive data and huge market potential”.
He said the country should use AI to upgrade its manufacturing, adding that it could be used in China’s pursuit of a leaner and greener way of economic development. Xi also encouraged government agencies to adopt AI.


“We need to enhance the combination of AI and social governance and develop AI systems for government services and decision-making,” Xi said, adding that public security was one field in which it could be used “in depth”.
Beijing-based commentator Zhang Lifan said Xi’s comments on AI reflected the Chinese leader’s belief in “self-reliance”.
“Xi is still quite into the idea of ‘self-reliance’ and it seems he is pretty determined,” Zhang said.
China’s cabinet, the State Council, issued a state plan for AI in July last year, outlining three main goals.
China plans to be a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030
Under the plan, China aims to match the world’s leading powers in AI by 2020; lead the world in certain aspects of the technology by 2025; and be the world’s leading power in AI by 2030, with an industry worth over 1 trillion yuan (US$143 billion) a year.
The ambitions have fanned fears overseas of Chinese dominance of the sector, prompting Beijing to soften its approach at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai last month and call for international cooperation in the area.


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Chinese President Xi Jinping says China must develop, control and use artificial intelligence to secure the country’s future. Photo: AFP

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(FILES) In this file photo taken on November 9, 2017 shows US President Donald Trump (L) and China's President Xi Jinping leaving a business leaders event at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing. - President Donald Trump on September 18, 2018 accused China of seeking to influence upcoming US elections by taking aim at his political support base in the countries' escalating trade war. "China has openly stated that they are actively trying to impact and change our election by attacking our farmers, ranchers and industrial workers because of their loyalty to me," Trump tweeted.Trump's comments came a day after he targeted another $200 billion in Chinese imports with tariffs starting next week, drawing an immediate vow of retaliation from Beijing. (Photo by Nicolas ASFOURI / AFP)

Predicting Beijing’s thinking with the help of artificial intelligence and People’s Daily

Xi Jinping’s policy priorities have remained essentially the same since the president first took power, according to a program’s analysis of the front pages of People’s Daily. Photo: Reuters.

FILE - In this Oct. 28, 2005, file photo released by China's Xinhua News Agency, then Chinese President Hu Jintao, front right, and then North Korean leader Kim Jong Il, front left, inspect an honor guard as Hu arrives at the airport in Pyongyang, North Korea. As North Korea celebrates the 70th anniversary of its founding on Sunday, Sept. 9, 2018, the presence - or absence - of Xi could highlight just how much vitality has been restored to ties between Pyongyang and its most powerful backer after a prolonged chill. (Ju Peng/Xinhua via AP, File)

At the height of the Great Leap Forward peasants all over China were marshalled into massive labour-intensive projects like here were members of the Gangkou commune in Jiujiang, Jiangxi province, march off to work behind red flags. This photo was taken in Autumn of 1959 when slogan was "Go all out and continue Great Leap Forward and defeat rightism". XINHUA PHOTO

***ONE TIME USE ONLY*** The front page of the People Daily.

Chinese President Liu Shaoqi and his wife Wang Guangmei, photographed setting an example during the famine following the Great Leap forward [1958-1962] by picking wild fruit and grasses in the wooded hills of Wenquan near Guangzhou. XINHUA PHOTO

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Chinese staff work on the assembly line at the start of production on the DPCA Chengdu plant and Dongfeng Peugeot 4008 line in Chengdu on September 7, 2016. French auto giant PSA Peugeot Citroen on September 7 opened its fifth plant in China to embrace a boom in sport-utility vehicles (SUVs), as it tries to stem sharp sales falls in the world's largest car market. / AFP PHOTO / WANG ZHAO

A worker puts finishing touches to a robot. Photo: Reuters

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Beijing must ensure firm grasp of area’s core technologies, Chinese leader says
Applications range from governance and public security to manufacturing, he says



Beijing must ensure firm grasp of area’s core technologies, Chinese leader says


Develop and control: Xi Jinping urges China to use artificial intelligence in race for tech future

Beijing must ensure firm grasp of area’s core technologies, Chinese leader says Applications range from governance and public security to manufacturing, he says

Beijing must ensure firm grasp of area’s core technologies, Chinese leader says

Applications range from governance and public security to manufacturing, he says