China asserts AI development goals at Shanghai conference as Beijing braces for potential new US tech restrictions

Official says China aims to build a complete AI value chain, from ‘smart chips and algorithm frameworks to industry-specific large language models’

The Chinese government is expected to increase its support for the local AI industry, which is estimated to consist of more 4,300 companies at present

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People visit the opening of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. Photo: Agence France-Presse

Tracy Qu,Lilian Zhang,Ben JiangandAnn Cao

Published: 9:00pm, 6 Jul 2023

This year’s edition of the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai opened on Thursday with Chinese government officials presenting a unified front on pushing the country’s AI development ambitions, despite the threat of potential new tech restrictions by the United States government.

China’s Vice-Minister for Industry and Information Technology, Xu Xiaolan, said in a keynote speech at the conference, which concludes this Saturday, that the country is moving to develop a complete AI value chain that covers “smart chips and algorithm frameworks to industry-specific large language models (LLMs)”.

She said the Chinese government will increase its support for the domestic AI industry, which is estimated to consist of more 4,300 companies at present.

Echoing that message, Shanghai’s Communist Party Secretary, Chen Jining, said in his presentation that the financial metropolis is already encouraging AI “algorithm innovation, chip development and language data set advances”. He added that Shanghai has been successful in attracting new AI businesses and talent.

Robots from Chinese manufacturer Dataa Robotics are displayed at the opening of the three-day 2023 World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai on July 6, 2023. Photo: AP

The optimism expressed by those two Chinese government officials underscores the country’s large bet on AI as a major catalyst to transform local industries and refuel the nation’s sputtering economy.