China puts on brave face amid US tech restrictions as it looks to next stage of internet development

Delegates at a conference to mark the 30th anniversary of China’s connection to the internet put on a brave face amid US technology restrictions, highlighting the country’s determination to become self-sufficient in artificial intelligence (AI) and future internet technologies.

The China Internet Conference, a three-day event that kicked off on Tuesday, features exhibits dominated by the mainland’s state-owned enterprises, and speakers highlighting the country’s achievements and advantages in internet development.

While China’s internet in the past three decades was built on funding and technologies from the US, the country is pinning its hopes on local breakthroughs amid a bifurcation of the global technology sphere, according to speeches and displays at the show.

Wu Hequan, a former vice-president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a pioneer in developing China’s communications network, said restrictions on the country’s access to advanced chips were “having a certain impact”, but the country can eventually overcome the obstacles by pooling its computing resources.

The 81-year-old engineer, who did not name the US, said the lack of access to “advanced foreign chips” could slow down the expansion of China’s computing power – a key element in training generative AI models – but he added that China has already developed sufficient computing infrastructure to empower its AI ambitions. Wu noted that China was the world’s No 2 computing power, only behind the US.

Under Washington’s export restrictions, US tech firms such as Nvidia are not allowed to sell their advanced products to customers in China, creating a hardware bottleneck for China’s AI ambitions.