s PECIAL REPORT
pilot programme was launched in the city’s
Xiaoshan district last September, which the
company said has helped to increase the aver-
age traffic speed by 3 to 5 percent.
A National Strategy?
But for many Chinese entrepreneurs, the
support from the government is far from ad-
equate, with many calling for a national strat-
egy and a top-down action plan to support
and coordinate the research, development
and application of AI technologies. The is-
sue became a major topic during the annual
sessions of the National People’s Congress
(NPC), China’s parliament held in March,
during which the government unveiled its
major economic policies.
“AI will be the most important technologi-
cal revolution in the next ten years, which
could reshape the human world,” Lei Jun,
chief executive of smart device maker Xiao-
mi, who also serves as a delegate of China’s
National People’s Congress told reporters
at an NPC press conference on March 6.
Pointing to China’s access to a large volume
of data, Lei said China has the potential to
become a global leader in AI technology.
But to achieve this goal, Li argued that
the government should formulate a national
strategy to address various obstacles that can-
not be solved by the private sector alone. For
example, a major issue for China’s AI firms
has been the lack of talent.
It is estimated that there are now only
about 30 universities throughout China that
provide advanced education on AI, which is
far from enough to meet the needs of China’s
booming AI sector. It is a major reason why
many Chinese AI firms have chosen to open
labs in the US.Lei argued that the government should
adopt policies to devote more resources to
develop talent at home and attract talent
from abroad, along with policies to support
the application of AI technologies.
Lei’s call was echoed by Liu Qingfeng, the
chairman of iFlyTek, a company specialising
in voice recognition, another NPC delegate,
who argued that the government should take
a strategic approach to the AI sector with
policies fostering better collaboration among
enterprises to promote the development of
the entire AI ecosystem in China.Greater Collaboration
It is clear that the voices of entrepreneurs
did not go unheeded. In delivering the an-
nual government work report on the NPC,
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that the
government will “make plans for the devel-Source: Global Artificial Intelligence Development Report 2016, Wuzhen InstituteArtificial intelligence patents
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