opment of strategic and new industries”
including AI and other industries. It is the
first time that AI has made its way into
the government’s annual work report, and
many believe that a national AI strategy is
now gradually taking shape.
On March 2, just a few days prior to Li’s
speech, China unveiled its first national AI
lab, which focuses on deep learning. Fi-
nanced by the NDRC, the lab will be oper-
ated by Baidu in cooperation with Tsinghua
University and the Chinese Academy of
Sciences. In January this year, Alibaba and
the National Astronomical Observatory of
China had also jointly set up a data and re-
search centre for astronomy.
On May 13, a national laboratory for
“brain-like AI” technology was inaugu-
rated in Hefei, capital of east China’s Anhui
Province. Approved by the NDRC, the lab
is based at the China University of Science
and Technology and will be operated in col-
laboration with other top AI research bodies
such as Fudan University, Shenyang Insti-
tute of Automation of the Chinese Acad-
emy of Sciences, as well as Baidu.
On April 25, the NDRC, Ministry of
Science and Technology and the Ministry
of Industry and Information Technology
jointly issued a mid- and long-term devel-
opment plan for the automobile industry,
setting a goal of having 80 percent of new
automobiles equipped with driving assis-
tance, or partial and conditional automatic
driving system by 2025.
The vision appears to coincide with that
of Baidu. Only a week earlier on April 18,
Baidu announced its Project Apollo, an
autonomous driving platform that will in-
clude both software and hardware, whichthe company aims for use on urban roads
towards the end of the year and on high-
ways and open city roads by 2020.
Analysts believe that these developments
indicate the prospects of greater cooperation
between the government, universities, na-
tional research institutes and AI companies
in the future.
It is also reported that following the Chi-
nese Academy of Engineering’s proposal
of the “Artificial Intelligence 2.0 Plan,” the
Ministry of Science and Technology has
been working to draft a plan for the de-
velopment of artificial intelligence through
2030, which could be released within the
year.
With China’s ambition to build itself
into the world’s leading AI powerhouse, the
global competition in the futuristic industry
may just be starting.Source: Global Artificial Intelligence Development Report 2016, Wuzhen InstituteFinancing for artificial intelligence in China, US and the UK (US$100million)
Total number of artificial intelligence companies Size of financing received by artificial intelligence
firms between Q1 2012 and Q2 2016 (US$)Total number of patentsUs
China
Britain
India
Canada
Israel
Germany
France
spain
switzerlandUs
China
Britain
Canada
Germany
Israel
Japan
France
spain
switzerlandUs
China
Japan
Germany
south Korea
Canada
Australia
Britain
Russia
Austria2,905
709
366
233
228
173
160
136
132
8317.9b
2.6b
800m
640m
639m
400m
300m
280m
250m
210m26,891
15,745
14,604
4,386
4,053
2,459
2,310
1,803
597
578UsChina
Britain