Chinese state news agency, Xinhua, reported
recently that a new technology park dedicated to the development of artificial
intelligence technologies will be built in Beijing in five years, with an investment
of 13.8 billion Yuan or around US$2.1 billion.
The park, covering 54.87 hectares, will be situated in
suburban Mentougou district in western Beijing and it will be developed by a company
of Zhongguancun Development Group (ZDG). ZDG is a State-Owned Enterprise funded by
the Beijing Municipal Government.
According to Xinhua, the developer will seek partnership
with Chinese and overseas universities, research institutes and large companies
to establish various research centres in the park, including a national-level
artificial intelligence lab.
The park is expected to attract about 400 enterprises, with
an estimated annual output value of about 50 billion yuan (about US$7.7 billion).
It is expected to become a venue for smart pilot demonstrations.
Areas of focus will include ultra-high-speed big data, cloud
computing, biometric identification and deep learning. Its technological
infrastructure would include a 5G mobile network, supercomputing centres and specialised
cloud services. Industry data resource sharing platforms will be developed for
sectors such as healthcare and education.
China's AI industry grew
by 43.3 percent during 2016, surpassing 10 billion Yuan (USD 1.47 billion),
and it is expected to reach 15.21 billion and 34.43 billion Yuan in 2017 and
2019 respectively. 15,745 AI patents were filed from the country, ranking
second worldwide.
Last year, the Chinese State Council laid
out an AI strategy, with the aim of growing the country’s core AI
industries to a scale of over 1 trillion Yuan (USD 150 billion; a 100 times
increase over the 2016 number), driving related industries to exceed more than
10 trillion Yuan by 2030.
The plan seeks to leverage China’s advantages, but it also
recognises the current shortcomings, such as lagging the US in basic research.
It goes on to lay out steps to deal with the problems. The plan identifies six
tasks, including the establishment of an open and collaborative AI technology
innovation system, cultivation of high-end and efficient intelligent economy,
building a safe, convenient and intelligent society, strengthening
civilian-military integration in AI field and building an extensive, safe,
efficient, intelligent infrastructure system.
