Power, Influence and the 2021 WAIC in Shanghai.

 Since Deng Xiaoping’s historic experiment with capitalism in Shenzhen, the world has witnessed almost seismic change. Obsessed with modernization and technology, Deng opened trade relations with the west, which, according to Ezra Vogel, Professor of Social Sciences at Harvard University, resulted in lifting hundreds of millions of Chinese out of poverty.

 Perhaps no other leader in the twentieth century has had a greater long-term impact on world history than Xiaoping. Professor Vogel’s biography, Deng Xiaoping and the Transformation of China, is imperative reading for those interested in China’s role in the world today. An insightful interview and discussion of the book with Professor Vogel is worthwhile viewing here.

 In the new millennium, China has rapidly gained global influence, through its development of digital infrastructure that has given birth to domestic giants. These include Alibaba, Baidu, Tencent, and scores of others mentioned below, with the worldwide export of their products and services.

The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is the long-range plan for a vast network of transportation, energy, and telecommunications infrastructure, linking approximately 70 countries throughout Eurasia, Africa, and even Latin America. Recommended reading on BRI can be accessed here, and a short educational video here. Fast train infrastructure is another Chinese phenomenon. From the beginning of its development in 2007, China now hosts two-thirds of the total worldwide network of fast trains.

 As part of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Five-year Plans—components of the Made in China 2025 initiative—China aims to move away from its previously seen traditional role as the world's factory. That label correctly identified China as the producer of cheap, low-tech goods, a situation facilitated by lower-cost labor and supply chain advantages. 

The plan aims to upgrade the manufacturing capabilities of Chinese industries, growing from labor-intensive workshops into a more technology-intensive powerhouse. To communicate the scale, the magnitude and the seriousness of the project, the South China Morning Post (#SCMP) has developed a compelling user-friendly graphic.

One of the industries that particularly fascinates and excites me is the technology and its trending domains.

The Rise of Chinese Digital, Blockchain, Artificial Intelligence 

China is the only country with over a billion people who have access to the internet, can make instant payments, and have the fastest digital product and services adoption. Our team at Sinofy Studio has put together 10 lessons from research spanning the very beginnings of great firewalls, to dominance in the AI industry, representing just 20-plus years of development. While writing this article, I remembered with some excitement an article I published back in 2016, entitled Nobody Can Imagine That This Happens In China Every 60 Seconds. The story provides an additional glimpse into current and future possibilities for China. To understand the depth of this phenomenon, consider for instance, that even street sellers use QR codes for their cashless payments, and cash is regularly no longer accepted in most shops.

 Needless to say, in less than two decades, Chinese companies directly compete with American tech titans.

The further it goes, the more interesting it becomes. Never before might it have been imagined that Chinese startups could challenge or remotely compete with California’s Silicon Valley, where most of the world’s digital reality in the dot-com era was shaped and developed. Chris Stokel-Walker wrote one of the great pieces comparing both worlds and that historic shift in his How China could shape the future of technology. This was after ByteDance’s TikTok had taken the world by storm, only four years after its foundation. It remains to date, the fastest-growing internet company ever.

The speed of technology adoption in China is nothing short of astonishing. Those who have had the opportunity to visit in recent years will not fail to have noticed that its uptake of innovation is completely off-scale. This challenges previously consolidated theories whereby technology utilization was largely seen as an economic opportunity for those enjoying elevated social and monetary status.

During his press conference in March, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang pledged to boost spending and to drive research into cutting-edge chips and artificial intelligence in its latest five-year targets, laying out a technological blueprint to vie for global influence with the U.S. Here is that official statement as reported in the Wall Street Journal.

 China is actively pursuing global supremacy in blockchain and crypto through two prongs: its digital yuan or DCEP—China’s central bank digital currency—and BSN, a framework for building enterprise blockchain products.

 But wait, you ask, what the heck is DCEP, how is it different to yuan, and why do we need it when we can use WeChat or Alipay?

Blockchain has changed the world. Whereas many foresaw the future as a decentralized concept, given the Chinese 5 Year Plan and its Made in China 2025, the future is not what it used to be.

Before we tap deeply in the Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN), let us share some clarity on: What is blockchain? and then consider the different types of Blockchains.

The question on everyone’s lips: What is so different about the BSN?

Launched in April 2020, Blockchain-based Service Network (BSN) is the Chinese government-backed blockchain initiative, conceived to support small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to position and develop in the crypto space.

The BSN represents the technological equivalent of the Belt and Road Initiative, with a strong commitment from the Government of China. The four founding members of BSN include the State Information Center of China, China Mobile, China UnionPay and Red Date Technology.

As the next industrial revolution will be based on new technologies, blockchain will play a fundamental role.

 With its BSN, China will provide the infrastructure for promising blockchain projects to develop further. While allowing them to work in a connected way within the same technological environment, BSN is already on the mission, making 24 Public Blockchains Permissioned.

 The project is designed to attract international companies operating in the blockchain space, while establishing China as the leading jurisdiction for blockchain technology. A detailed documentation of the project can be viewed here.

 In other words, to operate in China, you have to use Chinese blockchain—just like the Chinese internet with its infrastructure—or else, you are likely to fail.

The rise and scale of AI

In July 2017, China’s State Council released the country’s strategy for developing artificial intelligence (AI), entitled the New Generation Artificial Intelligence Development Plan (新一代人工智能发展规划).

 But What is AI and how does it function?

This strategy outlined China’s aims to become the world leader in AI by 2030, to monetize AI into a trillion-yuan industry (ca. 150 billion dollars), and to emerge as the driving force in defining ethical norms and standards for AI.

 Last year, China produced more scientific AI papers than any other country, including the USA. One may argue that their average impact is still lower than other countries, but how can one not be astonished by the progress made in the past ten years? The 2030 goal seems achievable, and probably even sooner than expected.

 China is also leading the way in quantum neural network development. Taking advantage of the huge progress made by Chinese scientists into quantum communication and computation, they are already planning the future of AI-powered by quantum speed. It is, therefore, reasonable to expect exponential growth in terms of speed and efficiency.

 In only four years, Shanghai has launched and created the largest AI event in the world. Who else could try to get more than 250 millions views? Maybe only Beijing or Shenzhen.

What is China's plan after all?

According to research by Pablo Robles, China has a three-step plan: Step One is to keep pace with all leading AI technology, and its application in general, by 2020. Step Two is to make major breakthroughs by 2025, with the intention to lead to Step Three of the plan, which is to establish China as the world leader in the AI field by 2030.

Sinovations’s Kai Fu Lee believes that China Has Caught Up To U.S. In AI. He cites the example of TikTok, and the failure of top American companies to compete, or more correctly, the ability of China to outcompete. Here, Lee tells us, is yet another reflection of China's rising power in the west. To check his predictions, we undertook our own research, where we ran into an interesting source: AI will boost global GDP by nearly $16 trillion by 2030—with much of the gains in China. A more detailed report can be downloaded here.

WAIC 2021 and the first EU online forum 

Back in 2019, Jack Ma and Elon Musk shared a stage to debate Artificial Intelligence; the Future of Work; Automation; and Humanity. Despite their enormous differences and perspectives, both pioneers invited viewers to think twice about the future. That event was the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC). The merit of the Jack Ma and Elon Musk debate at that first WAIC, and the value of such conferences cannot be overstated.

The 2021 WAIC promises to be the biggest event ever, with nothing short of mind-boggling highlights. Sinofy is thrilled to be supporting Expand to organize the world's first-ever, EU online forum, connecting the bridges between east and west.

Invited and expected guests at the 2021 WAIC include:

Jack Ma (Alibaba Group) Elon Musk (Tesla CEO) Joshua Bengio (father of machine learning, and Turing awardee), Professor Andrew Yao (Turing awardee), Christian Klein (SAP CEO), Robin Lee (Baidu CEO), Federico Faggin (inventor of the microprocessor and touchpad), Ma Huateng (Tencent CEO).

Interested in learning how you can become a speaker or exhibitor? Click here for details.

But wait, there’s one more thing…the WAIC 2021 European AI Startup Pitch Competition, which aims to attract the best and brightest startups, with the opportunity to pitch their company. Enrollment is free, and the rewards are huge.

Check out further details at the Sinofy blog.

The following article is proudly written in partnership with Davide Cali