A staff member introduces a promotion video of 5G AI technology at the exhibition center of the national big data (Guizhou) comprehensive pilot zone in southwest China's Guizhou Province, May 26, 2022. (Xinhua/Ou Dongqu)
BEIJING, Aug. 18 (Xinhua) -- China's artificial intelligence (AI) industry has gained obvious incremental momentum in terms of scale growth, according to the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
It is estimated that the total scale of China's core AI industries exceeds 400 billion yuan, and the number of AI enterprises has exceeded 3,000.
At present, the integration of China's AI application and the real economy has made positive progress, and a number of typical AI application scenarios have been established in key industries.
Ren Aiguang, an official with the MIIT, noted that the country will further advance the integration of AI application in multiple fields such as manufacturing, transportation, health care, education, finance, etc., and speed up the demonstration and promotion of new technologies and products.
-- A complete industrial chain takes shape
China's AI industry has preliminarily developed a "three-in-one" pattern that comprises the research and development of key common technologies, the application of innovative products, and the cultivation of emerging industries, said Yang Chunli, deputy director of the China Software Test Center.
By now, the total scale of China's core AI industries has exceeded 400 billion yuan, six times more than that in the same period of 2019.
The number of China's core AI enterprises has surpassed 3,000, an increase of 15 percent over the same period of 2019.
As of the end of June 2022, the number of 5G base stations in China has reached 1.854 million, 150 large industrial Internet platforms have been built, and more than 78 million sets of industrial equipment have been included in the infrastructure network. Multiple public service platforms including computing power centers and data centers have been built across the country.
To support the development of the AI industry, the country is creating application scenarios and ramping up technological innovation in line with the characteristics of the industry, Liu Xu, senior vice president of Urtrust Think Tank, said.
-- Accelerating widespread application of technology products
AI technology is optimizing the allocation of production and service resources with a larger scope, higher efficiency and more accuracy, promoting the digital and intelligent transformation of all sectors, and spawning new technologies, business types, models, and markets, Yang said.
According to Ren, AI has successfully integrated with the real economy. The transformation and upgrading of traditional industries continues to accelerate, a number of typical enterprises that blend "traditional industries with AI" have been cultivated, and new models and methods for the integration between AI and the real economy have been developed.
For example, the application of intelligent technology in the field of intelligent manufacturing has greatly improved the efficiency of product testing and equipment utilization. In the field of smart education, many schools have built smart education cloud platforms based on technologies such as cloud computing, big data, and AI. Besides, smart technologies can reduce the work pressure on the medical staff, improve the accuracy of diagnostic medical devices and boost service convenience.
The outbreak of COVID-19 epidemic has accelerated the integration between AI and health care, Liu said, adding that to improve efficiency and reduce contact, medical services need to be more flexible and expandable.
-- Pushing forward industrial innovation and development
AI is a strategic technology that leads a new round of technological revolution and industrial transformation.
The integration between AI technology and the real economy will promote industrial transformation, raise the value of the factors of production, prompt service innovation, reconstruct the development paradigm, and spawn smart-economy forms.
Ren introduced that the MIIT will focus on promoting the in-depth integration between AI and the real economy, create a favorable policy environment, intensify efforts towards AI technology innovation, promote the application of AI products, and build an industrial ecosystem that is favorable for integrated development.
It is learned that the MIIT is looking for and fostering excellent enterprises to deliver high-quality AI products and build "fast lanes" for research and application. It has approved the construction of eight national pilot AI innovative application zones and cooperated with local government to build AI innovation hubs across the country..
Besides, the ministry has built a batch of information infrastructure such as 5G base stations, industrial Internet platforms, and computing power centers in an attempt to pave the way for further industrial development.
In addition to accelerating the integration of AI application in key areas, the MIIT will continue to reform and optimize the policy environment, promote the intelligent transformation and upgrading, as well as reduce costs and empower the development of small and medium-sized enterprises in a bid to create a lively market for AI technology application, said Ren. (Edited by Yang Yifan with Xinhua Silk Road, yangyifan@xinhua.org)
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