HEFEI, Sept. 29 (Xinhua) -- Cynthia Davis, CEO and co-founder of the British company Diversifying.io., was among the UK technology industry delegation that visited Hefei, east China's Anhui Province, aiming to tap new opportunities for China-UK collaboration in sci-tech innovation and emerging industries.
"It's been wonderful to spend the day here in Hefei. It's the innovation that's coming out of China, the willingness for collaboration and greater partnership that keep drawing me back to this wonderful country," said Davis.
During the trip, the delegation, comprising enterprises and institutions from various fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), healthcare, finance, and supply chain management, toured an AI-focused industrial base, a new energy vehicle (NEV) plant, and an innovation base.
Hefei, widely regarded as one of China's rising innovation hubs, holds strengths in fields such as quantum technology, NEVs, and AI.
"I think this is an incredibly impressive and innovative region of China. I've been blown away by some of the things that we've seen both on the technological front and the enthusiasm and energy with all the people that we've met," said Assheton Stewart Carter, chief executive officer of TDi Sustainability.
"As soon as you get here, you can tell that there's a strong sense of technology and innovation," said Harriet Radcliffe, head of Government Sponsorship of London Tech Week.
China's booming innovative technologies, such as AI, have deeply impressed British entrepreneurs, who look forward to exploring more opportunities in the Chinese market and strengthening China-UK cooperation.
As a representative of Europe's influential tech event, Radcliffe expressed her intention to gain a deeper understanding of the Chinese market and help more Chinese companies enter the UK, sharing stories of Chinese innovation from a global perspective.
"I just recently came from Shanghai, and there are so many AI tech startups. I think there's an opportunity for an entrepreneurial shift on scale, and there seems to be no real limits," said Radcliffe, adding that there are so many different programs set up for startups to build from the ground up.
After focusing on the UK and European markets for the past three years, Davis revealed plans to launch an AI-driven career platform in China.
Davis added that they have been visiting different regions to figure out the best place to base their Chinese operations, whether as a data center or tech center.
Data showed that the trade volume of goods and services between China and the UK exceeded 130 billion U.S. dollars in 2024. As of July this year, the UK's total investment in China was over 35 billion U.S. dollars, while China's cumulative foreign direct investment in the UK surpassed 32 billion U.S. dollars.
Further collaboration between China and the UK is underway in fields such as the digital economy, financial services, and artificial intelligence.
Davis said she believes China can play a leading role in the AI field and share its excellent technical expertise with more enterprises.
From this perspective, the cooperation prospects between the two sides are very good, and they can achieve a win-win situation through collaboration, she said.
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