Digital transformation touted in sci-tech innovation, global trade

Shanghai is actively exploring the path towards becoming a sci-tech innovation center with global influence, highlighting the open development of digital trade.

"Digital technology is reshaping the global value chain," Zhang Xiangchen, deputy director-general of the World Trade Organization, said at the summit forum on technology trade during the 9th China (Shanghai) International Technology Import and Export Fair, which kicked off on Thursday.

"Countries should accelerate digital transformation to better adapt to the digital evolution of the global value chain."

He called for narrowing the digital divide, particularly between developed and developing countries, and between different social groups within countries.

It is also a major task to ensure good global governance of the digital economy, as digital technology, while breaking down traditional cross-border barriers for goods and services, has also led to a vacuum in international rules in this field. The international community should coordinate to establish new international rules, Zhang suggested.

Zhou Hanmin, president of the Shanghai Institute of Socialism, emphasized the need to strengthen legislation on technology trade to promote the development of the digital economy.

Shanghai is currently deepening the construction of an international trade center and a globally influential science and technology innovation center, gathering first-class scientific and technological facilities, sound technology factor markets, and rich technology trade entities, he pointed out.

During the 13th Five-Year Plan period from 2016-2020, the total registered amount of technology import and export contracts in Shanghai increased from around US$11 billion to around US$15.3 billion, surging 39 percent.

Zhou suggested that the city should actively promote the establishment of relevant legal systems for data cross-border flow, including standards for data cross-border flows in technology trade, the definition of data types, and the evaluation of data cross-border security.

He also called for the construction of a regulatory policy system for digital trade, focusing on privacy protection, data sharing and data rights.

Chen Xudong, chairman and general manager of IBM Greater China, shared his views on artificial intelligence and its role in technology innovation. After decades of accumulation of algorithms, computing power and data, the moment of AI's qualitative change is accelerating, he said.

The utilization rate of AI in enterprises has increased nearly 2.5 times from 2017 to 2022. It is expected that by 2030, general-purpose and multimodal AI will become more popular, and human production and life will enter a new era of human-machine cooperation.

AI is one of the three key leading industries deployed by Shanghai, and the city has released a series of related system support and policy innovations. Chen suggested that Shanghai could create AI capabilities and ecosystems around key industries, such as promoting the transformation of automotive companies into technology companies with AI as the core.

He also suggested establishing a computing network supporting AI basic model training, development and application, while paying attention to AI education.