Delayed major tech fairs back on track for September
A bird's eye view of Zhangjiang in the Pudong New Area, home to many chip, AI and smart manufacturing firms.
China's top industrial and artificial intelligence fairs, delayed by the pandemic, will be held in Shanghai in September.
The 2022 China International Industry Fair will be held between September 26 and 30 in the National Convention & Exhibition Center (Shanghai), according to its website.
The exhibition center was a major makeshift hospital during the pandemic lockdown. Its reopening means the city is on the path to normalcy.
The industrial fair, which dates to 1999, will have nine special zones covering latest applications like the "industrial metaverse." It has attracted over 2,000 exhibitors up to now, the CIIF organizer said.
The World Artificial Intelligence Conference has been delayed to early September from July 7. The venues are the Shanghai Expo Center for the conference and the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition & Convention Center for the exhibition, both in the Pudong New Area.
Shanghai has designated AI, integrated circuits and biomedicine as three strategic industries in its long-term development blueprint.
In 2021, Shanghai's AI industry revenue hit 280 billion yuan (US$43 billion), 18.3 percent growth year on year, much higher than the city GDP growth.
Shanghai-based Supremind, an AI service provider for city space and urban management, has confirmed it will attend the WAIC.
"Shanghai has been at the forefront of China's technological innovation, with 'soft power' support including a rich pool of industry talent," said Peng Yao, chief executive of Supremind.
Shanghai should return to normal as soon as possible, optimize talent policies and continue to play a "model role" of smart city construction nationwide, Peng told a government-organized conference on tech talent held recently.
