Closer cooperation key to AI future

Beijing and Shanghai have formed a powerful axis in science and technology innovation, which will become a highland in the global innovation network, according to a report released at the Pujiang Innovation Forum on May 24.

The two cities are leading the passion for artificial intelligence and have formed an East Asian network of artificial intelligence research and development with Hong Kong, Hangzhou, Shenzhen and Singapore.

According to Wang Xueying of the Shanghai Institute of Science for Sciences, statistical analysis of academic papers published between 2012 and 2017 showed research in China increased rapidly. Four of the top five cities with the fastest growth were from China: Beijing, Hong Kong, Shanghai and Shenzhen.

Research centers in North America, including Boston, New York and San Francisco, cooperate closely with each other, forming a powerful regional science and technology network that occupies the central position in global research. Chinese cities have low collaboration and consequentially lag behind.

Another report released at the conference on AI development also shows the importance of regional coordination.

Wang Yingchun, director of the Shanghai Science and Technology Development Research Center, told Shanghai Daily that each of the four participants in the Yangtze River Delta region cooperation — Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Anhui provinces and Shanghai — has its own advantages so they can complement each other and grow together.

"Shanghai is an international city with rich science education resources. Startups there have grown rapidly," said Wang. "Jiangsu has a good foundation in manufacturing. Zhejiang has an advanced Internet industry, which helps with the intelligence industry. And Anhui has a leading AI enterprise iFlyTek, with great voice recognition technology."

Flow of talent and resources will improve with Yangtze River Delta integration, as governments work together, bringing a bright future for AI in the region.

Meanwhile, Shanghai will take the lead in building a Yangtze River Delta hydrogen corridor, promoting hydrogen vehicles and filling stations .

According to the blueprint for the Yangtze River Delta hydrogen corridor issued at the Pujiang Innovation Forum, by 2025 the construction of preliminary infrastructure will be completed, and the number of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles will increase dramatically.

Premier Li Keqiang told the Bo'ao Forum for Asia in March that China is keen to develop hydrogen energy vehicles, responding to an offer of cooperation from Toyota Motor Corp Chairman Nakayama Takeshi.

China has about 3,000 vehicles powered by hydrogen fuel cells, mostly commercial. But it has only six to eight hydrogen stations, said Wang Ju, deputy secretary general of the China Automotive Engineering Society.

Another 17 filling stations are under construction or in the planning stage.

More than 20 provinces and municipalities have issued policies on hydrogen energy and fuel cell vehicle. Seven pilot cities, including Shanghai, will make hydrogen vehicles key industries.

By 2021, 40 plus hydrogen stations, more than 5,000 hydrogen energy vehicles, and four hydrogen highways — highways built to cater to hydrogen vehicles with sufficient stations at appropriate intervals — will be built.

By 2030, a hydrogen network will cover the Yangtze River Delta, with more than 500 filling stations, over 200,000 hydrogen energy vehicles and more than 20 hydrogen highways.