Artificial intelligence on the agenda of local legislation

Shanghai is striving to strengthen legislation on the construction of an international economic center, improving residents' living standards and urban management as well as governance in 2022, the city's Justice Bureau announced on Wednesday.

New laws on the artificial intelligence industry, preschool education and for boosting employment have been put in this year's legislation plan.

The development of the AI industry, as one of the three forefront industries, has been listed in Shanghai's 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025).

As an important part of people's daily necessities, regulating preschool education and nursery service will be helpful in improving fairness of education as well as the physical and mental health of children, according to the bureau.

Also, in order to build an international economic center, the legislative plan will focus on the service guarantee of the China International Import Expo, the arbitration system in the Pudong New Area, and the promotion of Hongqiao Commercial Zone.

At the same time, regulations on green finance and cultural items trade in Pudong are also listed in the plan to push the new area to become a global highland of economy and international trade.

Some 29 formal regulations and rules will be drafted or revised and four will be nullified this year, according to the bureau.

"The full-year legislation plan includes four big parts, totaling 66 legislative programs on official laws (33), preparatory programs (18), research programs (8) and evaluation programs (7)," Lu Weidong, the bureau chief, said.

"The legislative plan will also be adjusted according to actual needs during the implementation process," he added.

Search engine of local rules and laws updated

The bureau, meanwhile, has recently updated the city's online search engine for local rules, making it more comprehensive and convenient for residents.

The platform used to be bilingual. After the upgrade, Japanese has been added to its language list and the platform has collected more expansive regulations and rules such as how to build an enterprise in Shanghai and Pudong.

"We prioritize languages based on the ranking of outbound trade," said a person in charge of developing the platform.

And more languages, such as German, will be available soon to meet the need of more expats and foreign companies in the city, the bureau said.

As of February, a total of 117 rules and regulations in English had been included on the platform, along with 1,100 rules and regulations in Chinese, according to the bureau's website (https://law.sfj.sh.gov.cn/en/#/home).

"After we launched the platform last year, we recorded 2.8 million online visits to the platform," Liu Yanhao, deputy head of the bureau. "The platform has played a major role, serving as a database of rules and regulations for local residents."

The public can access more than 1,000 documents on the platform, called "A Collection of Regulations and Rules of Shanghai City," which is a comprehensive law-based governance collection, first launched by the CPC Shanghai Committee on January 20, 2021.

It is the first platform of its kind in China, according to the bureau.

The platform has both PC and mobile layout and provides access to Suishenban, the Shanghai civil resource platform, by a single touch on the screen.

Residents can search the rules they need by clicking on or touching the key words, which are listed on the home page of the platform based on their popularity.

Now the search engine is equipped with voice search and speech functions, making it more friendly for elderly people who have difficulties in using smartphones or digital devices, the bureau revealed.

Zhu Yuting / SHINE