The 2024 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit was held last week in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province, with representatives from high-tech companies and participants from China's digital sector praising the WIC as a critical platform to showcase China's technological achievements, digital market prospects and openness. This year's WIC Wuzhen Summit highlights progress in artificial intelligence (AI), along with its effects on human society and the world economy. Representatives from over 30 countries and regions gathered at the four-day summit, which is themed “Embracing a People-Centered and AI-for-Good Digital Future – Building a Community with a Shared Future in Cyberspace.” “As the global competition in AI technology intensifies, Chinese AI companies are ramping up their efforts in independent innovation and we are already seeing positive outcomes,” Wang Shijin, Executive Dean of the iFlytek AI Research Institute told the Global Times.
At the Light of Internet Expo, a side event of the 2024 WIC, Chinese companies such as Huawei, Baidu, Alibaba, Tencent and iFlytek, as well as applications for AI algorithms, AI generated-content products, the low-altitude economy, intelligent connected vehicles, and cybersecurity are in the limelight. Foreign participants include Microsoft, IBM, Kaspersky and Infosys. The Expo has attracted 665 domestic and foreign enterprises and institutions from 53 countries and regions. The exhibition hall features key milestones in the Chinese internet sector and notable technological innovations, highlighting China's remarkable advancement in global digitalization and the crucial contribution of the sector to driving global economic growth, analysts said. Attendees are invited to jointly explore the development of cutting-edge digital technology, such as humanoid robots, digital cultural and creative products, and hydrogen-powered drones. More than 40 large language models and over 10 embodied AI robots were presented.
Unitree, a Hangzhou-based robotics startup, showcased its latest humanoid robot, Unitree G1, which can move at 2 meters per second. The robot can jump, walk at a top speed of over 7 kilometers per hour, and even climb stairs littered with construction debris. This kind of humanoid robot can be used in daily life and will continue to lead industrial development in the future. “We have sold more than 100 such robots, priced from USD16,000 to 90,000 each, offering an insight into the huge market potential for the full commercialization of humanoid robots,” said Chen Xiyun, Marketing Manager at Unitree. Chen said that the swift progress in AI technology has led to major breakthroughs in the core technologies of humanoid robots. Over 95% of the company's industrial chain integration is based on its own research and development (R&D).
China's digital industry has seen robust growth in recent years as it embarks on a tech-driven development path, promoting high-quality development in emerging sectors such as AI, AI-driven robots and smart driving, Pan Helin, Member of the Expert Committee for the Information and Communication Economy under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), told the Global Times. From 2012 to 2023, the scale of China's digital economy jumped from CNY11 trillion to nearly CNY54 trillion, with internet applications, the number of netizens and AI development leading the world.
The AI Experts Committee, which is expected to promote China’s perspective on how the fast-growing technology should be governed, was set up at the Summit. Alibaba Cloud Founder Wang Jian was appointed Chief Expert of the Committee. Zhuang Rongwen, Director of the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), said the Committee aims to foster international cooperation on AI. The new body is made up of about 170 AI specialists, including British computer scientist Wendy Hall, Vienna University of Technology Professor of computer science Schahram Dustdar and Chinese-American scientist Zhang Ya-qin, who serves as Dean of the Institute for AI Industry Research at Tsinghua University. Chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and other U.S. businesses also have delegates on the Committee.
China ranks second in the world on the Global Internet Development Index, according to the Blue Book for the World Internet Conference. The document also shows that China and the U.S. are ahead in the field of artificial intelligence (AI). Consisting of two reports – the World Internet Development Report 2024 and the China Internet Development Report 2024 – the Blue Book was released by the Chinese Academy of Cyberspace Studies (CACS) at the 2024 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit. The index shows that the U.S. and China are leading in internet development, followed by South Korea, Finland, Singapore and the Netherlands. In terms of digital technology and innovation, China is rapidly enhancing its capabilities, said the World Internet Development Report 2024.
This overview is based on reports by the China Daily, the Global Times and the South China Morning Post.
