Visitors watch robots dance at the China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, on May 28. (Photo by Huang Ge from Global Times)

A growing number of overseas and Chinese companies are strengthening cooperation in the big data industry under the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), as corporate representatives said the high-tech industry would offer them more opportunities and enable them to share the dividends of the digital economy.

During this year’s China International Big Data Industry Expo in Guiyang, capital of Southwest China’s Guizhou Province, domestic and foreign representatives told the Global Times on May 28 that the BRI, which was proposed in 2013, has entered a new stage, and they look forward to expanding cooperation to tech-driven sectors from traditional industries such as infrastructure.

Big data helps the logistics industry transform and upgrade and it is a vital contributor for the sector to go global, said Xu Qiang, vice president of Manbang Group, an internet freight service provider based in Guizhou.

“Under the BRI, we have actively been cooperating with overseas enterprises. We are developing platforms in several foreign languages such as Vietnamese and Russian,” Xu told the Global Times.

He said more cooperation in the global markets will come as the firm stands ready to cooperate and share data resources with overseas counterparts under data security rules prescribed by the Chinese government.

Embracing opportunities that have emerged from the BRI, China would like to make joint efforts with the world to drive global digital development in industries like the internet, big data, artificial intelligence, cloud computing and smart cities, Wang Chen, member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and vice chairman of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People’s Congress, said Sunday, May 26 at the opening ceremony of the expo.

The country will also properly respond to challenges of big data development in law, security and governance to let more countries and people share the achievements of industrial growth, according to Wang.

“We are looking forward to pursuing cooperation in e-commerce business with Chinese companies,” Petr Jiricek, business development manager of Czech-based Proficio, told the Global Times.

“It’s my first time to come to Guiyang. We talked with some wine companies that agreed to cooperate with us,” he said, noting that opportunities brought about by the growth of big data industry will drive more cooperation between Chinese and Czech companies.

Cooperation in the manufacturing sector under the BRI will be a focus between Chinese and overseas companies, Liu Yang, executive vice president of the Guizhou Chamber of Commerce in North America, told the Global Times.

Cooperation in big data and artificial intelligence can be brought to the BRI markets through manufacturing projects from Chinese firms, as many of them have applied such technology to enhance production and management, Liu said.