Global tech firms keen to deepen digital cooperation with China

HANGZHOU, Nov. 11 (Xinhua) -- Seeing the strides China has achieved in digitalization, international companies are optimistic about the country's digital economy. This sentiment was evident at the just concluded 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, where global firms expressed a keen interest in seeking further cooperation.

Next Generation Robotics, which specializes in robotic technology, showcased a new type of rolling stock inspection robot capable of performing autonomous safety inspections on rail cars.

The robot is equipped with sophisticated computer vision algorithms that can automatically recognize a large number of important parts and faults, and perform automatic inspections to ensure the safety of the train, said Antonio Frisoli, CEO of the company.

Currently, the robot has been patented and commercialized in the European market. Moving forward, this technology is poised to officially enter the Chinese market, according to Frisoli.

"China is a great place to advance the frontiers of research, and also to discuss potential ethical and societal issues in the introduction of new digital technology," Frisoli said.

China has made immense progress in digitalization over the past decade. In 2022, China's digital economy had reached 50.2 trillion yuan (about 6.99 trillion U.S. dollars), up from 11 trillion yuan in 2012.

At the summit, numerous digital and high-tech enterprises, including Next Generation Robotics, conveyed their eagerness for digital cooperation with China.

Artificial Intelligence or AI was another highlighted sector during the summit. To address corporate needs for AI, watsonx, an AI and data platform developed by IBM, is offering enterprises quick AI training and deployment capabilities in cross-business scenarios.

Speaking at the summit, Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM Corporation, said China's AI industry is thriving with many innovations. "We are ready to meet the surging needs and contribute to China's innovation-driven development and prosperity with our capabilities as a responsible and trusted partner."

With cybersecurity emerging as a global concern, the Russian cybersecurity firm Kaspersky showcased its latest products, including KasperskyOS (KOS), Kaspersky Threat Attribution Engine and Kaspersky Industrial Cybersecurity, at the Light of Internet Expo during the summit.

Since its entry into the Chinese market in 2003, Kaspersky has forged cooperation with government authorities in China and enterprises such as Huawei and Alibaba. These partnerships span various domains, such as information security, industrial security related to key infrastructure, and intelligence pertaining to national security, as well as cutting-edge operating systems and drone security.

"In the next few years, we will focus on strategic cooperation with the government and large enterprises and input more high-end technologies, so that we can work together to combat more complex cyber threats and attacks," said Alvin Cheng, general manager of Kaspersky Greater China.

China has intensified its policy support to create a sound digital business environment. In August, the country unveiled guidelines to attract foreign investment, including measures encouraging multinationals to grasp growth opportunities in the country's digital economic development.