Cooperation in AI has potential for China, other developing economies

(Illustration: Liu Xiangya/GT)

Rapid advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) have the potential to deliver significant and ongoing opportunities for the world's economy. This brings a new chance for mutually beneficial cooperation among emerging economies.

India is a typical example. Some of the new careers emerging in the country, such as data labeling - identifying raw data including images, and adding one or more meaningful and informative labels to provide context so that a machine learning model can learn from this information - have attracted the attention of some start-ups from developing countries.

India's electronics industry is another beneficiary. For instance, Reuters reported on Tuesday that China's Lenovo Group will start making AI servers at its plant in southern India, and that it has opened an AI lab to do research and development work specializing in servers in the tech hub of Bengaluru.

As AI continues to advance, its potential to affect the economy grows exponentially. Not only are there more types of jobs as a result of the generative AI boom, but companies are investing more in AI-related supply chains.

The global AI market was estimated at $196.63 billion in 2023 and is projected to show a compound annual growth rate of 36.6 percent from 2024 to 2030, according to a report by Grand View Research. The continuous innovation by tech giants is driving the adoption of advanced technologies in various industries, such as vehicles, healthcare, and manufacturing.

Many developing countries are looking to take a ride on the fast-growing AI engine to consolidate their growth momentum. Such efforts will increase economic growth, improve people's lives, and alleviate poverty.

India, for example, is attempting to jump-start AI development. The country in March approved a 103 billion rupee ($1.25 billion) investment in AI projects, including work to improve the computing infrastructure and develop large language models, Reuters reported.

India's AI market is projected to touch $17 billion by 2027, growing at an annualized rate of 25-35 percent between 2024 and 2027, the report said, citing IT industry body Nasscom.

Enormous potential remains to be tapped in the AI market in developing countries. As a result, cooperation in AI supply chains among multinational enterprises has received increasing attention. In this process, Chinese enterprises are increasingly venturing into the global arena, a reflection of the overall rapid development of China's AI industries.

The development of China's AI industry stems from demands for cost reduction, production automation, risk reduction, and an improvement in efficiency in many fields and scenarios such as offices, manufacturing, finance, and medical care. Innovation and development in related fields will jointly promote the vigorous development of China's AI industry.

Investment by Chinese companies is conducive to the development of AI in other developing countries. China and those countries enjoy strong complementarity in strengthening cooperation in AI supply chains. Lenovo's reported investment adds to evidence that China and India, two of the world's major emerging economies, have broad potential for economic and trade cooperation in the field of AI development.

Some challenges will remain, especially considering that India has tightened its scrutiny of investments from Chinese companies. However, if India wants to step up the revitalization of its domestic manufacturing industry and become a leading AI hub, it cannot rely solely on domestic companies. It should maintain and enhance its attractiveness to foreign investors, including those from China.

Economic complementarity between China and other developing countries will be further enhanced as Chinese enterprises step up outbound investment. If Chinese companies can help counterparts in other developing countries promote industrialization, then a win-win result can be achieved.