Page 350 - 2018 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
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8 White Paper on the Business Environment in China
are easy to copy. The Chinese government has been age, has become a major player in A.I., what some think
less focused on software piracy and more on building may be the most important technology of the future.
local alternatives to Microsoft. After leaks by the former Experts widely believe China is a step behind behind
intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden about the United States. China’s plans are big. There are plans
American hacking attacks aimed at monitoring China’s to use it to predict crimes, lend money, track people
military buildup, leaders in Beijing accelerated a push to on the country’s close-circuit cameras, alleviate traffic
develop Chinese-branded software and hardware that jams, create self-guided missiles and censor the internet
would be harder to breach (Mozur). (Mozur and Merkoff ).
But China has moved way past its knockoff phase. Beijing is backing its A.I. push with vast sums of money.
Now Chinese companies are setting global trends in Having already spent billions on research programs, China
technology products or business models in areas such is readying a new multibillion-dollar initiative to fund
as supercomputers, technology-enabled transportation, moonshot projects, start-ups and academic research, all
digital payments and A.I.. China’s technology with the aim of growing China’s A.I. capabilities. China’s
companies and its homegrown tech ideas are spreading private companies are pushing deeply into the field
everywhere. Apple and Facebook are trying to remold as well. Baidu, often called the Google of China and a
their messaging apps in the image of China’s WeChat. pioneer in artificial-intelligence-related fields, opened
Before there was Tinder for hookups, there was similar a joint company-government laboratory in 2017 partly
dating app Momo in China. Every company that run by academics who once worked on research into
makes drones is following the lead of China’s SZ DJI Chinese military robots. “It’s a race in the new generation
Technology. The influence of Chinese tech in the world of computing,” said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the
arguably started with telecommunications equipment Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The
company Huawei Technologies Co. It branched first into difference is that China seems to think it’s a race and
Europe and forced stodgy local rivals such as Sweden’s America doesn’t.” Numerous provinces and cities are
Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent of France to cut prices and spending billions on developing robotics, and a part of
copy Huawei’s more advanced methods of updating that funding is likely to go to A.I. research. For example,
older gear with fresh software. More recently in India, the relatively unknown city of Xiangtan, in China’s Hunan
Chinese smartphone brands including Xiaomi and Province, has pledged $2 billion toward developing
Vivo are among the top sellers in the rapidly growing robots and A.I.. Other places have direct incentives for
Indian smartphone market, and China’s e-commerce the A.I. industry. In Suzhou, leading A.I. companies can
king Alibaba is helping digital payments and online get about $800,000 in subsidies for setting up shop
shopping catch on quickly there. And even U.S. locally, while Shenzhen, in southern China, is offering $1
companies are taking proven Chinese tech advances million to support any A.I. project established there. On
and applying them at home. Apple would never say so, a national level, China is working on a system to predict
but a new ability for people to text in iMessage to send events like terrorist attacks or labor strikes based on
money to their friends or babysitters is borrowed from possible precursors like labor strife. A paper funded by
popular features in China. It’s hard to generalize, but the National Natural Science Foundation of China showed
China’s growing influence on the tech world stems from how facial recognition software could be simplified
a few factors. First, the country’s more than 730 million so that it can be more easily integrated with cameras
smartphone-crazed Internet users are an ideal proving across the country. At the moment, cooperation and
ground for technology, and new ideas are stress-tested exchanges in A.I. between the United States and China
mercilessly. As soon as one bike rental company sprung are largely open, at least from the American side. Chinese
up, for example, many others followed, and only the best and American scholars widely publish their findings in
will survive. China’s government has also spent a ton of journals accessible to all, and researchers from China are
cash to support the domestic technology industry, and major players in America’s research institutions. Chinese
officials throw the government’s considerable weight tech giants like Baidu, Tencent and Didi Chuxing have
behind innovations (Ovide). opened A.I. labs in America, as have some Chinese start-
ups. Over the past six years, Chinese investors helped
The balance of power in technology is shifting. China, finance 51 American A.I. companies, contributing to the
which for years watched enviously as the West invented $700 million raised, according to the recent Pentagon
the software and the chips powering today’s digital report (Mozur and Merkoff ).
350
are easy to copy. The Chinese government has been age, has become a major player in A.I., what some think
less focused on software piracy and more on building may be the most important technology of the future.
local alternatives to Microsoft. After leaks by the former Experts widely believe China is a step behind behind
intelligence contractor Edward J. Snowden about the United States. China’s plans are big. There are plans
American hacking attacks aimed at monitoring China’s to use it to predict crimes, lend money, track people
military buildup, leaders in Beijing accelerated a push to on the country’s close-circuit cameras, alleviate traffic
develop Chinese-branded software and hardware that jams, create self-guided missiles and censor the internet
would be harder to breach (Mozur). (Mozur and Merkoff ).
But China has moved way past its knockoff phase. Beijing is backing its A.I. push with vast sums of money.
Now Chinese companies are setting global trends in Having already spent billions on research programs, China
technology products or business models in areas such is readying a new multibillion-dollar initiative to fund
as supercomputers, technology-enabled transportation, moonshot projects, start-ups and academic research, all
digital payments and A.I.. China’s technology with the aim of growing China’s A.I. capabilities. China’s
companies and its homegrown tech ideas are spreading private companies are pushing deeply into the field
everywhere. Apple and Facebook are trying to remold as well. Baidu, often called the Google of China and a
their messaging apps in the image of China’s WeChat. pioneer in artificial-intelligence-related fields, opened
Before there was Tinder for hookups, there was similar a joint company-government laboratory in 2017 partly
dating app Momo in China. Every company that run by academics who once worked on research into
makes drones is following the lead of China’s SZ DJI Chinese military robots. “It’s a race in the new generation
Technology. The influence of Chinese tech in the world of computing,” said James Lewis, a senior fellow at the
arguably started with telecommunications equipment Center for Strategic and International Studies. “The
company Huawei Technologies Co. It branched first into difference is that China seems to think it’s a race and
Europe and forced stodgy local rivals such as Sweden’s America doesn’t.” Numerous provinces and cities are
Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent of France to cut prices and spending billions on developing robotics, and a part of
copy Huawei’s more advanced methods of updating that funding is likely to go to A.I. research. For example,
older gear with fresh software. More recently in India, the relatively unknown city of Xiangtan, in China’s Hunan
Chinese smartphone brands including Xiaomi and Province, has pledged $2 billion toward developing
Vivo are among the top sellers in the rapidly growing robots and A.I.. Other places have direct incentives for
Indian smartphone market, and China’s e-commerce the A.I. industry. In Suzhou, leading A.I. companies can
king Alibaba is helping digital payments and online get about $800,000 in subsidies for setting up shop
shopping catch on quickly there. And even U.S. locally, while Shenzhen, in southern China, is offering $1
companies are taking proven Chinese tech advances million to support any A.I. project established there. On
and applying them at home. Apple would never say so, a national level, China is working on a system to predict
but a new ability for people to text in iMessage to send events like terrorist attacks or labor strikes based on
money to their friends or babysitters is borrowed from possible precursors like labor strife. A paper funded by
popular features in China. It’s hard to generalize, but the National Natural Science Foundation of China showed
China’s growing influence on the tech world stems from how facial recognition software could be simplified
a few factors. First, the country’s more than 730 million so that it can be more easily integrated with cameras
smartphone-crazed Internet users are an ideal proving across the country. At the moment, cooperation and
ground for technology, and new ideas are stress-tested exchanges in A.I. between the United States and China
mercilessly. As soon as one bike rental company sprung are largely open, at least from the American side. Chinese
up, for example, many others followed, and only the best and American scholars widely publish their findings in
will survive. China’s government has also spent a ton of journals accessible to all, and researchers from China are
cash to support the domestic technology industry, and major players in America’s research institutions. Chinese
officials throw the government’s considerable weight tech giants like Baidu, Tencent and Didi Chuxing have
behind innovations (Ovide). opened A.I. labs in America, as have some Chinese start-
ups. Over the past six years, Chinese investors helped
The balance of power in technology is shifting. China, finance 51 American A.I. companies, contributing to the
which for years watched enviously as the West invented $700 million raised, according to the recent Pentagon
the software and the chips powering today’s digital report (Mozur and Merkoff ).
350
