State-led artificial intelligence push – China’s latest business and technology news
A summary of the top news in Chinese business and technology for June 30, 2017. Part of the daily SupChina newsletter, a convenient package of China’s business, political, and cultural news delivered to your inbox for free. Subscribe here.
China will soon release a national plan detailing how to boost the development of artificial intelligence through 2030, Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang 万钢 said on June 29, according to China Daily. China will launch a series of core AI research and development projects and step up efforts to cultivate AI talent and accelerate the application of AI in various fields such as education, healthcare, and security.
In other AI news, last week, Chinese tech giant Tencent unveiled an Alexa-like voice assistant named Xiaowei, which offers weather reports, shopping, traffic alerts, and music. Earlier this year, Chinese search engine Baidu, in partnership with AiNemo, released its first family robot called “Little Fish.”
- Tech and censorship
China’s tech groups bow to Beijing censorship demands / Financial Times (paywall) - Macro trends
China manufacturing rose in June amid global upturn / Bloomberg
Chinese overseas M&A deals are down this year, and will only fall further / Quartz - Theme park
Wanda opens city-size theme park in Harbin as Wang Jianlin mum on loan check mystery / SCMP -
Facial recognition
Ditch your boarding pass, all you need is to show up as Chinese airline launches face recognition software / SCMP
