How did Austria's far-right election winner get locked out of power?
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Hello and welcome to World Today, I'm Zhao Ying. Coming up, China's top political advisory body starts its annual session. What are the key issues dominating this year's agenda? As Trump's new tariffs take effect, China hits back with retaliatory measures. How will the trade war escalate in the coming months?

The United States pauses military aid to Ukraine. What's behind this decision and what are the potential consequences?

China's national political advisors are gathering in Beijing for the annual session of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, or CPPCC, which kicks off on Tuesday. Deputies are bringing proposals on key political and social issues to government bodies. As China accelerates its push into artificial intelligence, a prominent scholar says challenges remain before the country can better establish itself as a dominant player.

Dr. Ko Gong is a CPPCC member and distinguished professor under the Changjiang Scholars Program at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics. He says overcoming these obstacles is crucial for China's AI ambitions.

In an interview with my colleague, Dr. Ko also suggests that AI could help address regional development disparities. First of all, Professor Ko, can you briefly introduce your key proposal for this year? Well, this year I have three key proposals which focus on artificial intelligence. First, I propose that we need to remove the barriers

to innovation by establishing a national open source platform. This platform will stimulate new scenarios and create internal momentum for fresh, innovative models. Second, to support Chinese companies in going global, I propose addressing the challenges they face abroad, particularly issues related to data comparison and cultural differences.

Third, recognizing that AI development is heavily dependent on stable power supply, I suggest we secure its foundations by innovating a voluntary energy emission reduction mechanism. This would include polluting electricity saving certificates and integrating them into our current green electricity trade market.

So in summary, by advanced technology and innovation, strengthening regulatory framework and ensuring robust energy support, we can drive a new era of rapid air development in China.

Okay, so let's move on to like global competition in the AI industry. It is kind of becoming increasingly fierce with the emergence of Chinese AI apps like DeepSeek. How do you view the advantages and disadvantages of China's AI industry at the moment?

especially compared with major Western developed economies like the US. We'll see that global competition in AI is indeed heating up and we are witnessing a significant surge on certain activities in China. Over the past few weeks alone, more than 100 Asia listed companies across industry from

to healthcare, to telecommunications and consumer electronics have made rapid moves. In Shenzhen's Fujian district, for instance, over 70 IAEA civil servants have already taken office. While it's true that the United States currently maintains a lead

in certain areas such as competing power chips, where we still encounter critical bottlenecks. That gap is closing at an impressive pace. Even if the US got off to a stronger start, I firmly believe China is well positioned to emerge as the eventual winner in the global race. There are several reasons for

for my point of view. First, we have a data scale advantage. Data is the new oil for AI. And China is uniquely endowed in this area. With over 1.1 billion internet users, our country generates massive value of data every day. This abundance of data fills continuous algorithm improvements and provides a robust foundation for innovation. Secondly, China is the largest

single market in the world, particularly in vertical industries. This means we have an expensive and diverse stage for AI applications, allowing us to experiment with and implement solutions across a wide array of different fields. In addition to that,

Often overlooked but a critical advantage in China is energy cost. The US face high energy intensity and overall energy cost in air applications. Well, we can see that a little advantage in China. In contrast, China benefits from regulated affordable electricity and strong government support from renewable energy suppliers.

Okay, like you've said, we have got abundant data collection and affordable electricity. So, Professor Ko, you are from Sichuan Province, right? Which is located in southwest China. I suppose you have witnessed the region's growth firsthand.

So in 2024, I see it has been reported that Sichuan introduced a work plan for expanding its AI industry from 2024 to 2027, which is a three years plan. So what's your take on this, let's say, unbalanced development we see today in China's AI landscape? And do you think...

inland areas can catch up to tech hubs like Hangzhou. Especially people are saying, look, Hangzhou currently has six little dragons, but what other cities have? Well, interesting actually, today before I come to Beijing, I visited Hangzhou. Well, during the past years, I have witnessed a first-hand unique challenge and opportunities that the inland region of China has faced compared to the coastal tech hub like Hangzhou.

Well, it's true that in an area currently lagging infrastructure, lack of talents, and also it's in the limit of the market environment. Well, I would say this unbalanced development isn't a zero-sum game for China.

for China, rather it's an opportunity for each region to carve out its own niche. AA+ is not an end in itself but a means to drive high-quality, efficient, low-consumption and low-emission growth in the real economy. Instead of trying to replicate the scale of companies like DeepSeek, inland regions should focus on leveraging their local strengths.

such as regional resources and industries to develop specialized applications where large AI model can deliver significant value. With strategic industry planning, tailored business environment and patient ecosystem driving approach, in an area can create a complimentary advantage with the cost regions and both of them contribute to the overall advancement of China's AI industry.

Professor Ko, from your observation, are China's policymakers doing enough to, let's say, to ensure the country will be able to develop a self-reliant and healthy AI industry? I mean, especially against the background of increasing U.S. restrictions of advanced chip access to China. And how can China's policymaking in this area be further strengthened?

Well, we can see that China's policymakers have been proactively in laying a strong foundation for a healthy AI industry. Like in 2017, I think, the government have introduced the new generation AI development plan to boost

the deep integration of AI with all economy and society, aiming to secure early lead in our development. This vision was further reinforced in 2021 when the Open Source Initiative was incorporated in the 14th Five-Year Plan, sparking and looping technology innovation across the nation. Today, we

have boosted over 30 million open source projects spanning the entire industry chain, from chip design and software framework to applications, with more than 9.4 million developers actively participating, ranking us the second globally. While U.S. restrictions on advanced chip exports

have posed these challenges, they have also driven us to accelerate our efforts in our own innovations and seeing in the success of companies like DeepSeek. I believe that continuing to invest in domestic R&D, fostering open source collaboration and enhancing supportive policies, China can not only overcome these hurdles but also thrive in a global air area.

But quite a few developed countries have stepped up efforts to lead international dialogue on AI global governance and regulation. For example, UK and France have hosted international conferences on this.

So what else do you think China should do to make sure the country has a seat at the table of AI global rules making? Well, to ensure that China secure a seat at the table in shaping global AI rules, I believe that we must actively promote a

a fair, inclusive and effective international governance framework for AI. For example, at the AI Action Summit in Paris last month, China took a leading role by promoting a United Nations resolution on strengthening international cooperation on AI capacity building. These efforts lead to 60 countries signing a declaration on developing inclusive and sustainable AI

benefits humanity and the planet. To further extend our influence, China should focus on several strategic actions. At the forums such as the UN and G20, we can introduce proposals for ethics and also cross-border data flows that emphasize the universal benefit of technology while opposing overly broad national security measures.

Through initiatives like Build and Deload, China can share its IaaS infrastructure solutions globally by promoting our own standards, such as those for model compression and multi-model interfaces. As industry benchmarks, we will not only enhance our technological influence, but also contribute to share the global IaaS norms.

Professor Ko, one of your proposals addresses data privacy. As concerns over data breaches and surveillance grow, what steps or measures should countries take to strengthen the regulation of AI industries to protect users' data? I mean, is that really a big deal?

Well, to protect user data while regulating the AI industry, countries should adopt comprehensive multi-layered approaches for a country. First, it's essential to ensure that our trained data is legally sourced by enforcing platform accountability and establish robust data traceability systems. AI service providers must implement

tired traceability and data classification measures, setting clear standards for different types of data, such as government open data, public domain data, and authorizer data, to ensure that every piece of data used in training has proper legal clearance, thereby reducing the risks from the start. Second, technological safeguards

should be enhanced by developing a full-circle copyright protection framework, using automated screens during the chain phase to filter out copyrighted contents like watermarks, trademarks, and patents, applying similarity detections during content generation to prevent reproducing existing works, and embedding digital certificates in generated contents to record key

such as date sources, generation times, and the model used, which together improve the contents traceability. Finally, government and industry bodies should work together to build a

compliant data pool through a dedicated copyright database that allows platforms to verify data usage and enable copyright holders to manage authorizations. A parent-first strategy, initially focusing on government open data and news content before extending to commercial data, can pave the way for standardized data authorization practices that

ultimately strengthen data privacy and boost youth trust in AI systems. That is Ko Gong-Chi, PPCC member and professor of the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, speaking with my colleague, Shun Rui-Hsin. This is World Today. Stay with us.

This is World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. China has announced a targeted response to U.S. tariffs. Beijing has added 15 U.S. firms to its export control list and initiated legal action against Washington at the WTO. China has also announced retaliatory levies of 10 to 15 percent covering a range of U.S. goods. These affect mostly agricultural and food products like soybeans and pork.

The move coincides with additional U.S. tariffs on Chinese exports, which come into effect on Tuesday. The fresh tariffs effectively result in a cumulative 20 percent tax on thousands of Chinese goods. China says the U.S. move under the pretext of fentanyl issue is an act of unilateralism and bullying. China urges Washington to revoke its unilateral tariffs and resolve differences through equal dialogue.

For more, we are joined by You Tianlong, associate professor at Yunnan University. China's new tariffs hit U.S. agricultural exports like soybeans, corn, and chicken. What message is China sending through this approach, and how significant do you think the economic fallout will be for U.S. agricultural industry?

I think this is a conventional technique. Last time we also tapped in those agricultural experts like soybean and corn because that's the major export from the United States to China. However, it also relating to the voter base, the voter block of Trump administration. He mainly earned his support from those

farmers in Midwest, they may convey their anger towards Washington right now Trump is in power. Well, China also adds 15 U.S. entities to its export control list, and this mainly targets defense-related and tech-related companies. How would you interpret this move? This is not new because we have already extended a list with those defense-related and tech-related companies.

This time, I think we're trying to send a signal to them that this is reciprocal. If they are attacking against, attacking our tech company, we are attacking them. But how do you think the Trump administration's tariff hike will impact Chinese exporters? And will it push them to find alternative markets? I would say that...

is really hard because right now trump administration is not only targeting chinese exporters but also canadian and mexican exporters so basically trump administration is waging a tariff war against the whole world the united states may trade honors all over the world so just like the news said a couple days ago trump administration also raised tariff

to Canadian market and Mexican market to 25%, which means if we try to circumvent the US tariffs through Canada and Mexico, it's not workable right now. And also, I don't think any other single consumer market can be an alternative to the United States.

How do you see this tit-for-tat escalation playing out in the coming months? And also with tariffs escalating on both sides, how might global supply chains be affected? I think it's going to be escalated for a period of time until the United States can realize they cannot win this war easily.

And I also believe next year is going to be the midterm election. They will not allow this tariff wall to extend well into midterm election year. So hopefully this tariff tic-tac escalation will stop at some point within this year. I believe very likely

the leaders of two countries will meet very soon. And this tariff war will end well before that. With regard to the global supply chain, which has been under transformation for a period of time, for a couple of years already, because this is not the first time the United States waged a tariff war against China.

We have been doing quite a good job on shifting our supply chain to elsewhere, to other countries like Malaysia, Indonesia. I think we will continue doing so. It's just another accelerator behind this transformation. Well, the promise of Trump's tariffs was to bring manufacturing back to the U.S., but with supply chains...

rattled and costs rising for goods like cars and electronics, isn't this more likely to hurt American manufacturers than help them? I agree with you. I don't think Trump is doing economic speculation in this matter. Basically, everything he has been doing is against the very principle of economics. So I don't think it will help manufacturers

going back to the United States. But for certain companies, such as Taiwan's semiconductor manufacturing company, right now, declared that they were going to invest 100 billion US dollars to establish three new more factories.

I think it's going to help certain manufacturing going back to the United States, but not all of them, especially for certain sectors like low-end sectors. It's impossible for those companies moving back to the United States, such as the garment industry, toy industry. It's definitely unwise to build a toy within U.S. territory because their human cost is so high.

Okay, but also it is estimated that Trump's tariffs on Canada, Mexico and China could cost the typical US households over 1200 US dollars a year. How might this economic pressure influence public opinion as Trump's term progresses?

It is really hard to say because it depends on the narrative. It depends on what kind of story Trump administration is telling them. They may say, okay, it's kind of short period of time pain. You're going to suffer just like Trump weeks ago said so. But also they may blame Trump

China, like, okay, yes, you did pay more, just like right now, the even X in the United States become more expensive than ever. But it depends on how they were going to do the blame game. So

So what is really happening? Do you think this will be just short term pain or will it have some long lasting impact on the U.S. economy? I think it will be a lasting impact on the U.S. economy. We can see right now Trump administration has been in power for more than a month, but inflation rise again. The egg is very expensive. Even one of their secretary,

telling people to have their own chicken in their backyard. That's something ridiculous. Well, as we mentioned earlier, Trump's tariff escalation seems to treat the U.S. allies like Canada and Mexico as adversaries alongside China. So could this isolationist gamble backfire politically? And could this multi-country trade war lead to some sort of a broader realignment of global trade relationships?

Yes, I believe so. There will be a broader realignment. For example, Canada and Mexico are Americans' neighbors, which they cannot move. They have to be stick to the U.S. market. So they have to readjust their trade policy in one way or another. I think they will bow down to Trump's pressure because apparently

their economy heavily rely on the US market. But for the rest of the world, for example, China, for Europe, they may have different strategies. It's really hard to tell how they're going to realign different camps. And this kind of realignment is not purely economic strategy. It may be driven by other factors, such like geopolitical factors.

For example, right now, maybe European countries may get closer to China, not because they want to have a better relationship in trade and

economic terms, but also because they don't believe the United States will give them military protection. So it's really hard to say what's going to happen in the next few months. Yeah. So now that China and U.S. seem to be locked in a cycle of tariff escalations, but are there anything that can be done by both sides to kind of de-escalate the tensions? I think right now for China, we have to figure out

You mean in the business community?

Probably, yes, very likely. Okay, thank you, Youqian Long from Yunnan University. This is World Today. Stay with us.

You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. U.S. President Donald Trump has paused all military aid to Ukraine. A White House official says the U.S. is reviewing its aid to ensure that it is contributing to a solution. Speaking earlier at the White House, President Trump suggested that Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky would not be around very long if he did not reach a ceasefire deal with Russia.

Zelenskyy said in his evening address that Ukraine needs security guarantees for real and fair peace. Meanwhile, Russia said Zelenskyy needs to be forced to make peace after his clash with Trump. Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov says the public row between the two presidents in Washington demonstrated the difficulty of reaching a settlement with Ukraine.

For more, we are joined by Kamal Mikhailiev, affiliated researcher at the Ravel Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden. Thanks for joining us. Thank you for having me. So first of all, what are the immediate consequences of the U.S. suspending military aid to Ukraine?

Well, first and foremost, it's of course creating a pressure on both Ukraine and European allies to follow in the United States or Trump's rather lead in terms of negotiating peaceful solution or at least ceasefire with Russia in Ukraine. And that puts a lot of pressure, of course, on European allies. Basically, if Washington pauses the assistance or already paused the assistance, then

The European partners are going to be pressed to fill that void. And recent statements from NATO officials in Brussels, they underscore that there is an urgent call for the greater European military support to Ukraine, which could lead to rapid chase in regional defense priorities. For Ukraine, that means that immediate operational strain, because Ukrainian forces have already been facing weapon shortages.

and they must then recalibrate how they are going to defend their country. And of course, that also is going to affect the pace of counter-offenses and leave even critical sectors vulnerable. It can also affect negatively the morality

this uncertainty about the longer term commitment of the United States to military support, it can create this uncertainty and drop in morale and public support in Ukraine. So yes, there are already immediate consequences of that. So how would you interpret Donald Trump's rationale for this decision?

Well, of course, there is this question of putting pressure on Ukraine after he got very disappointed at the meeting with Vladimir Zelensky, president of Ukraine. This underscores this kind of economic bargaining situation when you put the pressure on the

In the business circles, you put the pressure on the side that can be on the path of the least resistance, so to say. And that would create an advantage in the negotiating position. But it also shows how transactional this is for Trump. There is no actually moral backup that was signaled by the United States during the previous administration.

There's also this kind of strategic repositioning. By suspending Abe, Trump appears to be attempting to force a recalibration of the U.S. role in the conflict.

just moving from an open-ended security guarantor to a negotiator who expects direct benefits in return for these negotiations. So that also means that this reposition is aimed at reducing the U.S. expenditure and shifting pressure towards Kyiv and its European allies rather than the United States maintaining the role of the main guarantor of security.

Okay, well, Baco Rubio actually hinted at that this suspension is part of a broader push to get Russia to the table. How do you think this move might be received by Kremlin? And like, will it be more willing to talk or will it capitalize on this pause to press ahead in a conflict?

Well, there is, of course, both of these kinds of theories, diplomatic opportunity versus tactical exploitation. And there is, you know, in the analysis, there are two sides of analytical dispute. Some suggest that Moscow actually can see this pause as a window to open back channel talks with the United States, to see this as an opportunity to start negotiating the best possible positions.

But then there's others that warn that Russia is unlikely to slow its momentum on the battlefield because of that, and that it's actually going to press this.

press its, you know, newly found advantage on the battlefield, instead of actually going towards closer towards the talks or even negotiations with us about the war in Ukraine. There's separate side of negotiations about the bilateral relations, but it's not going to be affected by that. I am leaning towards the second theory that, you know, the Kremlin is going to interpret this as weakness.

as it has been doing previously in its history of international relations, so to say. And Moscow can use this period to intensify its military pressure in Ukrainian positions.

betting that it's going to get reduced support and that would allow it to consolidate its territorial gains, if not gain more territory in a shorter amount of time with less expenditures. I think that's the Kremlin's philosophy. Okay. Well, we know that Donald Trump has been trying to agree a deal with Kyiv for access to Ukrainian critical minerals.

And actually, last Friday, Vice President J.D. Vance said, and I quote, the very best security is to give Americans economic upside in the future of Ukraine. So do you think this sort of prioritizes the U.S. economic plan over peace and stability in the region?

Well, there's of course, if you listen to Jay DeVance and other U.S. officials, this framing of economic access, especially to Ukraine's rare minerals, seems to be essential to the U.S. security in their understanding.

And Vice President Vance, he argued that the very best security is to give Americans, as you probably say, economic upside in the future of Ukraine. That means that the economic leverage is going to be prioritized as a tool in this long-term strategic advantage that the United States have.

The problem here is, I would say, the risk of prioritizing economics over immediate peace or even the peace in the long term. Because critics in both US and European media, they actually warn that there is this kind of approach, that this approach kind of risks sidelining

the immediate stabilization, right? So by showing that there is a discord between the US and European allies and Ukraine on the one side, they're just weakening their positions to negotiate peace if that is actually the goal here. So while securing resources, it can boast the US industry in the midterm, in the short term and in the longer term, it might actually hurt the United States positions in terms of being any kind of an actor negotiating peace in Ukraine.

Okay. Thank you, Kamal Makhaly-Aliyev, affiliated researcher at Raoul Wallenberg Institute of Human Rights and Humanitarian Law in Sweden. This is World Today. We'll be back.

You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Austria has sworn in a new government, ending five months of political deadlock over forming a coalition. Christian Stalker, leader of the People's Party, took office as chancellor, heading a three-party coalition alongside the Social Democratic Party and another partner.

Last week, the three parties jointly presented their government program. The formation of the new government marks the end of Austria's longest-ever wait for a new administration following a general election. For more, we are joined by Chen Weihua, China Daily's EU Bureau Chief, based in Brussels. Weihua, thanks for joining us.

Thank you, Zhao Ying, for having me. So this three-party coalition is Austria's first since World War II. What do you think drove these ideologically diverse parties to finally unite?

Well, I would say, I mean, if you look at the recent German election, the way trying to form a coalition government, there is some similarity because the center is the party are still the mainstream, you know, in both of the country, the public still prefers centers, the party, whether center right, left or even liberal. I mean, so they are overwhelming.

against the parties labeled as far left or far right. I mean, sometimes I would challenge, disagree with such a labeling. But anyway, I mean, if you look at the German case, they have this firewall against...

You know, not talking to AFD for forming a coalition government. The case in Austria is different. I mean, you know, the Freedom Party, which is labeled far right, actually has been in the government, was in the government before, was in the government coalition talks just a little earlier. But now, I mean,

But they are different because the Freedom Party's differences on many issues are very different from the centrists' party. So it's easier for the centrists' party to compromise. Even, you know, they also have issues with each other.

Okay, well, we know this coalition took five months to form, which was also the country's longest government formation process since the Second World War. Does this delay indicate some deeper political fractures in Austria? And how stable is this alliance? Yeah, I mean, I

I don't pretend to know all the nuance there, but I think it's hard to say because if we look at the Austrian politics, I mean, it's a lot of...

government in the last 10 years. And so it's hard to predict whether this new coalition, how long will it last? Because even given the sort of the 200 page documents, they agree. But a lot of people ask, you know, when it comes to detail, it's like, you know, European leaders

They always agree on principle, but once they go into detail, the action individually must take, whether it's on migration, it's on budget, these key issues, they might clash with each other.

I would say it's very hard to predict, but obviously there are challenges with the recession, you know, how to bring about economic growth, how to tackle this public sentiment about migration. Well, Christian Stalker became Austria's chancellor without campaigning for the position.

actually with limited national experience. So was he sort of a compromise candidate to hold this coalition together? And could this weaken his authority as he leads this coalition through Austria's economic and social challenges?

I wouldn't draw such a conclusion so quickly because even we look at, again, the German case, the CDU, which most likely becomes the next chancellor. He didn't have a government experience, really. He can pay it, obviously.

for the CDU alliance. But I think, you know, the Mr. Stoker still has been the party leader for some time. So he knows that obviously the country's situation, the politics. So I would, you know, think what comes next. I mean, whether

as I mentioned a little earlier, I mean, the economy, migration, which really the budget, which is really the key issue during the campaign in sort of in September, if he can do

a good job in those regards. I mean, he could be successful, I would say. Well, one of the government's immediate priorities is reducing the budget deficit through spending cuts and tax hikes on big businesses. How will these measures impact Austria's economy and different social groups?

Yeah, I think that's actually really why, I mean, the three parties, I mean, of the current new government didn't succeed in their first attempt to try to form a coalition government because they do, I mean, have different views on this, whether, you know, you should cut social welfare, you should, you know, how...

in the big challenge of cut deficit because Austria's deficit is likely to be 4% this year, more than 4%, which is, you know, EU has a ceiling of 3%. So a lot of EU countries have, member states have this challenge. But if you cut deficit,

deficits and you might have a challenge to grow economy, you know, as argued by many. So this is a good, really challenging balancing work for the party. I think they have to deal with this very skillfully, you know, to cut a deficit. But

not to hurt economic growth. And also, you know, people in Europe are used to these welfare states. So that's a big challenge, I would say.

Well, the coalition agreement also includes plans for stricter asylum rules and tougher measures against extremism and this political Islam. And this follows a recent deadly knife attack. So how much do you see this as a pragmatic response versus a concession to far-right pressure within the country?

Well, I think, again, I would rather also raise the German case because in both countries you have this rise of the far right, so-called far right parties, and then the current, the mainstream party also actually moves towards that, those far right policy in terms of more strict measures regarding migration. If you look at the

new Austrian coalition government, they are already adopting some of the measures, you know, strict measures, asylum and others. I think this is also trying to move to appease those far-right supporters, because otherwise you are going to have more of them supporting the far-right party in the next election.

Okay, thank you, Chen Wenhua, China Daily's EU Bureau Chief based in Brussels. You're listening to World Today. Stay with us. You're listening to World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Shenzhen has released an action plan to expand the city's AI industry to 1 trillion yuan, or about 140 billion US dollars by 2026. The action plan aims to enhance the southern city's industrial competitiveness by leveraging AI innovations.

It seeks to consolidate at least 10 leading AI-powered industrial enterprises and launch over 50 innovative products across sectors such as smartphones, computers, and wearable devices. The study plans to establish an industrial ecosystem to transform smartphones from smart tools to intelligent assistants and upgrade computers from traditional devices to AI-powered workstations.

With more, my colleague Zhao Yang spoke with Yan Liang, a professor of economics at Willamette University. So Yan, Shenzhen has released an action plan to support the development and application of the AI industry. What do you make of that? And what advantages does Shenzhen have on this front?

Well, we know this plan is really to enhance the city's industrial competitiveness by leveraging on the latest AI innovations. So I think this is really the right call because we know that the AI technology is the leading cutting edge technology and that it has general

application to the traditional industries, you know, from manufacturing to services. So it's really the technology that needs to be implemented and applied to the entire, I think, the economy. So I think this is the right call to have the action plan to enhance the AI innovations.

And when you ask what advantages Shenzhen has, so we know this is a very vibrant city in China. It has become a major technological hub in China, right? This is in Guangdong province that was established

has been the pioneer in some of the reform and opening process. So it has a long history, right, of very pragmatic governments, a very complete innovative system, also very good supply chain, a very good industrial ecosystem, and also has a large amount of tail and pull. So I think it does stand to really have the competitive advantage

in leveraging AI and develop its economy further. What do you think is Shenzhen's role in the Guangdong, Hong Kong, Macau, Greater Bay Area that can help its innovation on the AI technology and application?

Yeah, I think that's a great question. I think this Great Bay area really are able to put all these different cities that are very dynamic, that have their own advantages together to form a really organic ecosystem. So I think this will be helpful to leverage on each of the city's advantages, right? So we know that, for example, Hong Kong has very advanced financial system. Shenzhen has a lot of tech

Many of the national champions, in fact, are headquartered in Shenzhen. And so and we know that Guangdong province and many of these cities in Guangdong province have very solid industrial bases, have very good industries.

industrial supply chain. So I think this initiative by bringing these cities together, you get these very complete sort of the ingredients, right? You get a finance, you get a tail end, you get a technological center and you get these industrial supply chain. So altogether, I think it would really form a very nice ecosystem to not only promote AI development, but also its applications in various industries.

And what specific measures are in this action plan to support the AI-related industry?

Well, this plan has a number of initiatives. So one of the key initiative is to accelerate AI talent development, increase investment in data security, and also ramp up standardization of the industry. So these are high level, I think, in terms of the initiatives, right, that you are able to build up the talent pool that you invest in the data centers, data security, and improve the standardization of the industry.

And some of the key, I think, really the focus is to provide the policy support and also encourage the private sector to seek more AI applications. They're also thinking about consolidating some of the leading AI-powered industrial enterprises. I think that is an effective way to achieve the economy's success.

scale and also to reduce some of these very fierce competition by consolidating some of these enterprises. And last but not least, they're also focusing on launching over 50 innovative products across

a number of sectors such as smartphones, computers, and also wearable devices. And so this is a way to apply AI to some of the key products and also key industries like smart finance, smart manufacturing, and also smart medical care. So I think this action plan has very specific actions from the government, but also very specific goals, how they wanted to achieve this AI innovations and applications.

And the municipal government of Shenzhen will allocate resources effectively, optimize the business environment and provide funding for the growth of AI-powered new industries. So could you elaborate more on that?

Yeah, I think all these are really important as a specific concrete action plans. So for example, by providing financing, it's able to enable some of these private enterprises to get credit to invest in their R&Ds and also invest in the upgrading of their manufacturing facilities.

These financing also allow for some public investments, right, in some of the data centers and also securing data when it comes to the both collection of data, processing of data and uses of data, because I think this is also very essential for these AI developments.

I think the government also has been establishing very good track record when it comes to helping to attract and also retain the talents. So I think that is another thing that the government can do. And last but not least, by facilitating some of these important industrial projects.

clustering to settle in Shenzhen. In other words, this is where you can see from other examples where a complete ecosystem is very important. To be able to develop AI, not only you need these tech startups to develop models, but you also need a data center, you also need a Cloud services to be able to utilize the AI for influences or applications.

So it's a complete ecosystem that requires governments to play some facilitated role to bring all these different enterprises together. So I think this is some action plans on the part of the government. And for the AI development in China, we know that there are six little dragons based in East China's Hangzhou city, which include DeepSeq, Unitree Robotics, etc., etc.,

And people are also talking about the Hangzhou model. So how do you compare these two cities? What are their similarities and differences between them? Well, that's a great question. I think Hangzhou has been playing a lead role due to a number of factors. First of all, they have very robust digital economy. This is one of the first cities that started to build their digital economy as early as the 2010s, early 2010s.

Like Shenzhen, they also have very robust policy supports. The government also are equally pragmatic in facilitating all these industrial upgradings. They're also spending very heavily on science technology out of their city's fiscal budgets.

They also have very innovative ecosystem. They have major labs, major innovation platforms. They also have been attracting a lot of tailings. They also have very solid supply chain. So in some sense, I think there are some competition, I think,

between Hangzhou and Shenzhen, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I think there could be also collaborations, different locations could focus on different things, I would say. So if Hangzhou is very good in developing the AI models, then Shenzhen may be retching up on the applications of AI in various industries and manufacturing sector. So I think there are some competitions, but also

collaborations, I think, between these different cities. And we also know that it's not just Hangzhou and Shenzhen, right? Shanghai, Xi'an, Hefei, Chengdu, many of these cities are also trying to develop their AI systems.

But interestingly, I think each has their very specific, unique focus in terms of where they want to focus, where they want to integrate the AI system into. So, for example, Shanghai has been focusing a lot on biotech, 6G, quantum and fission. Xi'an has been really focusing on, you know, Internet of Things and

Hebei has been focusing on quantum and space exploration. So I think what we're going to see is that many of the cities will join efforts in developing some of these AI models, but then they would also focus on different areas where they can leverage on the AI and really build their unique advantages and competitiveness in certain industries. And I think that would be really the ideal way to go because we don't want, you know, duplications, right, of the same kinds of technologies

same kind of innovations and applications in various localities that will only intensify, you know, price competitions and some of the other, I think, undesirable outcomes, right? So the idea is that we wanted to develop these cutting edge technologies

emerging technologies and at the same time, gradually apply these technologies and integrate them into the more traditional sectors, be it manufacturing or services. And that is how we'll be able to promote the so-called total productivity, total factor productivity. And so that is going to be what drives the economy forward.

That is Yan Liang, professor of economics at Willamette University, speaking with my colleague Zhao Yang. And that's all the time we have for this edition of World Today. I'm Zhao Ying. Thank you so much for listening. See you next time.