China's strategic planning in the artificial intelligence (AI) sector has helped place the country at the forefront of the global AI boom, said an industry professional.
The rapidly evolving industry has been full of pleasant surprises in recent weeks, particularly with the rise of Deepseek R1, a Chinese model that rivals OpenAI's ChatGPT but at a fraction of the training cost.
Meanwhile, the AI Action Summit is currently underway in Paris, France, from Monday to Tuesday, bringing together representatives from nearly 100 countries along with over a thousand stakeholders from the private sector and civil society to discuss global AI governance and other key topics.
In an exclusive interview with China Global Television (CGTN) on Monday via video link, André Quemé, founder and CEO of Latam China Tech, a company promoting cross-border sci-tech cooperation, discussed China's role in the ongoing global AI boom, highlighting that the success of China's latest AI models is the result of combined efforts between government and businesses.
"I believe that we see now a global frenzy about artificial intelligence (AI) and very much actually comes from what China has been producing, developing. We see people actually crazy about the work of Deepseek R1, the new model, but China has been producing a lot of research in the topic of AI. This happens not only because of the work of an individual entrepreneur or of a genius tech leader or maybe of an engineer, but this is the next structure that was (made) ready by the country, that was well-planned by the country to actually develop those industries. So we see for example, we have the intelligence development plan of 2017," the CEO said, referring to the Chinese government's AI development plan which aims to make China a global leader in AI innovation and applications by 2030.
Though a media frenzy has centered around Deepseek's success, Quemé pointed out that its new model is not alone among China's emerging AI competitors.
"There's actually a lot of work being done -- Baidu with Ernie, we see Alibaba with Qwen. This is a result of efforts from the country to actually develop this industry," he said.
The industry expert stressed that AI's growing capabilities are increasingly posing implications for society at large, calling for efforts to shape its impact.
"AI is impacting now nowadays several industries we can see like manufacturing and logistics, finance, but also the daily business operations of several different types of organizations. I think this is important to be very well aware. It not something for now. It's not just a trend. It is actually a need for many societies, actually, to be working, to having AI as a tool. You can use AI to guide you to research. You can use AI in daily life nowadays," Quemé said.
"In the future, actually, AI will be more pre-eminent, making automatic decisions. So it's very important to have a very well-built, ethical, but also a localized model in existing intelligence planned, to actually think about the development of the country and of the society," he added.
China's AI planning pays off as industry booms: industry professional
Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo's ongoing visit to China yielded more steps forward in economic cooperation on Monday when over 120 business leaders convened for a high-level meeting in Beijing, which also saw the signing of multiple agreements between the two sides.
Orpo arrived in the Chinese capital on Sunday to begin a four-day official visit to the country, which he said aims to "open doors to Finnish companies".
In a move to deepen economic ties, he joined Chinese Commerce Minister Wang Wentao at the sixth meeting of the China-Finland Committee for Innovative Business Cooperation on Monday, which also drew business representatives from both sides.
In a speech at the event, Orpo described China as a crucial overseas market for Finnish companies and highlighted broad potential for cooperation across multiple sectors. He also emphasized the importance of upholding international norms.
"For business relations between Finland and China to truly flourish, we must together preserve the shared rules-based trade system," Orpo said.
Wang said that both China and Finland have long been advocates and defenders of multilateralism. He noted that China's vast market and diverse application scenarios, combined with Finland's strong innovation capabilities, create opportunities to expand cooperation in areas such as the circular economy, artificial intelligence, and information technology.
"It is important for all countries to firmly uphold the rules-based international economic and trade order and avoid a return to a world defined by 'the law of the jungle.' China stands ready to work with Finland to safeguard the multilateral trading system," Wang stressed.
Last year, bilateral trade between China and Finland exceeded 8 billion U.S. dollars, with the stock of two-way investment surpassing 23 billion dollars. Monday's meeting demonstrated both countries' resolve to further expand economic ties, with multiple new commercial agreements covering a range of sectors signed during the session.
"We are going to sign a future cooperation agreement with China Architecture Design and Research Group (CADG), the main architectural institute in China," said Michal Horak, Vice President for Asia Pacific at the Peikko Group, a Finnish manufacturing firm.
"We're a mining company. The procurement deal we're talking is substantial, potentially reaching hundreds of millions of yuan," said Zhang Liqun, Vice President of the CMOC Group Limited, a mining company based in central China's Henan which accounts for around one-third of the world's cobalt supply.
Another of the key voices from the Finnish side was Pasi Rannus, CEO of Finnish vehicle and battery manufacturer Valmet Automotive, who pointed to synergies in the electric vehicle sector.
"We all know that the Chinese new energy vehicles are looking [to grow in] Europe and we, as a company, what we do, we can help them to enter Europe," said Rannus.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce has expressed its readiness to strengthen policy communication with Finland and provide necessary support and services for business on both sides.
China, Finland deepen business ties as leaders highlight rules-based trade
