Foreign attendees of the Third High-Level Conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development have lauded China's contributions to digital technology and its role in bridging the digital divide.
The conference this year, held from Tuesday to Wednesday in Beijing, featured a newly established experience space showing China's cutting-edge artificial intelligence (AI) technologies and their practical applications.
Many expect help of global cooperation initiatives in the digital economy sector, where China has played a role of providing innovative digital solutions.
"Our country has a vast proportion of farmland, so I hope to understand in which specific areas, for instance, our farmers can benefit (from this technology/cooperation)," said Lucia Skvareninova, an economic counsellor with the Embassy of the Slovak Republic in Beijing.
During the conference, China launched an upgraded version of its MAZU early warning platform, a cloud-based meteorological system designed to help countries better anticipate extreme weather, and delivered customized versions to Jordan and Sri Lanka to strengthen disaster preparedness.
MAZU stands for the four elements of multi-hazard, alert, zero-gap and universal benefit, while the acronym sounds the same of the name of a sea goddess in Chinese folk religion, and her worship spread throughout China's coastal regions and overseas Chinese communities.
"China acted to give a launch this MAZU system for Sri Lanka. On that time. Actually, we can view a good, uh, early warning product, you know, daily forecast, 3 days, 10 days, one month, three months and climate projections also. I think that is good for our country because of so many disasters happening in Sri Lanka," said Athula Kumara Karunanayake, director of Sri Lanka's Department of Meteorology.
Further demonstrating international collaboration, Beban Sammy Chumbow, president of the Cameroon Academy of Sciences, announced a new partnership.
"We have signed a memorandum of understanding with the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence. So it's an important beginning for collaboration and cooperation between China and Africa, and especially in the domain of science, productivity, production of knowledge. dissemination of knowledge and appropriation of knowledge to improve the living condition of citizens," he said.
Lin Yonghua, vice president and CTO of the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, emphasized the broader goals of such partnerships.
"Our courses will be jointly delivered to Africa, which is why we have this cooperation today. We hope that through such open cooperation, we can promote talent exchange and education between both sides, and jointly achieve global AI inclusivity," she said.
The Third High-Level Conference of the Forum on Global Action for Shared Development yielded many outcomes, particularly in digital economy. Key consensuses included establishing a "Digital South" brand, fostering cooperation with developing countries in AI and cross-border e-commerce, supporting the construction of telecommunications network infrastructure in developing countries, backing the establishment and operation of the World Data Organization, and initiating more digital connectivity projects.
Forum attendees praise China's contribution to digital technologies
