Qatar is preparing to announce a new regional defense partnership aimed at strengthening its military capabilities, particularly in air defense, counter-drone systems and cybersecurity, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of State for Defense Affairs Sheikh Saoud bin Abdulrahman Al Thani said Monday.
Speaking at the Global Security Forum in Doha, the minister said Qatar had conducted a defense review last year that identified air defense, counter-drone capabilities, cybersecurity and electronic warfare as key priorities.
The minister said Qatar would soon announce a new partnership with a regional partner to launch initiatives aimed at developing capabilities in these priority areas and other defense fields.
He said Qatar was also cooperating with international partners, including the United States, Britain and France, to support local defense production and investment in defense-related companies.
Sheikh Saoud also announced plans to establish a defense hub in Qatar, saying further details would be unveiled soon.
Qatar to announce regional defense partnership to boost military capabilities: official
China's "artificial intelligence (AI) Plus" initiative helped advance the intelligent transformation of the manufacturing sector and promote the upgrading and improvement of consumption quality in the first three quarters of this year, said the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) on Monday.
AI-powered new growth drivers continued to expand and strengthen, leading high-quality manufacturing industrial development. In the first three quarters, digital product manufacturing contributed over one third to the growth of value-added of industrial enterprises above the designated size, with AI adoption among these firms rising steadily.
AI effectively boosted the development of modern service industry. In the first three quarters, the value-added output of information transmission, software and IT service sectors increased 10.4 percent.
AI also reshaped consumption and made its way into daily routines. Over the same period, sales of wearable smart devices surged more than 70 percent year on year among businesses above the designated size, while sales at unmanned stores grew over 25 percent.
The expansion of AI applications also spurred sustained investment across industrial chains.
NBS data showed that in the first three quarters, investment in electronic circuit manufacturing surged 58.7 percent year on year, while integrated circuit manufacturing investment rose 14.2 percent.
"Leveraging its comprehensive industrial supply chain, China has rapidly rolled out AI software and hardware products tailored to various scenarios, precisely meeting the demands of overseas markets. In the first three quarters, China's exports of products such as electronic components and wires and cables grew by 70 percent and 25.3 percent, respectively," Wang Guanhua, spokeswoman of the NBS and deputy director general of the Department of Comprehensive Statistics of the NBS, said at a press conference in Beijing on Monday.
China's AI-plus initiative advances manufacturing transformation, consumption quality in first three quarters
