China's experience in leveraging technology to drive an energy revolution for artificial intelligence (AI) development and in balancing innovation with security is greatly needed for regional cooperation in Asia and globally, said Stephen Jackson, United Nations (UN) Resident Coordinator in China.
In an interview with China Global Television Network (CGTN), Jackson underscored the importance of regional cooperation for common development, noting that China's experience in renewable energy can provide fundamental impetus for this goal.
"Regional cooperation as a driver for common development is really key. I come from Western Europe. Perhaps we're having some bumps in the road now, but over the longue durée, as we say, over the long term, regional cooperation within the continent of Western Europe, trading within, has been the engine of our growth. That has very much been the case in recent years in this part of the world. It was less so earlier in other parts of the world -- in Africa, trading within Africa is still radically underdeveloped, and that's something that we need to assist. So the first point is that trade within a region as well as trade from a region is vitally important to economic growth," he said.
"Large language models already consume a very large amount of electricity. Each time they double, they consume more. So if we're seeing this kind of exponential growth, it follows that we are going to need a revolution in energy. And if we are reliant on fossil energy to drive the AI revolution, then the planet is in a great deal of difficulty. That's where China's leadership in renewables comes in," Jackson said.
"China's investment in its own capacity to produce electricity from renewables -- solar, hydro, wind -- is just astonishing. Every graph just basically shows China taking off like this over the last decade in terms of investment in renewables. That's what we need around the rest of the region. It's what we need around the rest of the world," he added.
Asked about the prospects for regional and global technological cooperation, he admitted he is not particularly confident at present, given geopolitical and other unfavorable factors. But in the long run, he believes humanity will overcome the crisis of confidence in multilateralism.
"I'm not sure how confident I am globally, if one just looks at the present moment, where many countries that had been the cheerleaders for global cooperation, multilateralism and global trade over the last, let's say, five decades have suddenly seemed to pull back from that. And that is very concerning at a moment when the most pressing problems of the day -- climate change, pandemics, global conflict, economic crisis -- all require collective solutions; they don't respect borders. So I'm concerned at the global level, and yes, of course, therefore at the regional level. Any time we get an intrusion of geopolitics into the otherwise, I think, very successful business of enhancing cooperation, I'm worried," he noted.
"Am I worried long term? No, because I think human beings usually come to their senses -- perhaps we come to our senses a little late and often at great cost, but we come to our senses. And my gut feeling is that this crisis of confidence in global cooperation, in global trade and in multilateralism will prove to be a passing thing," he said.
China's tech-driven development experience exactly what world needs: UN official
