Guangxi to expand AI cooperation with ASEAN

As a frontier window between China and member countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region has unique advantages for establishing a hub for artificial intelligence cooperation with ASEAN, which will inject momentum into the building of a China-ASEAN community with a shared future, said Chen Gang, Party secretary of Guangxi.

Not only is Guangxi located at a critical juncture between the huge market of China, which has 1.4 billion people, and that of ASEAN, which boasts a population of nearly 700 million, but it also has an abundant energy supply, a linguistic talent pool including those skilled in the languages of ASEAN countries, and favorable policies, Chen noted.

Therefore, the region is uniquely positioned to implement China's AI Capacity-Building Action Plan for Good and for All, and to conduct AI cooperation with ASEAN, Chen told China Daily on the sidelines of the two sessions, the annual gatherings in Beijing of the nation's top legislative and political advisory bodies.

"I think that in the future, it will not be AI that defeats humans, but those who utilize AI defeating those who do not," said Chen, who is also a deputy to the National People's Congress, China's top legislature. "The same applies to the development of an enterprise, a region and a country. Those who develop and apply AI first will lead the way."

The China-ASEAN Information Harbor, a State-level digital open platform, has established 12 terrestrial optical cables linking Guangxi with ASEAN countries. The newly approved Nanning International Telecommunications Hub, which is scheduled to be operational by late this year, is expected to make Guangxi the fastest data transmission gateway to ASEAN, which can meet ASEAN countries' demand for AI data processing, Chen said.

The upgraded China-ASEAN Free Trade Area 3.0 now includes cooperation on the digital economy, while Guangxi's AI industrial fund of 10 billion yuan ($1.38 billion) was set up in February and multiple development zones are further bolstering cross-border innovation, Chen said.

He also noted that the region and ASEAN countries have engaged in deepened cooperation in trade, investment, people-to-people exchanges and education, and have accumulated a rich language database that can be used to train AI models.

Moreover, Guangxi has hosted the China-ASEAN Expo 21 times and the China-ASEAN AI Summit four times, with the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo, scheduled for September in Nanning, the region's capital, expected to focus on AI cooperation, he added.

Chen said that during a recent visit to Vietnam and Laos by a Guangxi delegation, which he led, the top leadership of the two ASEAN countries acknowledged the development progress of China's AI and said they looked forward to enhancing cooperation with China to develop AI models based on their own languages.

The delegation also signed landmark deals with Vietnam on cross-border logistics data flows and established the China-Laos AI Innovation Cooperation Center — the first such platform between China and ASEAN, Chen said.

Chen said there are four priorities for deepening AI collaboration.

The first priority is to attract leading Chinese and ASEAN AI enterprises to set up research and development centers in Nanning, in order to foster cross-border industrial synergy, he said.

Second, the region should aim to develop tailored AI applications for agriculture, healthcare, tourism and logistics in ASEAN markets, Chen said.

Third, an integrated industrial chain should be established that includes research and development in Beijing and Shanghai as well as Guangzhou and Shenzhen, Guangdong province; integration in Guangxi; and application in ASEAN, he said.

Fourth, the region will launch AI training programs for ASEAN officials, workers and students.

Through a multilayer cooperation mechanism established between Guangxi and ASEAN government institutions, enterprises, research institutes and the commerce sector, ASEAN countries can equally participate in and benefit from cutting-edge AI technology and standards, which will be conducive to further strengthening the two sides' political trust, Chen said.

Moreover, the China-ASEAN AI Innovation and Cooperation Center will cultivate AI talent to empower various industries and push for the inclusive development of AI and bring real benefits to the people, he added.

Zhang Li contributed to this story.