(Yicai Global) Sept. 18 --RenownedChinese venture capitalistKai-Fu Lee has compared China's advantage in data with Saudi Arabia's in crude oil reserves, saying the Asian country'sedge in the field will be the most significant in developing artificial intelligence.

"If datawerepetroleum in the artificial intelligence era,thenChinawould beSaudi Arabia," the founder and chief executive ofBeijing-basedSinovation Ventures told a gathering at the China Development Forum's special AI Revolution session on Sept. 16.

China's advantages also lie in capital and policies,its'engineerdividend'and world-class entrepreneurs,making it acenter of entrepreneurshipto rivalSilicon Valley, Dr. Lee said. He predicts thatin AI technology China will be onanequal footing with the US, the world'scurrentleader, in five years.

"You'll hear at Harvard Business School in future that Chinese innovation equals America's." the machine learning expert said.

The volume of data in China's mobile payment,meal delivery andshared bike sectors is dozens of times thatofthe US, meaning that when AI proceeds toactualapplication, China will benefit from its engineers, entrepreneurs andvastdomestic market, Lee said. The US has shared almost allofitstop AI research with Canada andtheUK, but China has the advantagesthat can enable ittoeventually leapfrogthem, he added.

But AI is not a zero-sum game; it needs collaboration, Lee stressed.

"China hasaccomplishedwonders to riseupin the past 10 years," he said. "Thanks toitsinvestment opportunities andthe emergence ofpowerful entrepreneurs, China has established many companies which attractevermore clients with the products theyinnovate.

"Because its economyis growing constantlyandso are the numbers of itsinternet users, this affords an opportunitythatallowsChina toclaimone-half of the world's high-tech companies," headded.

Such companies grow so fast because they have formed a business model that suits them after yearsofeffort,rather thanbecauseforeignfirmsfind access to China's market difficult, and thus competition is lacking, Lee said.

Government support for high-tech industrymustnot beoverlooked, Lee added. Zhejiangprovince, for example, willbuildnew highways to help the driverless auto industry, while the Xiongan New Areaisalso providingfacilitiesfor the development of autonomous driving technology, he said.

Editor: Ben Armour