(Yicai Global) Aug. 29 -- China plans to implement an open development policy in the artificial intelligence arena and deepen its cooperation with other countries on AI, according to the vice chairman of the country's top economic planning agency.

China will intensify its international collaboration on AI technology, standards, industries, laws and regulations and ethics, the National Development and Reform Commission's Lin Nianxiu said at the opening ceremony today of this year's World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai. China will also discuss rules for AI governance, develop major projects and share achievements in the sector, he added.

The country's AI sector is forecast to be worth more than CNY160 billion (USD22.3 billion), spurring related sectors to exceed CNY1 trillion (USD139.6 billion), Lin said, adding that the field is also expected to have an increasing impact on economic growth.

Lin noted that China's economy has shifted into a period of high-quality development from one of high-speed growth, with AI and other new-generation technologies becoming an important factor in leading the move to new drivers of economic growth.

Lin also said that China will focus on 100 firms dedicated to AI technologies and relevant applications, support collaborative research and development, co-production and collaborative promotion, set up standards for integration, resolve common technological issues, and facilitate deep integration of AI and the real economy. The country will also promote the sharing of AI resources and improve the open-source platform system.

Meanwhile, the Science and Technology Ministry announced at the WAIC today that 10 Chinese tech firms, including telecoms equipment provider Huawei Technologies, e-commerce titan JD.com and handset maker Xiaomi Technology, will make resources related to AI research and development accessible to the public by means of open-source platforms, and lead the innovations in respective segments of technological fields, to further promote AI R&D and use.

In his speech, Huai Jinpeng, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Sciences, also proposed promoting open exchanges and pragmatic cooperation. He believed that AI is a technology without right and wrong, and that goodness and people-oriented values should be upheld during the development of AI applications.

Huai said that China is willing to work with the world to actively promote the construction of technology-relevant ethics, facilitate cross-border integration, cross-regional collaboration and other institutional, statutory and political guarantees jointly with the world in the face of anxieties triggered by ethical issues pertaining to the development of AI applications.

Editor: Tang Shihua