China’s economic powerhouse seeks AI, humanoid robotics, low-altitude economy upgrade
China’s economic powerhouse of Shanghai would focus on artificial intelligence (AI), humanoid robotics and the low-altitude economy in efforts to upgrade services for its industrial producers amid the country’s overall transition towards technology-driven growth.
In a three-year action plan released on Thursday, the Shanghai municipal government vowed to attract more than 100 AI companies, build a national humanoid robot manufacturing innovation centre and test low-altitude industrial logistics in its suburbs by 2027.
The emerging sectors are intended to strengthen industrial services – a form of producer services – which, in contrast to consumer services, mainly target businesses and are regarded as a major shortcoming in the Chinese economy.
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Shanghai sees industrial services as “a key link in promoting new industrialisation and cultivating new quality productive force”, according to the plan.
Surrounding the strategic sectors, the business centre of the world’s second-largest economy is aiming to cultivate 50 platform enterprises with revenue of more than 1 billion yuan (US$138 million) and “outstanding” service capabilities, including more than five unicorn firms “with international influence”, it said.
Pledging to build a batch of first-class AI companies, the plan emphasised the application of large AI models in drug screening, molecular structure prediction and pharmaceutical testing.
AI-powered humanlike robots, which are expected to replace human labour and significantly liberate productivity in the future, are to be used in car making, equipment production and parts processing as the city works towards establishing a humanoid innovation centre amid a worldwide race in the burgeoning industry.
The World Artificial Intelligence Conference held in Shanghai earlier this month showcased 25 humanoid robots, including Tesla’s second-generation Optimus and China’s first full-size, general-purpose humanoid Qinglong, setting a record for the number of robots displayed.
A number of humanoid robot companies have emerged in Shanghai in the past few years, accumulating key technologies in various modules, including hands, feet and joints, and achieving small-scale production.
Four out of the 12 humanoid robots released in China last year were from Shanghai’s Pudong district, according to official media reports.
The plan released on Thursday also indicated that Shanghai would expedite the development of the low-altitude economy, which China has been pushing to foster high-value jobs, bolster innovation and inject momentum into its slowing economy.
The city is planning the layout of low-altitude routes, “tentatively opening” some commercial routes for drone cargo and electric vertical take-off and landing applications, while encouraging experiments to be carried out in the suburban district of Qingpu, it said.
The municipal government also vowed to enhance services in industrial design, testing and legal services to improve the reputation and quality of Shanghai-made products.
Authorities have been urged to enhance producer services by some politicians, with Huang Qifan, the outspoken former mayor of Chongqing, calling it the “weakest link” in China’s production system.
Producer services contribute less than a fifth of China’s gross domestic product, compared to more than a half in the United States, Huang, who remains an influential figure for his economic insights, told a forum in Guangzhou in October.
This article originally appeared in the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the most authoritative voice reporting on China and Asia for more than a century. For more SCMP stories, please explore the SCMP app or visit the SCMP’s Facebook and Twitter pages. Copyright © 2024 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.
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