In early December, hundreds of leading scientists and entrepreneurs from around the world attended a forum held in Yunnan, a province located in southwest China, to discuss artificial intelligence, life sciences, and many other topics having a great and increasing impact on our lives.

Why was such an important forum not organized in Shenzhen or Hangzhou—coastal cities where Alibaba, DeepSeek, Huawei, and many other Chinese high-tech companies are headquartered—but rather in an inland province that is better known for its rich cultural heritage?  The answer lies in the unique role Yunnan played during the Second World War and its strategic importance to China today.

The Tengchong Scientists Forum

Held in Tengchong, a county-level city in Yunnan that is renowned for its volcanic landscapes, the 2025 Tengchong Scientists Forum (“Forum”) sought to integrate cutting-edge research with industrial developments.  For example, in his keynote speech at the Forum, Nobel Prize laureate Konstantin Novoselov emphasized that artificial intelligence will eventually be integrated into multiple industries and areas, including those related to advanced materials.  In 2010, Mr. Novoselov won the Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering graphene, the thinnest two-dimensional material that has high electrical conductivity and tensile strength.

At the Forum, PAN Jianwei, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, received the Tengchong Science Award for his accomplishments in quantum communication and quantum computing.  Nine young scientists were recognized for their outstanding innovations, including the world’s first hydrogen-powered zero-carbon intelligent energy system.

“One prediction is that autonomous flying cars will reshape the urban traffic landscape as they become the main transportation vehicles on the ground and in the air.”

In addition, a technology outlook report was released at the Forum to forecast ten trends expected to transform the world by 2049.  One prediction is that autonomous flying cars will reshape the urban traffic landscape as they become the main transportation vehicles on the ground and in the air.

The Forum’s Yunnan Roots

While it has been organized annually since 2022, the Tengchong Scientists Forum has roots that reach back to a distinguished university established during the Second World War.

The Forum’s immediate history may be traced back to the 2020 visit to Tengchong by three former presidents of Nankai University, Peking University, and Tsinghua University.  Inspired by the city’s natural beauty and cultural heritage, the three scholars determined that Tengchong would serve as the perfect site for scientists to “gaze at the stars and pursue truth”.  With support from their universities, the provincial government of Yunnan, and the China Association for Science and Technology, the Tengchong Scientists Forum was then founded to “inherit the spirit of Southwest United University”.

Southwest United University was a cradle for great minds in China from 1937 to 1946.  Immediately following Japan’s invasion of the country in July 1937, the Ministry of Education of the Nationalist government relocated Nankai University, Peking University, and Tsinghua University to the south, where it established a provisional university in Changsha led by the then-presidents of the preceding three universities.  In February 1938, the provisional university moved from Changsha to Kunming, Yunnan Province, and was renamed National Southwest United University (“Southwest United University” for short).  After the end of the Second World War, the university was relocated to the north in May 1946 and was subsequently dissolved.

Despite its short history, Southwest United University was able to provide excellent education to approximately 8,000 students during wartime, including Chen-Ning Yang and Tsung-Dao Lee, who graduated from the university in 1942 and 1946, respectively, and won the Nobel Prize in Physics together in 1957.

Yunnan’s Strategic Role Today

“Today, Yunnan has evolved from being a strong military base during the Second World War to serving as a gateway that facilitates China’s collaboration with nations in South and Southeast Asia […].”

Today, Yunnan has evolved from being a strong military base during the Second World War to serving as a gateway that facilitates China’s collaboration with nations in South and Southeast Asia, largely due to the province’s geographical proximity to these regions.

This explains the organization of the Tengchong Scientists Forum in Yunnan, as reflected in comments made by Hul Seingheng, Undersecretary of Cambodia’s Ministry of Industry, Science, Technology, and Innovation, who attended the 2025 Forum and emphasized the importance of having “close cooperation with ASEAN (i.e., the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) and the Lancang-Mekong countries, especially China”.

In fact, the strategic role of Yunnan was formally recognized by China’s State Council with the issuance of a key document in 2011.  The first paragraph of the document reads:

Yunnan Province is a crucial land corridor connecting our country with Southeast and South Asia, and, therefore, holds significant strategic importance.  To promote the sound and rapid economic and social development of Yunnan Province and to further improve China’s overall opening-up strategy, the following opinions are put forward to support Yunnan Province in accelerating the construction of a vital gateway for our country’s opening-up to the southwest[.]

Among various opinions highlighted in the document to support Yunnan’s development, the State Council particularly noted the need to “deepen agricultural science and technology exchanges and cooperation in the Greater Mekong Subregion” and “strengthen overseas guidance on and training of agricultural technologies, making Yunnan a hub for agricultural technology dissemination to Southeast Asia”.  Moreover, the State Council made it clear that Yunnan would receive special funds from the central government to develop “strategic emerging industries” and that the province should promote technology transfer to facilitate “China’s opening up to the southwest”.

Yunnan has produced results along the lines highlighted in the above document.  For example, in August 2023, it was reported that the province had established “11 multilateral and bilateral cooperation mechanisms with South and Southeast Asian countries”, including the China–South Asia Technology Transfer Center, which facilitates China’s cooperation in international science and technology with six South Asian countries.  The Tengchong Scientists Forum was also mentioned as an initiative that would conduct in-depth exchanges with scientists from South Asian countries.

In late October, the “China-ASEAN Free Trade Area (CAFTA) 3.0 upgrade” was signed by China and ASEAN to expand the cooperation between China and members of the ASEAN (i.e., Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Timor-Leste, and Vietnam).  Although details about the expanded cooperation remain unclear, Chinese Premier LI Qiang has indicated that “a cooperation platform on artificial intelligence” and “a center for maritime development and technology cooperation” will be established.  Given these new developments, Yunnan’s strategic importance to China has not only been solidified but is also expected to grow in the coming years.

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• The citation of this article is: The Editorial Board of SINOTALKS^®, Technology, Asia, and China’s Yunnan Province, SINOTALKS.COM^®, SinoExpress™, Dec. 17, 2025, https://sinotalks.com/sinoexpress/technology-asia-yunnan. ↩︎

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