DeepSeek, AI Agriculture, and China’s Zhejiang Province

Image: Piotr Siedlecki, Rays of Vegetables (Publicdomainpictures.net)

甲骨文联合创始人拉里·埃里森一直努力通过其创业公司Sensei Farms,以人工智能应用来改变农业。他多年的努力并没有带来改变,这不禁令人想到其“改善人类的营养并同时保护世界的自然资源”的愿景是否能够实现。中国领导人也有类似的愿景。面对要用有限的耕地来养活该国14 亿人口的艰巨挑战,这些领导人感到有必要把愿景变为现实。为了克服这一挑战,中国领导层制定了发展人工智能农业的雄心勃勃目标,并且指定浙江省——深度求索(DeepSeek)和其他几家重要的人工智能公司的所在地——作为此项工作的先行者。Read more

DeepSeek, AI Agriculture, and China’s Zhejiang Province

Image: Piotr Siedlecki, Rays of Vegetables (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison’s struggle to transform agriculture with AI applications through his venture Sensei Farms may prompt one to wonder whether his vision to “improve human nutrition while preserving the world’s natural resources” can be realized. Chinese leaders share a similar vision. They feel compelled to turn this idea into reality because of the formidable challenge posed by the need to feed the country’s 1.4 billion people with the limited arable land available. To overcome this challenge, the Chinese leadership has set ambitious goals to develop agriculture utilizing AI and has designated Zhejiang Province—home to DeepSeek and a few other key AI companies—to lead the endeavor.Read more

Data as Property in the AI Era: How China Formulates Related Rules Incrementally

Image: Gerd Altmann, Big Data (Publicdomainpictures.net)

中国国家主席习近平于 2 月中旬会见了中国创新型公司的创始人,展示了中国的“新质生产力”——词由习主席于 2023 年提出,旨在强调创新在推动中国长期发展中的作用。会议室里弥漫着合作气氛,但在幕后,这些公司和其他创新公司在许多方面都竞争激烈,其中包括争夺对作为人工智能时代宝贵财产的数据的使用。中国敏锐地意识到了规范数据使用的必要性,但挑战在于如何正确地做到这点。中国司法和行政部门采取的渐进措施,让我们看到了中国对此类规管的探索性方法。Read more

Data as Property in the AI Era: How China Formulates Related Rules Incrementally

Image: Gerd Altmann, Big Data (Publicdomainpictures.net)

Chinese President XI Jinping’s mid-February meeting with founders of China’s innovative companies showcases the country’s “new quality productive forces”—a term coined by the president in 2023 to emphasize the role of innovation in driving the country’s long-term development. Despite the apparent collaboration prevailing in the meeting room, behind the scenes there is fierce competition among these and other innovative companies on many fronts, including the use of data, a valuable property in the era of artificial intelligence. China is acutely aware of the need to regulate the use of data, but the challenge is how to do so properly. Incremental steps taken by the judiciary and the executive in China provide a glimpse of the country’s exploratory approach to such regulation.Read more

Bolstering High-Tech Development: China’s “Supply” and “Demand” Solutions

Image: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, Got Talent, Skill, Assessment (Publicdomainpictures.net)

深度求索(DeepSeek)的异军突起,让世界意识到了中国的高科技实力。未来几年,中国将会继续加大力度,提升这些能力,培育高科技产业的发展。为此,中国需要确保高科技人才的持续供应,以及该国民众对高科技产品的强烈需求,但部分民众有限的数字和科学素养可能会削弱这种需求。针对这些问题,中国最近推出了新措施。Read more

Bolstering High-Tech Development: China’s “Supply” and “Demand” Solutions

Image: Mohamed Mahmoud Hassan, Got Talent, Skill, Assessment (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The sudden emergence of DeepSeek has awakened the world to China’s high-tech capabilities. In the coming years, the country is expected to continue strengthening its efforts to increase such capabilities and nurture the development of its high-tech industries. To this end, China needs to ensure a continuous supply of high-tech talent and a strong demand for high-tech products from its population, which includes segments with limited digital and scientific literacy that may have the opposite effect, i.e., weakening such demand. To address these needs, China recently introduced certain measures.Read more

Private Economy and China’s Credit System for Enterprises

Image: Gerd Altmann, Business People (Publicdomainpictures.net)

中国正在就一项旨在促进该国民营企业发展的法律草案征求公众意见。该法律草案要求,当民营企业不再存在损害其信用的经营异常行为时,中国政府部门必须及时更新该企业在官方“信用信息平台”上公示的记录。对于中国民营企业来说,在信用信息平台上保持良好的记录至关重要,因为企业的商业伙伴和客户越来越依赖这些平台来评估企业的状况。然而,这些平台都有局限性,而如果不加以妥善处理,这些局限性可能会损害中国民营企业的发展,继而损害中国的民营经济。Read more

Private Economy and China’s Credit System for Enterprises

Image: Gerd Altmann, Business People (Publicdomainpictures.net)

China is seeking public comments on a draft law aimed at promoting the development of the country’s private enterprises. The draft law requires Chinese authorities to timely update a private enterprise’s records publicized on official “credit information platforms” after the enterprise no longer has irregularities undermining its credibility. Having clean records on these platforms is important as private enterprises’ business partners and clients are increasingly relying on these platforms to assess where these enterprises stand. However, these platforms have limitations, which, if not addressed properly, could compromise the development of Chinese private enterprises and, thereby, the country’s private economy.Read more

WeRide Zooms into the Global Autonomous Vehicle Industry

Image: Petr Kratochvil, Busy Road Light Trails (Publicomainpictures.net)

比亚迪宣布获得在中国高速道路上测试3级(即“有条件自动化”)自动驾驶的牌照后,该公司进军自动驾驶车辆行业的雄心已然清晰。然而,比亚迪在这个行业的成功之路不太可能一帆风顺,这是由于来自具有深厚行业基础的先行者文远知行的竞争。文远知行的技术已达到4级(即“高度驾驶自动化”),故多项创新产品已投入运营,其中包括自动驾驶出租车(Robotaxis)、自动驾驶小巴(Robobuses)和自动驾驶货运车(Robovans)。什么因素促使文远知行的成功?凭借她研究中国企业尤其是中国科技企业的丰富经验,以及她与熟悉中国自动驾驶车辆行业的专家的会面,刘琳在本文中分享了她的分析。Read more

WeRide Zooms into the Global Autonomous Vehicle Industry

Image: Petr Kratochvil, Busy Road Light Trails (Publicomainpictures.net)

After BYD announced that it has licenses to test Level-3 (i.e., “conditional automation”) autonomous driving on high-speed roads in China, the company’s ambition to move into the autonomous vehicle industry has become clear. However, BYD’s path to success in this industry is unlikely to be smooth because of competition from WeRide, a forerunner with a strong foundation in the industry. Equipped with Level-4 (i.e., “high driving automation”) technology, WeRide has put into operation multiple innovative products, including Robotaxis, Robobuses, and Robovans. What factors contribute to WeRide’s success? Drawing on her extensive experiences in studying Chinese companies, especially those in the technology industry, and her meetings with specialists who are familiar with the autonomous vehicle industry in China, Lin Liu shares her analysis in this article.Read more

Tesla, Data Transfers, & China’s Digital Economy

Image: Gerd Altmann, Binary Contacts (Publicdomainpictures.net)

5月中旬,上海自由贸易区(“自贸区”)临港新片区发布试行措施,允许该片区符合条件的企业(所用标准意味着特斯拉具备资格)输出某些数据时无需经过中国复杂的审批流程。5月初,天津自贸区也采取了类似措施,预计中国其他自贸区也会效仿。这些措施对在华外国投资者非常有利。然而,发布这些措施的根本目标不仅是增加中国国内的外商投资,而是落实中国在全球发展数字经济的计划。Read more

Tesla, Data Transfers, & China’s Digital Economy

Image: Gerd Altmann, Binary Contacts (Publicdomainpictures.net)

In mid-May, the Lin-Gang Area of the Shanghai Free Trade Zone (“FTZ”) issued trial measures to allow eligible companies in the area—criteria used suggest that Tesla is eligible—to export certain data without going through China’s complicated approval system. Similar measures were adopted by Tianjin’s FTZ in early May, while other FTZs in China are expected to follow suit. These measures can benefit foreign investors in China significantly. Yet, the fundamental goal of their issuance is not a mere increase in domestic foreign investment, but rather the implementation of China’s plan to develop its digital economy globally.Read more

The Moon, Artificial Intelligence, & U.S.-China Relations

Image: Irina Pechkareva, A Space with the Moon (Publicdomainpictures.net)

尽管中国被美国排除在该国的太空项目之外,但中国正在进行的从月球背面收集岩石和土壤的任务标志着中国太空探索的另一个里程碑。这一成就应该让美国政策制定者思考,采取类似的排除做法是否会有助或损害美国为了在中美人工智能竞赛中确保领先地位而付出的努力。更重要的是,鉴于人工智能操纵的潜在灾难性后果,我们需要一种更好的做法,专注于在全球范围内创造利益,而不是让情况演变成两个国际大国之间简单的输赢竞赛。Read more

The Moon, Artificial Intelligence, & U.S.-China Relations

Image: Irina Pechkareva, A Space with the Moon (Publicdomainpictures.net)

China’s ongoing mission to collect rocks and soil from the far side of the Moon marks another milestone in the country’s space exploration despite its exclusion from U.S. space projects. This accomplishment should make U.S. policymakers ponder whether adopting a similar exclusionary approach will help or hurt the United States’s efforts to secure the lead in the U.S.-China AI race. More importantly, the potential catastrophic consequences of AI manipulation demand a better approach that focuses on generating benefits at a global level, rather than devolving into a simple win-lose race between two international powers.Read more

In Brief

Image: Gerd Altmann, Binary Thinking (Publicdomainpictures.net)

上周五我向访问华盛顿特区的中国律师代表团发表关于人工智能法律工具的演讲。OpenAI近日的戏剧性变化让此预先计划好的演讲出乎意料地及时。OpenAI对首席执行官山姆·阿尔特曼(Sam Altman)的解雇和重新聘用引发了大家深入讨论这些工具所带来的机会和担忧。就中国而言,中国领导层可能会得出这样的结论:这些工具带来的机会大于担忧,并会采取一些可以直接帮助开发更可靠的人工智能法律工具的措施,而这些措施可间接为该国带来有效的法律改革。Read more

In Brief

Image: Gerd Altmann, Binary Thinking (Publicdomainpictures.net)

The OpenAI drama made my preplanned talk on AI legal tools delivered last Friday to a delegation of Chinese lawyers visiting Washington D.C. unexpectedly timely. The firing and re-hiring of CEO Sam Altman inspired in-depth discussions of opportunities and concerns related to these tools. In the case of China, the Chinese leadership may come to the conclusion that the opportunities presented by these tools outweigh the concerns and move to take steps that can directly help develop more reliable AI legal tools and indirectly bring about effective legal reforms in the country.Read more

SinoForum&Foresight

Image: Gerd Altmann, The Age Of AI Has Begun, Publicdomainpictures.net

2023年3月,百度推出文心一言,冀与ChatGPT和同类型的人工智能产品争夺市场份额。文心一言等人工智能产业可以在中国走得多远,与相关的中国政策和法律规定息息相关。广州、深圳、上海率先根据国家政策制定地方性法规,以各自特别的方式发展人工智能产业。外资进入中国人工智能市场应该选择哪个城市?Read more

SinoForum&Foresight

Image: Gerd Altmann, The Age Of AI Has Begun, Publicdomainpictures.net

To compete with ChatGPT and similar AI products for market share, Baidu launched ERNIE Bot in March 2023. How far ERNIE Bot and other AI industries will be able to develop in China depends on Chinese policies and legislation on AI. Guangzhou, Shenzhen, and Shanghai have taken the lead to formulate their local regulations in accordance with China’s national policies and have been developing AI industries in their own special ways. Which city should foreign investors choose to enter China’s AI market?Read more

In Brief

Image: dencg/Shutterstock.com

中国提出了通过“加快建设数字经济、数字社会、数字政府”等工作来建设“数字中国”的目标。“数字政府”在这些数字举措中的作用一直不明确,直到有关该主题的重要文件于2022年6月发布时,这一点才变得清晰。该文件亦让人瞥见,在即将召开的中共二十大会议闭幕后,中国新一届领导层领航中国时很可能会继续采取的发展方向。Read more

In Brief

Image: dencg/Shutterstock.com

China has set a goal to construct “digital China” by, inter alia, “accelerating the construction of a digital economy, a digital society, and a digital government”. The role of China’s “digital government” in these digital initiatives was not clear until a significant document on the topic was issued in June 2022. The document further provides a glimpse of the direction that the new Chinese leadership will likely continue when they are at the helm after the conclusion of the forthcoming Chinese Communist Party’s 20th National Congress.Read more