Nation's AI-related tech continues to burgeon

Accenture's 2026 index of Chinese enterprises' digital transformation, for which 160 Chinese companies were surveyed, reached the largest single-year increase in recent years, and digital application scenarios such as AI assistants, intelligent research and development, and AI-powered customer experiences are rapidly becoming the mainstream in China, Zhu noted.

Shen Jun, vice-president of Unilever's China R&D Center, said: "China's rapid advancement in AI is creating unprecedented innovation opportunities for multinational companies such as Unilever. With its strong scientific research capabilities, deep talent pool, well-developed industrial ecosystem and vibrant community of AI startups, China provides an ideal environment for emerging technologies to be rapidly validated, scaled and applied to drive global innovation."

Jeff Shi, president of SenseTime Asia Pacific, highlighted China's increasingly central role in the global AI landscape. "You can't talk about AI without talking about China — and you can't talk about China without talking about AI," he said, adding that in Southeast Asia, learning from China has become a key route to faster AI adoption. The term "Chinovation", a shorthand for Chinese-style innovation, was coined in Singapore.

China's AI-led expansion overseas is also changing, Shi said, noting that it is moving beyond the export of stand-alone software and applications toward a more sophisticated offering of industry-specific solutions and digital infrastructure.

That model draws on nearly the full breadth of China's AI ecosystem — from data centers and token plans to governance frameworks and talent development, he added.

In June, London-based research company Omdia ranked SenseTime No 1 in the Asia-Pacific video analytics market, ahead of Japan's NEC, the longtime champion.

"The market shift is driven by AI," Shi said. "Five years ago, customers came to us to test Vision AI in pilot projects. Today, Vision AI is widely embedded in operations. The new demand is to integrate generative AI into workflows."

China's model is also drawing a new class of visitors. As it delivers tangible returns on investment, more are traveling to the country to study firsthand. International business visitors to SenseTime's Executive Briefing Center in Shanghai rose tenfold this year, Shi added.

masi@chinadaily.com.cn