Business leaders discuss surviving disruptive tech

Companies are facing a volatile global market, with artificial intelligence, automation and digitalization key buzzwords in emerging industries. Business representatives shared their experiences at a seminar in the 2017 China International Fair for Investment and Trade in Xiamen, Fujian province, held on Tuesday.

Li Jiang, chief technology officer of Microsoft China, introduced the company's development history at the seminar on multinational corporations' technological innovation and investment development prospects.

Li said that over the past 40 years, Microsoft has devoted itself to providing global leading information technology to improve people's quality of life. One of the biggest foreign investment enterprises in China, Microsoft adapts to the local needs of the Chinese market and participates in China's development of its information industry, he said.

By cooperating with Chinese companies in innovative projects, more technologies, products and services now serve the Chinese people, Li said.

The company has created artificial intelligence products for online chat platforms, with simultaneous interpreting and translation. For example, Microsoft Xiaoying is an online platform that helps Chinese children to study English.

"Technology around the world is going through a big transformation and the performance of interpersonal interaction accelerates the pace of transformation," Li said.

ABB, a leading company in global electrical products and industrial automation, said it is time for digitization to lead industrial upgrade efforts.

Xu Xiangdong, a manager in ABB's electrical products sales department, said that the global electrical goods industry will generate $20 billion in new opportunities every year, providing huge business opportunities.

In shipping transportation, ABB Ability will use long-distance supervision to forecast ocean currents and provide energy control to choose a suitable route, saving costs.

Fujifilm Co, a Japanese maker of photographic film established in 1934, went through a rough time when facing the development of the digital industry.

The company has expanded its business to polychrome film and digital cameras, and now focuses on office printing equipment, optical components and high-performance materials.

Xu Ruifu, the vice-president of Fujifilm China, said that the company's potential market growth, technologies and advantages are the three main elements behind its transformation.

One of Fujifilm's products, a transparent super gas barrier film, can prevent the degradation of organic materials, eliminating the effects of infinitesimal quantities of moisture and oxygen.

Guo Tao, vice-chairman of Qualcomm, said emerging industries always face big competition in the Chinese market.

"Technology and innovation is the only guarantee for companies to survive and grow," he said.

caoyingying@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily 09/20/2017 page12)