The Beijing Forefront International AI Institute was officially launched at the 2018 Beijing AI industry Summit held in Beijing on Feb 8.

The new institute is a joint result of Sinovation Ventures, Beijing IC Park Co Ltd, Face + +, Sense Time, PowerVision Tech Inc, the Computer Network Information Center, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Kingsoft Cloud.

Li Kaifu, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, was appointed as the head of the newly-built AI institute.

Li Kaifu, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, is appointed head of the newly-built Beijing Forefront International AI Institute. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Li was confident about China's potential in the AI industry. He said that the future will be focused on the United States and China: the US leads the way in technology, and China will leverage its data, talent education and policy support to catch up or even take the lead.

The Beijing government issued a guideline last December on accelerating technological innovations and cultivating the AI industry, which set the goal of the city becoming an AI innovation hub with global influence by 2020.

A Zhongguancun AI Innovation and Entrepreneurship Base was also set up at the summit to support Beijing as it builds into the scientific and technological innovation center.

Li Kaifu, chairman and CEO of Sinovation Ventures, gives a speech at the 2018 Beijing AI industry Summit on Feb 8. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

Covered a total area of 20,000 square meters, the base will cooperate with worldwide leading AI companies, universities and institutes such as Microsoft, Baidu, Intel, JD, IBM and Beihang University, to promote industrial innovation in the AI field.

Beijing currently has more than half of the key AI research institutes in China and more than 10 national key laboratories, Xu Qiang, director of Beijing Municipal Science & Technology Commission, said at a news conference on Tuesday in Beijing, China News Service reported.

Beijing also saw investments in 51 AI projects totaling 10.24 billion yuan ($1.56 billion) over the first nine months of last year, more than 50 percent of the country's total investment in the sector during the period.

Wang Yulin (R3), CEO of Kingsoft Cloud, talks about opportunities and challenges faced by Beijing in developing its AI industry [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]