Openness key to creating a more inclusive innovation landscape

Only through openness and cooperation can China and the rest of the world advance to a more inclusive innovation landscape, said Zhao Hejuan, founder and CEO of TMTPost Group, a tech and financial information and data service provider.

"Innovation in technology requires openness, economic prosperity requires openness, business development requires openness, and the growth of each one of us also needs openness," Zhao said.

Thus, she said only by adhering to openness can China and the rest of the world build a better society with sound and faster development, especially when the world economy is now shadowed by uncertainties,

Zhao said it is especially the case as the new artificial intelligence wave will change the way of production, lifestyle, and even thinking, bringing big challenges, underneath of which lie even more opportunities.

"As we traverse this path, it is important to remember that the key to the future lies in our ability to collaborate, and share ideas," she said.

"Openness is not only a policy or a behavior, but also a vision and a way of thinking," she added.

Zhao made the comments at the 2023 T-EDGE Conference, a tech event that was held recently. The event attracted a galaxy of leading industry experts and luminaries Sebastian Thrun, known as the father of self-driving car, and Maye Musk, a dietitian, model and the mother of Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

During the conference, He Weiwen, an executive council member of the China Society for World Trade Organization Studies, also echoed Zhao's opinion on the significance of openness and cooperation for China to maintain competitiveness on the global stage. 

He said the World Bank divides the global market into seven major blocks, with the United States, Germany, and China occupying pivotal positions in terms of supply chains, and it is a structure that is unlikely to change in the foreseeable future.

Therefore, China should be confident to continue to integrate itself into the global supply chain and countering the current anti-globalization trend and decoupling measures proactively, so as to maintain its competitive edge and sustainable development, he added.

Though faced with rising economic uncertainties and technology competition globally, Zhao, who has been a veteran in the technology, media and telecommunications, or TMT, industry for decades, said opportunities and challenges always co-exit.

"As we delve into the technological and economic tapestry of China in 2024, there are still opportunities, especially as generative AI takes the tech world by storm," she said.

With abundant future opportunities waiting to be tapped in China, Zhao hoped that more and more global readers could get access to such news in time, which is also one of the visions of TMTPost.

"Since its founding, I've positioned TMTPost as being global and it will continue to be the development direction of TMTPost for the future," she said.

chengyu@chinadaily.com.cn