Latest Updates

BEIJING, May 20 (China Economic Net) — European business representatives and officials said China’s advances in artificial intelligence and robotics are creating practical opportunities for cooperation with Europe, while stressing that standards, data security and governance will shape how far such cooperation can go.

Their remarks, made during group media interviews on the sidelines of a trade and investment event in Beijing, suggest that China-Europe AI cooperation is moving beyond broad discussion toward specific use cases in medical technology, industrial automation and business operations.

Spain’s Second Vice-President and Minister of Labour and Social Economy Yolanda Díaz Pérez said cooperation with China in AI was important, describing the technology as "the defining challenge of our time."

She said countries should share synergies in the use of AI and algorithms to improve productivity and work better, while also governing and democratising the technology, regulating algorithms, protecting workers and companies, and addressing unfair competition from dominant global technology players.

Mathias Boyer, chair of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, said AI and robotics offered strong opportunities, especially when combined. He said Chinese companies such as Unitree were moving quickly with products that could ease the burden of some tasks currently performed by humans.

But he said AI development also needed guardrails.

"We need to regulate it in the right way, but also allow for innovation and make sure that we protect data security in the process," Boyer said.

Boyer pointed to medical technology as one promising area for cooperation, saying China’s scale and speed of application could support faster research, testing and rollout of new solutions.

"Within medical technology, the research iterations and the testing of medical solutions are much quicker, much more detailed and more comprehensive in China," he said.

Christophe Lauras, president of the French Chamber of Commerce in China, also pointed to governance as a key condition for cooperation. He described AI and robotics as "a global opportunity," but said the technology needed to be managed and regulated carefully.

Simon Lichtenberg, founder of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in China, said Europe needed to move faster in AI while finding workable models for cooperation with China.

"Many technologies in Europe are still very strong, and there are many areas for cooperation. But we need to find the right model," he said.

He said companies were already using AI in marketing, internal transport, vehicle planning and procurement, while automation and small AGV robots were helping improve efficiency in business operations.

Chris Torrens, chair of the British Chamber of Commerce in China, pointed to existing links between British research hubs and Chinese partners, saying organisations and companies around Cambridge, Oxford and London were contributing to AI development and working with Chinese counterparts.