China has good chances of becoming a world leader in AI by 2030
"China is likely to become a global leader in AI and digitization. There are three reasons for this:
First: Many inhabitants, a lot of data
China has the largest population in the world with 1.4 billion inhabitants. Nearly one billion people are mobile-only, meaning they are online through their smartphones. This creates a vast amount of unstructured usage data that can provide new insights into everyday needs for retailers and manufacturers when analyzed correctly.
Second: Data protection allowing linked data analysis
China has a data protection law that allows more linked data analysis than in Europe and the USA. In simple terms, Europe and the USA protect the personal data of their citizens from unwanted data usage by companies and the government. In China, citizens' data is mainly protected from other countries. Users only need to agree once to a company's use of their data, and that company can then analyze this data relatively broadly and in a linked manner. When combined with AI, this leads to deeper insights into customer desires compared to other countries. While China has been tightening personal data protection since January 1, 2021, and is expected to introduce two more data protection laws during the year, the analysis capabilities for Chinese companies remain greater than for other companies.
Third: A clear government focus on AI development
China's one-party government has developed its own 5-year plan for AI. The stated goal is for China to be a world leader in AI by 2030. This strategy includes many very detailed measures. While China spends about the same amount of money per citizen per year as Germany, the country is much larger, so China invests about 17 times more money in AI basic research per year than Germany."
