Hammering home the central government’s hope that tech breakthroughs will become a driving force for the Chinese economy and help pave a path of self-reliance, Premier Li Qiang has called on state-owned telecom giants to accelerate research and be more innovative.
The urging came during visits by Li on Tuesday to companies and research centres affiliated with China Telecom, China Unicom and China Mobile – the three major state-owned telecom service providers.
He underscored the importance of intensifying efforts to advance technological innovations in cutting-edge emerging sectors such as artificial intelligence (AI) to “seize the high ground and take the initiative”, according to state media.
“Competition in the new round of technological revolution, and industrial transformation is intensifying. We must firmly advance independent innovation, accelerate R&D investment in key areas, and achieve leading technological breakthroughs,” Li was quoted as saying.
“This is to lay a more solid foundation to empower enterprise while providing stronger support for China to achieve high-level technological self-reliance, and for the development and growth of emerging and future industries.”
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Li also emphasised the use of AI to drive the digital transformation of the manufacturing industry and empower a wide range of sectors.