China's innovation seen as key to AI boom

China's capability in innovation, especially in key areas such as artificial intelligence, is going to shock those who try to block it, and benefit those who work with it, says Jack Perry, chairman of the 48 Group, a London-based organization dedicated to promoting Sino-British economic cooperation.

Commenting on the detailed discussions on AI during the just concluded two sessions, the annual meetings of China's National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, Perry said he wasn't surprised by the rapid breakthroughs made by companies in China, including the Hangzhou-based tech startup DeepSeek, whose AI model launched in January rivals the capabilities of models developed by leading US company OpenAI.

"DeepSeek shocked everybody. It did not shock me. If you try to limit China, they will go over you in those areas," Perry said, pointing to the United States government's export control of semiconductor manufacturing equipment and chips to China.