Shanghai aims to raise USD15 billion in funds for AI development
July 10, 2018 Category China News Round-up, Weekly
Shanghai plans to set up investment funds worth at least a total of CNY100 billion over the next two or three years to bolster the development of businesses related to artificial intelligence technologies. Chen Mingbo, Chairman of the Shanghai Commission of Economy and Information Technology, said the municipal government is looking at how to attract more public investors to raise capital for the funds, and high-calibre asset managers to run them.
“The size of CNY100 billion of funds may not be enough,” he said. “The key lies in whether we can successfully mobilize all public resources to collectively develop AI-related businesses.” Shanghai has been striving to regain its status as a major locomotive of the Chinese economy by spurring the growth in the finance and information technology sectors. City leaders have envisioned the creation of Shanghai’s own internet behemoths on par with the so-called BAT firms – Baidu, Alibaba Group Holding and Tencent Holdings.
Artificial intelligence, used in a wide range of areas such as autonomous driving, finance, medical and public security, is viewed by Shanghai officials as a key technology to accelerate the city’s transformation into a global innovation hub. Chen did not elaborate on the sources of the funds, but it is believed that the government will provide the seed capital before attracting well-known venture capitalists and private equity fund managers to participate in the fundraising and asset management.
“Capital, talent and policy incentives will play a vital role in transforming Shanghai into a real innovation hub,” said Cao Hua, Partner at Unity Asset Management. “But competition is fierce since other Chinese cities are also aiming to attract more technology giants and promising start-ups,” the South China Morning Post reports.
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