Innovation: Application of AI in key sectors encouraged

China's stepped-up push to advance intelligent manufacturing is reinforcing corporate confidence and opening broader opportunities for enterprises at home and abroad to innovate, expand and share in the growth of the world's second-largest economy, economists and business executives said on the sidelines of the World Intelligence Expo 2026 in Tianjin, which opened on Thursday and runs through Sunday.

The rise of intelligent manufacturing in China is expected to accelerate global industrial upgrading and inject fresh impetus into world economic growth, they said.

This optimistic outlook was reflected at the "CEO: Grow with China" roundtable, which was held on Thursday as part of the expo, with participation of corporate executives from sectors ranging from green development to smart manufacturing and consumer technology.

The roundtable was jointly organized by the Publicity Department of the Tianjin Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and China Daily.

"China is not just a huge market — it is a global engine for innovation and manufacturing," said Rainer Kern, chief financial officer of Karcher Greater China.

The Germany-based cleaning solutions provider sees China's complete industrial supply chain, rapid adoption of new technologies and vast market as key strengths in the large-scale deployment of artificial intelligence, Kern said.

The positive sentiment is showing as China moves quickly to create new forms of a smart economy, with this year's Government Work Report calling for advancing and expanding the "AI Plus" initiative, promoting faster application of new-generation intelligent terminals and AI agents, and encouraging large-scale commercial application of AI in key sectors and fields.

Sun Xuegong, director-general of the department of policy study and consultation at the Chinese Academy of Macroeconomic Research, said the policy push is aimed at building a broader ecosystem to support the smart economy, rather than focusing on a single technology.

"AI is rapidly expanding the production frontier and has great potential to improve efficiency," he said, adding that the initiative is expected to remain an important part of China's economic policy agenda in the coming years.

Dr. Christoph Schrempp, vice-chair of the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China's Tianjin chapter, said that China's shift toward intelligent manufacturing will reshape the business environment, as its AI capabilities are expected to mature further over the next five to 10 years.

"The speed of China's transition toward highly automated production is impressive," he said, adding that emerging technologies will create fresh room for European and Chinese enterprises to collaborate.

His remarks were echoed by a survey released on Wednesday by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in China and consultancy firm Roland Berger, which showed "signs of an uptick" in confidence among European businesses operating in China.

China remains "the heavyweight champion of efficient and cost-effective supply chains", the survey said, with 75 percent of respondents saying their China-based production is more efficient than operations elsewhere.

"If you want to learn how to manage your business in a highly dynamic and fast-developing environment, come to China and learn from the fastest," Schrempp added. "That experience can help companies compete more successfully in global markets."