Tech network chief advocates collaboration

Open collaboration in the technology sector could further boost productivity in China and help solve common problems, said Russ Shaw, leader of a global tech community, ahead of the two sessions.

The term "new quality productive forces" has become a popular concept among lawmakers and advisers gathering in Beijing for the annual sessions of the National People's Congress and the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.

The concept was stressed at last year's Central Economic Work Conference, which said China will "promote industrial innovation through technological innovation... to foster new industries, new models and growth drivers, and develop new quality productive forces".

Shaw, founder of Global Tech Advocates, a network connecting 30,000 tech experts, startups, and angel investors across more than 25 countries and regions, said: "China has become a very innovative nation, and some of its technology is surpassing many Western countries.

"Now China is at an interesting crossroads. It's had phenomenal economic growth and huge infrastructure investment. But like many countries coming out of the (COVID-19) pandemic, the growth levels have not been as strong as they were pre-pandemic," he added.

Shaw said he thinks the stress on "new quality productive forces" is an acknowledgment that China is trying to address some of the complicated challenges, such as its aging population, in its economy.

"I think putting this out there is a significant step, and I hope to monitor it closely because China needs to be successful in implementing those forces," he said.

Citing the successful electric vehicle industrial chains that China has developed in recent years, Shaw said, "There's already something going on there in terms of producing good quality electric vehicles, and getting people trained to use technology and automation."

In global technology development and governance, Shaw thinks collaboration is very important. Regarding the rapid upgrade of artificial intelligence, he said the AI safety issue will inevitably need an international solution.

"The agreement of the Bletchley Declaration — of which China was a signatory — at the AI summit represented a major step toward this," he said about the attendance of China's vice-minister of science and technology, Wu Zhaohui, at the AI Safety Summit held by the British government in Bletchley Park, England, last November.

At the business level, promoting collaboration is the primary task of GTA, the not-for-profit tech network that Shaw founded in London in 2013. It now has five Chinese branches in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenzhen in Guangdong province, Wuxi in Jiangsu province and Chengdu in Sichuan province.

Having been to China many times before the pandemic, Shaw recently led a delegation to China, visiting innovation parks and exploring cooperation opportunities with local officials and businesspeople in the Greater Bay Area, the Yangtze River Delta and Chongqing, where he said local partners will open another GTA branch this year.

"China is emerging from the pandemic and eager to engage with the rest of the world. Given some of the broader geopolitical issues, many of us discussed how we can find ways to collaborate in areas that are beneficial to all and continue to have engagement and interactions," Shaw said about his impressions from the recent trip.

"Chinese and British tech businesses may be able to find ways to expand to each other's market, especially in areas like climate tech, healthcare and energy transition, where both markets are addressing common issues and challenges," he said.