Market reforms key to tap AI job creation potential, says political adviser

In the face of any potential effect of artificial intelligence on employment, it has become even more crucial to promote market-oriented reforms so as to develop new industries and new employment opportunities, said a national political adviser.

The comments came after a senior official said that policies are being studied to actively leverage AI to create new jobs while empowering traditional job roles during China's ongoing two sessions.

While AI could bring potential downsides to employment in some industries, Zhang Bin, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, said, "As long as there is a human desire for a better life, new industries and new employment opportunities will be born."

The key to developing those new industries and new employment opportunities lies in strengthening the play of market forces, underlining measures to accelerate building a unified national market, further lowering industry entry barriers and placing greater emphasis on fair market competition, Zhang said in an exclusive interview with China Perspective.

Zhang, who is also deputy director of the Institute of World Economics and Politics, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, stressed on the need to provide more room for trial and error for new industries, new business models, and new job opportunities.

"We need to observe, wait, and be patient," he said, drawing analogy to a tree, which may not necessarily grow in a straight, trouble-free line but undergo some twists and turns before gradually becoming a towering giant.

Li Tingxuan contributed to this story.