Shanghai urged to be tech hub

President calls AI a young endeavor and a pursuit for young people

President Xi Jinping has called on Shanghai to accelerate efforts to build itself into a pacesetter for scientific and technological innovation, saying that the municipality should strive to be at the forefront of artificial intelligence development and governance.

Xi, who is also general secretary of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, made the remarks during a fact-finding trip on Tuesday to the financial and industrial powerhouse of Shanghai.

The visit came just days after Xi, during a group study session of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, emphasized the need for the country to promote self-reliance and strength in AI development.

During a trip to the Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, an incubator for AI startups, Xi said that as AI technologies are rapidly evolving with explosive growth, it is important for Shanghai to summarize its successful experiences and expand its exploration in order to set an example for AI development and governance.

As Shanghai is establishing itself as a global hub for AI and building the world's largest AI incubator, the city's market scale of AI industry surpassed 450 billion yuan ($61.9 billion) in 2024, according to the municipal government.

The Shanghai Foundation Model Innovation Center, established in 2023 as China's first specialized incubator for AI foundation models, has attracted more than 100 enterprises, leading to the clustering of nearly 400 enterprises in the AI sector to Shanghai's Xuhui district.

Addressing a group of young entrepreneurs who were attending a discussion session there, Xi said that AI is a young endeavor and also a pursuit for young people.

"We are striving to build China into a great modern socialist country in all respects, and advancing the rejuvenation of the Chinese nation on all fronts. Now is the time for the younger generation to showcase their talents and excel. The hope of realizing the great dream of the Chinese nation rests on you," he said, encouraging the young people to make contributions to Chinese modernization.

Xi also walked into an AI product experience store, where he learned about the features and sales of various innovative products and tried on a pair of smart glasses.

Noting that China has abundant data resources, a complete industrial system and a huge market and broad prospects for AI development, Xi called for efforts to roll out more supportive policies, cultivate more talented people, and strive to develop more safe, reliable and high-quality products.

Hamza Boukili, a math teacher at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University Paris Elite Institute of Technology, said, "I feel fairly happy and honored to have the opportunity to exchange and share ideas with President Xi.

"He is warm, natural, without any sense of distance, making this communication extremely pleasant and unforgettable," Boukili added.

Xi mentioned his visit to a technology research institute in the southern French city of Nice in the 1980s, Boukili said.

The math teacher also said that Xi told him that for Shanghai, being at the forefront of the world in terms of technological innovation is not only an opportunity, but also a responsibility.

According to Boukili, Xi emphasized that technological development should truly serve society, improve people's livelihood and achieve a safer and fairer future.

Dai Guohao, a professor at Shanghai Jiao Tong University's School of Artificial Intelligence, said that President Xi's inspection of AI enterprises in Shanghai and his focus on scenarios of technological applications highlighted the importance of deep integration of academia, industry and research.

"As educators, we should concentrate on basic research, attempting to make breakthroughs in frontier challenges," Dai said. "Meanwhile, we should align with national strategic demands to drive the deep empowerment of AI in fields such as healthcare, manufacturing and finance."