China Speech Valley Is the Last Word in Ai Development

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The tech hub is providing wideranging assistance to help young companies achieve their potential

By ZHU LIXIN in Hefei ($2 billion) last year, with net To further optimize the busi [email protected] income of 1.36 billion yuan, ness environment and better according to its annual report. serve hightech companies, the Province is new quantum hot spot Tourism brings new life, income to ancient site n the China AI Develop So far, iFlytek’s openaccess city government introduced a ment Report for 2020 and platform has served millions of range of measures to simplify the AI Open Index, 10 cities entrepreneurs and thirdparty administrative procedures. By ZHU LIXIN in Hefei the zone that leads to “Quantum provincial and Hefei municipal By ZHU LIXIN in Huangshan, Anhui any towns and villages are not benefiting were listed among the developers who use its AI and In the Government Service Avenue”, a thoroughfare that is governments have invested a from Huangshan’s tourism sector, while Iworld’s top 100 cities by artificial speechrecognition technologies Center of the Hefei Hightech In recent years, China has home to a large number of related total of 4.6 billion yuan to sup Regarded as the starting point of Chi competition among them and with other intelligence innovation power. to conduct business, it said. Zone, the time needed to start a become a world leader in quantum companies, said Lyu Changfu, port research, scientific facilities na’s modern tourism development, attractions nearby is becoming fiercer. Hefei, capital of Anhui pro It is also a big creator that can company has been reduced to one science and technology break deputy director of the zone’s and education in the quantum Huangshan, a city in the eastern province “Tourists keep coming, but sightseeing vince, ranked fourth among all spur on smaller outfits. day or even less, and it only takes throughs, with many made by sci administrative committee. science and technology sector,” of Anhui, has been working hard to is just an oldfashioned way of traveling — the Chinese cities listed and third With the support of iFlytek’s three to four days to obtain a entists from Hefei, capital of the According to the Anhui author he told the 2020 China (Anhui) upgrade the sector in the new era. we have to think about how to attract peo among those on the Chinese platform, MiMouse, a technology business license, compared with eastern province of Anhui. ities, more than 20 quantumre Transformation Fair of Scientific Tangyue village in Huangshan’s She ple to stay for as long as possible and real mainland. startup in speechrecognition at least one month previously. The latest advance comes from lated startups are currently and Technological Achieve xian county has long been famous for its ly enjoy their stay,” Hu said. Since 2013, the Ministry of technologies, settled in China Qi said entrepreneurs can a research team at the University operating in the province. ments, which was recently held complex of seven wellpreserved ancient His company runs 13 of the 17 major Industry and Information Tech Speech Valley six years ago. The receive help with many issues of Science and Technology of Chi Initially founded in the zone by in Hefei. arches that run along an old road at the tourist attractions in the county, includ nology and the Anhui Provincial company has turned creative such as lowcost office rentals, na, or USTC, in the city. The team USTC in May 2009, Quan In a previous interview, Pan center of the village. ing Xidi and Hongcun villages, which are Government have been develop ideas into commercial products, recruitment of college graduates, One of the country’s has designed a prototype 62 tumCTek was the first company in said he was pleased to see that In 1996, the Tangyue Memorial Arch jointly listed as a UNESCO Cultural Heri ing China Speech Valley, a high such as its smart mouse. support from AI experts, expand hightech quantumbit programmable Anhui to operate in the sector. more entrepreneurs are willing to way was listed as a key national cultural tage Site. The villages are known for their tech industrial park, into a major Other companies headquar ing market share and obtaining development centers, superconducting quantum com “Our primary task is to trans support fundamental scientific protection unit as it is the largest and best history and the preservation of residences hub for the AI industry. tered in the zone include Huami bank loans. especially for the puter. form quantum communication research, even though such activi preserved arch complex in the province. built during the Ming (13681644) and In the facility, located in the Corp, a United Stateslisted mak “We should not just chant innovation of artificial Six months before news of the from academic papers to real ty may not appear profitable in Several hundred meters from the Qing (16441911) dynasties. Hefei National Hightech Indus er of smart wearables. meaningless slogans, but do real intelligence, Anhui advance was published in the products and services, especially the short run. entrance to the arches lies a 130hectare “In the daytime, visitors can enjoy every try Development Zone, the Qi Dongfeng, CEO of China favors for entrepreneurs,” he said. province also boasts international journal Science, the Quantum Key Distribution, Luo Xisheng, vicepresident of agriculture leisure park, which features piece of delicate carved artwork on the old human voice is bearing new tech Speech Valley, said the facility has According to the provincial many Red Tourism scientists, led by the university’s which is an important technology USTC, said, “Money is not a prob an agricultural science and technology Hongcun village in Yixian county, Anhui province, is renowned for its buildings, while we want them to have nological fruit for use in daily life. made great efforts to help its cli government’s plan, it can provide sites, including the renowned physicist Pan Jianwei, for information security,” said lem as many privately owned museum, a greenhouse containing tropi wellpreserved traditional buildings. PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY more fun at night,” Hu said. The products range from ents, mostly small and medium China Speech Valley with 800 March to Dabie created the world’s first light Zhao Yong, the company’s presi funds want to be part of the sector cal plants and other vegetable and fruit With investment of 30 million yuan robots used for a range of purpos sized enterprises, build up million yuan a year to improve its Mountain Memorial based quantum computer. dent. because they believe the technol cultivation bases that provide visitors ($4.6 million), the company installed a es to computer mice with conve business in the AI field. industry chain, help entrepre Hall in Fuyang, the The scientists said the comput China has now built quantum ogy will fundamentally reshape with handson experience. “Huangshan enjoys abundant natural Shangzhang, a village in Tangkou town water screen film in Xidi village in 2019, nient speech input functions — Among them, 17 have annual neurs reduce office rental costs Yangtze River Crossing er can reliably demonstrate secured communication net many industries and thus enjoy a Though it will not officially open to the and cultural tourism resources, and local ship at the foot of the mountain, founded which straddles several ponds and for Mandarin, English and even operating revenue of more than 1 and increase investment in Campaign Memorial in “quantum computational advan works extending more than 7,000 very bright future.” public until October, about 5,000 people residents and visiting tourists want to Feicuigu Tourism Co in 1987. brooks and lights up all the outdoor some Chinese dialects — to vari billion yuan, according to Qi’s research and market expansion. Hefei and the First tage”, a milestone in which a kilometers, with more than 6,000 Lyu said, “As these new technol got an early glimpse when they visited the enrich their experience here, especially as The villagers named the collectively areas. ous wearable smart devices. management team. With a population of 9.37 million, Landing Site of the quantum machine can tackle a km of those networks currently ogies are brought closer to peo site during the fiveday Labor Day holiday, they care greatly about their children’s owned scenic spot Feicuigu, or “Emerald Xu Dahe, director of the Huangshan In addition, more than 1,000 about onethird that of Beijing, Yangtze River Crossing problem no classical supercom using QuantumCTek’s products, ple’s lives, these companies will which began on May 1, according to Zhu enjoyment,” said Zhu from the agriculture Valley”, because the water in the brooks Culture and Tourism Bureau, told companies are working in the Official assistance Hefei is being built into a “munici Campaign Monument puter can solve within a reasona according to the company. lead industrial development in Sheming, general manager of the park, park. and pools is crystal clear with a green Guangming Daily, “Extending the tour facility, aiming to grab a slice of In 2017, the Anhui government pality of innovation”, according to in Wuhu. ble amount of time. In July, QuantumCTek listed on the future.” whose name, April Village, is derived Before the COVID19 outbreak, the dai tinge like an emerald. ists’ visits also extends the scope for the country’s huge AI develop issued a blueprint to build the the city government’s plan. Three of China’s top quantum sci the Shanghai Stock Exchange Sci Zhao said his company will also from a famous pastoral poem. ly limit for visits to Huangshan Mountain, By the end of the first year of operation, tourism consumption.” ment market. valley with a 5 billion yuan invest Mao Yuanyuan, vicepresident entists — Guo Guangcan, Du Jiang ence and Technology Innovation assist the CAS Center for Excel Construction started in 2019 on land aka the Yellow Mountain, was 50,000, the company had earned more than Among them, publiclytraded ment, aiming to foster a world of China Speech Valley, said, “The feng and Pan, all academicians at Board at a price of 36.18 yuan lence in Quantum Information transferred from local villagers. The same equivalent to half the entire number of 100,000 yuan from entrance fees. iFlytek reported operating reve class industrial AI cluster with University of Science and Tech the Chinese Academy of Sciences — ($5.61) per share. Now, each share and Quantum Physics, which is year, Tangyue received nearly 1 million visits in 1979. In 2019, about 74 million visitors came nue of more than 13 billion yuan international competitiveness. nology of China and some insti work at the university. is worth about 190 yuan. headed by Pan, to upgrade its visits, mostly to the arches, according to In July 1979, Deng Xiaoping, China’s to Huangshan — about seven times the tutes with the Chinese Academy Together, they have won the nick As the scope of the companies’ quantum computing cloud plat the county government. leader who initiated the reform and open number of visitors to Hawaii the same of Sciences based in Hefei have name “GDP”. business varies, more quantum form next year to connect real On May 1, the management committee ingup policy in 1978, visited the moun year — while visitor numbers from out made fruitful achievements With more breakthroughs com outfits have become potential quantum computers. of the Huangshan Mountain Scenic Spot tain as one of about 104,000 trips made side the Chinese mainland were 2.87 thanks to our creativity.” ing from local labs, the commer “unicorns” — startups worth “Our dream is to build quan warned that the number of online that year. million, about twice those to Hainan For example, Infervision, a cialization of quantum science more than $1 billion — and they tum information networks, such appointments for the next day had During his visit, Deng urged local offi province, according to local government company that develops medical and technology has been gather are looking to list and trade pub as a quantum internet, which will reached the upper limit of 35,500. cials to develop the mountain into an statistics. related AI technology in the hub, ing momentum in the city. licly, said Lyu, adding that more connect quantum computers, Though a further 2,000 tickets were internationally renowned tourism desti In a recent Guangming Daily report, has created an auxiliary diagnos Five private companies work such enterprises have been quantum sensors and other quan reserved for people who had no access to nation. Sun Yong, Huangshan’s mayor, said the tic system and equipped dozens ing in fast computing, precise founded in recent years. tum terminals via quantum com online platforms, such as seniors, many Since then, Huangshan’s tourism sector city’s tourism sector has had to be upgrad of hospitals nationwide with it to measurements and longdistance Pan, who began putting his munication technologies,” he others had to wait at the entrance or visit has grown rapidly, benefiting local people. ed. Many measures have been taken, aid the fight against COVID19. secure communications using team together at USTC in 2001, said. other destinations. Inspired by Deng’s ideas, residents of including preventing unreasonable rises quantum technology have been said, “Anhui province and Hefei “That will enable information in ticket prices, improving facilities at the founded in the Hefei National city both provide good conditions and communications technology growing number of hostels and enriching Hightech Industry Development for scientists to conduct cool systems with quantum ability to the tourism content, which is the aim of Zone. research.” become more secure and intelli Zhu’s agricultural park project. They are all located on a road in “In recent years, the Anhui gent.” Hu Weimin, a marketing executive with Yixian Huihuang Tourism Group, a State run company in Yixian county, said hardly