The 2024 World Intelligent Industry Expo opened in north China's Tianjin Municipality on Thursday, focusing on cutting-edge fields like artificial intelligence, intelligent connected vehicles, and smart manufacturing.
With the theme of "Intelligence: Extensive Development Space, Sustainable Growth Driver", the expo is jointly hosted by Tianjin and southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, combining the former World Intelligence Congress in Tianjin and the Smart China Expo in Chongqing.
Chinese President Xi Jinping sent a congratulatory letter to the three-day event on the same day.
Covering an exhibition area of 100,000 square meters, the expo features 10 themed exhibition areas showcasing new products, new technologies and new achievements of intelligent technology.
More than 550 enterprises and organizations are participating in the event, with attendees from 49 countries and regions discussing topics related to AI.
Marcus, a German exhibitor, expressed his interest in entering China's vigorously developing low-altitude economy sector.
"This is actually our first time here participating in this exhibition, and it is an honor for us to be here. And we want to participate right now in the very first minute of that new business because China is very, very supportive and helps us a lot in that market as well. That is the reason why we are looking for a Chinese place to find our facility a place, to produce all the equipment and also to the development in China," said Marcus.
The expo will unveil 94 new products, technologies, and achievements, with 48 of them making their debut. Additionally, events and activities like the World Intelligent Driving Challenge and the 2024 International Conference on Smart Sport will be held on the sidelines of the expo.
World Intelligence Expo 2024 opens in Tianjin
World Intelligence Expo 2024 opens in Tianjin
World Intelligence Expo 2024 opens in Tianjin
World Intelligence Expo 2024 opens in Tianjin
A Chinese medical research lab in Hangzhou City of east China's Zhejiang Province is using artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up the development timeline for a new drug to treat progeria, a rare genetic condition that causes rapid aging in children.
The Liangzhu Laboratory, also known as the Zhejiang Provincial Laboratory for Systems Medicine and Precision Diagnosis, was established in 2020 on the campus of Zhejiang University.
Using AI algorithms, the lab has designed and developed a new drug for treating the disease and has achieved outstanding results in laboratory trials ahead of upcoming clinical trials.
"Our project has been underway for about three years, with 90 percent of the time actually spent on [preclinical] experiments. Thanks to AI algorithms, our drug design process has been remarkably fast and efficient," said Shen Ning, a researcher at the Liangzhu Laboratory.
Shen says there are over 7,000 known rare diseases worldwide, yet very few treatment options exist. The traditional drug development process, ranging from target identification and drug screening to clinical trials and regulatory approval, is not only expensive but also time-consuming. The application of AI large models is now helping to transform this process.
"With traditional large-scale screening, the development of small molecule drugs used to take 15 to 20 years, with a very high failure rate. Now, with the support of AI algorithms, the drug development cycle can be shortened to just three to five years," Shen said.
In 2021, the Liangzhu Laboratory formed a multidisciplinary team, bringing together experts in clinical medicine, biology, mathematics, computer science, and statistics. Since then, the team has developed several deep learning AI algorithms, with a focus on precision diagnosis and treatment for genetic and rare diseases.
"We analyze disease data for different diseases and even individual patients. We hope that with AI tools, we can provide a more personalized treatment plan for each patient," said Shen.
Chinese researchers use AI technology to accelerate drug development