China welcomes foreign visitors to experience the real and vibrant nation and now sees more inbound tourists thanks to the visa-free policy, Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mao Ning said at a press briefing in Beijing on Thursday in response to a buzzword that went viral on social media.
The buzz phrase "City bu city a? Hao city a!", which means "City or not? So city!", was originally created by a foreign influencer in China. He traveled around cities in the country and hailed the scenery and lifestyles with this word.
"It's nice to see foreign friends enjoying the beautiful scenery and food in China and experiencing the real and vibrant nation in person," Mao said.
The spokeswoman noted that China welcomes inbound travel with optimized entry policies.
"In the first five months of this year, more than 12 million foreigners entered China, including more than 7 million visa-free entries. During the Dragon Boat Festival holiday, the number of foreigners arriving in and departing from the country increased by 57 percent year on year. We will continue to optimize measures on people-to-people exchanges to make it more convenient and comfortable for foreign friends to travel in China. Welcome to China," she said.
Foreign visitors welcomed to experience China: spokeswoman
The three-day 2024 World AI Conference (WAIC), which concluded in east China's financial hub of Shanghai on Saturday, served as a platform to boost technological cooperation and promote artificial intelligence (AI) development and application.
This year's edition of the WAIC, themed "Governing AI for Good and for All", brought together more than 500 exhibitors including global giants like Tesla and Microsoft, with over 1,500 innovative products being showcased.
The conference not only showcased the latest achievements in AI but also fostered cooperation and exchange among multiple parties, collectively driving rapid development and application of AI technology.
China CITIC Group unveiled a batch of AI innovations at the conference. The "Cangjie" large model has been implemented in various scenarios such as intelligent customer service, intelligent Resarch and Development, and intelligent investment research.
The "Kuafu" large model empowers the entire publishing process, including topic assessment, text translation, decision support, and marketing promotion. A total of 122 AI assistants were built for 17 specific scenarios.
"We are actively promoting cross-industry and cross-domain integration, launching a series of leading applications in areas such as 'AI plus manufacturing' and 'AI plus agriculture'. This initiative aims to transition technological achievements from the experimental stage to the broader market," said Zhang Wenwu, general manager of CITIC Group.
In addition to showcasing innovative achievements, multiple enterprises, research institutions, and government departments signed cooperation agreements during the conference, collectively advancing the research and application of AI technology.
China Mobile, China's leading telecommunications company, signed an agreement with a company in Indonesia to establish a joint AI laboratory. The joint laboratory will focus on new models of cross-border corporate collaborative innovation, new mechanisms for human resources development, and new ecosystems for industry-university collaboration. It aims to jointly conduct research and development of AI algorithms, models, and industry-specific intelligent application solutions.
"Establishing the joint laboratory aims to facilitate the export of China's outstanding AI technology achievements to other countries and accelerate Indonesia's digital industry development. It seeks to spark new economic growth points and promote in-depth cooperation between the two countries in areas such as scientific and technological exchange, technology transfer and transformation, as well as industrial and social development," said Gao Tongqing, deputy general manager of China Mobile.
Shanghai AI Conference serves to boost cooperation, promote AI development, application
