China must harness cutting-edge AI to transform its finance sector: former PBOC official
The call comes amid a Chinese government drive to revitalise the economy by cultivating “new quality productive forces”
A former deputy governor of China’s central bank has called on the country’s finance sector to embrace the game-changing potential of emerging artificial intelligence technology, as Beijing seeks to cultivate “new quality productive forces” to revitalise the economy.
“AI technology has played a positive role in transforming traditional financial services such as customer support, investment and risk management,” Li Dongrong, former deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said at an industry summit in Shenzhen on Sunday, according to a social media post by the event’s host.
“Now, the emergence of next-generation large language models has also become a key enabler for the transformation of the banking sector.”
China has created a comprehensive industrial ecosystem for AI since the government issued a blueprint for the industry’s development in 2017, Li said, adding that the core industry is now worth nearly 600 billion yuan (US$82 billion).
Major Chinese financial institutions including the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and China Construction Bank are reportedly exploring ways to enhance their operations using large language models and other AI technology.
