(Yicai) July 5 -- China ranks second globally for innovation in the field of artificial intelligence for the fourth consecutive year, according to a new study.

China scored nearly 52.7 in the 2023 Global Artificial Intelligence Innovation Index, while the US led with 74.7, according to the report jointly released yesterday at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference in Shanghai by the Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China and Peking University.

The goal of the index is to comprehensively and objectively reflect the development trends of global AI innovation and governance, as well as to clarify China's current position, said Zhao Zhiyun, secretary of the party committee of the ISTIC.

The US and China are far ahead in the AI race. The United Kingdom, which ranked third, scored 37.9, almost 15 points less than China, Zhao pointed out.

On the sidelines of the WAIC, Ding Kuiling, president of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, told Yicai that China urgently needs to step up fundamental innovation in AI so as to push ahead of competitors in the field.

The key is to cultivate innovative leaders, to which end the leading Chinese university recently set up an AI Institute and will launch an AI bachelor's degree this year, he added.

The ISTIC’s study evaluated 46 major countries in areas such as basic support, resources, environment, and international cooperation.

China has made leaps in areas such as talent cultivation, scientific research output, and industrial development in recent years, the report said. The gap with the US in high-level talent is narrowing, as experts in the Asian nation publish more research at top-tier conferences and in journals and launch more high-impact open-source projects, it said.

The ranks of AI companies in China and the scale of venture capital investment in the field is second only to the US, the report added. But China should improve in areas such as the development and use of data, as well as original innovation, Zhao noted.

Editor: Emmi Laine