As of May 8, China's AI enterprises totaled 4,040 and Beijing's Zhongguancun, known for its concentration of tech firms, has become an AI innovation center in the country, according to a white paper released by the Beijing Municipal Commission of Economy and Information Technology.
The white paper, titled "Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Development", showed China's AI industry saw a boom between 2015 and 2016.
Beijing has built up an AI competitive industrial cluster covering all industries, and has a big lead in related policies, an atmosphere of innovation and entrepreneurship, capital environment, software R&D and patent protection, said You Jing, vice-director of the software department under the commission.
Enterprises in Beijing
The number of AI enterprises in Beijing reached 1,070, accounting for 26 per cent of the total.
In China, a total of 1,237 AI enterprises obtained venture investments, among which 431 companies, 35 percent of the |total, were located in Beijing.
Meanwhile, 56.9 per cent of Beijing's AI enterprises have yet to receive series A round of financing, showing more than half are still in the start-up stage with potential in innovation development.
According to the white paper, the top five AI advantage sectors are smart healthcare, smart home, smart city, smart retail and self-driving vehicles.
Based on information in a guideline released by the State Council in July, the value of China's AI industry will exceed 1 trillion yuan ($150.81 billion) by 2030.