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Qatar Tribune
3 days ago
- Business
- Qatar Tribune
China rises up ‘elite quality' league table as AI investment booms
Agencies Thanks to its combined strengths in artificial intelligence and manufacturing, China rose two places to rank 19th out of 151 countries in the 2025 Elite Quality Index – a Swiss study that assesses the extent to which national elites create sustainable value for their nations. Singapore topped this year's rankings, followed by the United States and Switzerland, in the annual report produced by the Foundation for Value Creation Activities in partnership with the University of St. Gallen. Asian economies performed strongly overall, with Japan maintaining fourth place and South Korea rising to fifth. In contrast, several European countries including the Netherlands, Denmark and Finland fell down the rankings this year. 'China ranks at 19th in the index, up two places from last year, maintaining its upward trend in Elite Quality and an outcome that is particularly commendable given the dramatic changes in the global economic order,' the report said. The index assessed 151 countries based on 149 indicators, which are designed to gauge the overall impact of elite business models in terms of creating positive value or engaging in negative rent-seeking behaviour. China scored particularly highly in the AI value creation sub-index, placing fourth behind the US, Singapore and South Korea. This year's report increased the number of AI indicators from two to seven based on the industry's growing importance as a source of value creation. Zhang Jun, dean of the School of Economics at Shanghai's Fudan University, said China's rise in the rankings showed that its elite-led model of governance had been effective in promoting the country's economic development. 'However, it should be noted that compared to countries with higher rankings, such as Singapore, China's political elite needs to allow economic activities to become more market-oriented and strike a balance between strong state capacity and a more free economy,' he said. The study praised China's close integration of innovation and local industry, citing the city of Hangzhou – an emerging Chinese tech hub – as a model where entrepreneurial networks had become a core competitive advantage for the region's business ecosystem. Still, challenges remain at the national level. 'China must improve government AI readiness and better commercialise academic research to fully unlock its AI-era innovation potential,' Zhou Weihua, director of Zhejiang University's International Research Center for Data Analytics and Management, was quoted as saying in the report. China ranked 68th in the study's political power index, which measures national elites' influence over business regulation, rule-making and labour law, and 15th in terms of elites' contribution to markets and economic growth. Through its 'manufacturing-driven innovation' development model, China has accumulated technological capabilities and become globally competitive in areas such as new-energy vehicles, high-temperature superconductors and green factories, according to the study. Yet, China's ability to maintain high-quality growth will depend on providing sufficient opportunities for the younger generation, the report cautioned. China ranked only 68th in the 'next-generation value creation' indicator, which focuses on intergenerational value creation and transfer, indicating that opportunities for sustainable value creation for young people remain limited. While noting that China's opening-up policies had achieved significant results, the report said there was room for improvement in areas including economic globalisation (where the country ranked 102nd), protectionist measures (142nd), discriminatory interventions (145th), trade freedom (67th) and openness for business (52nd). Improving in these areas would also benefit China's younger generations, as continued exposure to global market forces and openness would create more job opportunities, the study added.
Borneo Post
08-06-2025
- Health
- Borneo Post
China's homegrown 9-valent HPV vaccine expected to boost immunisation coverage
A girl receives a human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine at the provincial Maternity and Child Healthcare Hospital in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province, May 18, 2020. – Xinhua photo BEIJING (June 8): China's drug regulator has approved the country's first domestically developed 9-valent human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine, ending over a decade of foreign dominance in the market. The vaccine, Cecolin 9, has been included on a list of approved medical products that was made public by the National Medical Products Administration on Wednesday. 'The approval of Cecolin 9 not only offers more vaccination options for eligible women in China, but is also expected to improve vaccine accessibility and coverage, reducing the risk of cervical cancer further,' said Zhang Jun, dean of the School of Public Health at Xiamen University and a leading member of the vaccine development team. HPV vaccines are commonly used to prevent cervical cancer in women, as well as genital cancers and warts in both men and women. Cecolin 9, which targets nine HPV strains, was developed by Xiamen University, the Xiang An Biomedicine Laboratory and Xiamen Innovax Biotech Co., Ltd, marking a breakthrough in China's ability to produce high-valency HPV vaccines independently. China is now the second country – after the United States – capable of supplying 9-valent HPV vaccines. Compared to bivalent HPV vaccines, which are effective against two high-risk genotypes (HPV 16 and 18), 9-valent HPV vaccines protect against an additional five high-risk genotypes (HPV 31, 33, 45, 52 and 58) and two low-risk genotypes (HPV 6 and 11), and provide better protection against cervical cancer. Over 18 years of research, scientists overcame major technical challenges in producing virus-like particles (VLPs) from multiple HPV types using an E. coli platform, and completed crucial clinical trial validation processes. Five related clinical trials have been conducted across China since 2019, and the vaccine has demonstrated a favorable safety profile and a strong immune response, comparable to those of similar international products. Statistics show that globally, approximately 700,000 cancer cases each year are associated with HPV, including an estimated 530,000 cases of cervical cancer. Vaccination is up to 94 percent effective in preventing HPV infection. In 2020, the World Health Organisation (WHO) launched a global strategy to accelerate the elimination of cervical cancer, aiming for 90 percent of girls to be fully vaccinated against HPV by the age of 15 by 2030. In alignment with the WHO strategy, China's National Health Commission launched a cervical cancer elimination action plan for the 2022-2030 period, urging the expansion of HPV vaccination coverage nationwide. 9-valent human papillomavirus China hpv vaccine
RTHK
06-06-2025
- Business
- RTHK
Youths 'can bridge AI gap between Global South, North'
Youths 'can bridge AI gap between Global South, North' Boao Forum for Asia secretary general Zhang Jun, right, says artificial intelligence development gaps will fuel further digital divisions. Photo: RTHK Participants at the forum at the Convention and Exhibition Centre said access and skills for youths and young entrepreneurs posed challenges for their economies. Photo: RTHK Boao Forum for Asia secretary general Zhang Jun said on Friday youths play a key role in bridging the artificial intelligence development gap between the Global South and Global North. He made the remarks as the International Science, Technology and Innovation Forum of the Boao Forum made its debut in Hong Kong, with previous editions held in Macau, Zhuhai and Guangzhou. Speaking at a roundtable session, Zhang, who served as a permanent representative of China to the United Nations, said the digital divide, which includes AI development gaps, will further weigh on global fragmentation. He called on youths to help forge global collaboration to tackle such challenges. "Youths have a key role... in really trust-building, partnership-building, which is also badly needed in today's world, because we are more divided than [at any time] after the end of the Second World War. "And we are living in a world which is becoming very much dangerous because of the failure of the international governance system, including the United Nations," Zhang said. Many of the forum's participants pointed out challenges encountered during their countries' own digital transformation, especially with access and skills for youths and young entrepreneurs. Many said it's essential to ramp up digital literacy training and partnerships between nations. Mimala Chanthasone, an official of the Institute of Foreign Affairs in Laos, cited the China-Laos AI Innovation Cooperation Centre as an example. Launched in February, she said the centre marks the first China-Asean AI innovation cooperation. Conrad Ho, a member of the Youth Development Commission, called for more efforts to be made to address the employability gap created by the emergence of AI technology. "The post-AI world presents many challenges and also opportunities, including how youth might gain more senior-level skills as AI reduces the demand for entry-level and middle-management roles," he said. "I think as AI unlocks more capacity, we're going to transition from [having more] large corporations to smaller ventures, one-person teams, smaller teams that can still create very massive value. "And yet for all these companies, for them to be successful, the founders still need to have the critical hard and soft skills that they need to learn." The two-day innovation forum ends on Saturday.
RTHK
04-06-2025
- Business
- RTHK
Boao innovation forum set to make debut in HK
Boao innovation forum set to make debut in HK Hong Kong is set to host the two-day Boao innovation forum for the first time at the Convention and Exhibition Centre this Friday and Saturday. Photo courtesy of Boao Forum for Asia. Hong Kong is set to host its first-ever edition of an innovation conference under the Boao Forum for Asia, with some 800 global elites expected to discuss how to leverage the SAR's strengths to foster technological cooperation. The International Science, Technology and Innovation Forum, which has previously been held in Macau, Guangzhou and Zhuhai, will take place at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre on June 6 and 7. Themed "Transitioning Towards the Future: Powered by Science, Technology & Innovation", the forum is co-hosted by the SAR government and the Boao Forum for Asia. Key speakers will include secretary general of the Boao Forum for Asia Zhang Jun, a former prime minister of Finland, a former deputy prime minister of Thailand, as well as business executives and scholars from the mainland, the US and Vietnam. A forum focusing on Hong Kong will also be held on June 7 to promote collaboration on global I&T development between the government, industry, academia and investors.
South China Morning Post
23-05-2025
- Business
- South China Morning Post
‘Prepare for the worst': China minds, on guard against US punches, stress need for talks
Trade upheaval resulting from the tariff war ignited by US President Donald Trump last month appears to have cast a long-lasting impact on the mindset of Chinese policy influencers, with thoughts of 'preparing for the worst' spreading at a forum in Beijing on Thursday. Advertisement With exporters rushing to secure US-bound shipments during the 90-day truce period, many ex-official and policy advisers have urged the government to guard against any future barrage of American punches, and to also rally the support of major trading partners and forge stronger relations with Global South nations. Zhang Jun, former Chinese ambassador to the United Nations, called the China-US talks in Geneva a positive development, but he explicitly warned that the tariff war – with Washington's tariff levies having risen as high as 145 per cent and effectively bringing bilateral trade flow to a halt before the truce – has already inflicted deep and lasting harm. 'The situation could evolve further, so we need to remain highly vigilant to prevent global order from slipping into chaos and to avoid greater instability on a global scale,' he said at a forum held by Centre for China and Globalisation, a Beijing-based think tank. He underscored the necessity of reforming international institutions – a complex and time-consuming endeavour – and called for stronger regional cooperation. Advertisement 'If the current international institutions continue to fail to function, there will definitely be a vacuum, and some troublemakers would make use of that vacuum and to create more problems,' he said. 'I am not pessimistic, but we have to prepare for the worst and try our best to prevent the worst from happening.'
