Artificial intelligence (AI) has become the biggest highlight of the 22nd China-ASEAN Expo (CAEXPO), which kicked off in Nanning, South China’s Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Wednesday, with about 1,200 high-tech products from China and abroad are on display at a huge AI pavilion.
The CAEXPO features a 10,000-square-meter AI pavilion, where nearly 200 high-tech companies and teams are showcasing about 1,200 innovative products and technologies, ranging from consumer-grade smart devices to industrial-grade solutions, forming a complete innovation chain, the People’s Daily reported.
Major tech giants such as Huawei, Alibaba, iFlytek, Unitree Robotics and Qi-Anxin Group, a cybersecurity company, are prominently featured in the AI pavilion, where they showcased their advanced products.
For instance, iFlytek introduced a multilingual AI model specifically designed for the 10 ASEAN members, enhancing its capabilities in language understanding, machine translation, knowledge question-and-answer facilities, text generation, and other functions. The company sold about 15,000 smart devices in ASEAN countries in 2024, with total revenue of about 13 million yuan ($1.83 million). The total sales volume is expected to increase to 30,000 units in 2025, the company told the Global Times on Wednesday.
In the realm of AI and security collaboration, Qi-Anxin announced on Wednesday the establishment of an AI security research institute between China and ASEAN countries during the expo. It also revealed some new AI security products aiming to address the digital economy’s needs in both China and ASEAN, focusing on market-competitive AI security solutions for key industries in Guangxi and finally expanding the application market to ASEAN, the company told the Global Times.
ASEAN members have been actively engaging with the expo’s emphasis on AI. The AI pavilion is also presenting the latest scientific and technological achievements from many ASEAN members, including Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand, gxnews.com.cn reported.
At the AI pavilion, the Indonesian Telematics Society – a non-profit dedicated to information, communication and broadcasting technology – has showcased Indonesia’s cutting-edge products. “We currently have 31 member units, all actively applying AI and building data centers and cloud services,” Sarwoto Atmosutarno, the organization’s president, told the Global Times on Wednesday.
“After receiving the expo organizers’ invitation, we were delighted to come and exchange experiences. We already collaborated with Chinese tech leaders like ZTE and Huawei, and I’ve been deeply impressed by China’s AI applications in telecommunication infrastructure and agriculture,” he said.
Collaboration between China and ASEAN members through platforms such as CAEXPO is crucial for sharing knowledge, resources, and best practices in AI. This partnership not only strengthens economic ties but also promotes technological advancements that can address common challenges faced by the region, Wang Peng, associate research fellow at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told Global Times on Wednesday.
As the demand for AI solutions continues to rise, the debut of these products at CAEXPO serves as a catalyst for further cooperation and innovation, paving the way for a more integrated and technologically advanced future for both China and ASEAN, Wang said.