Internet giants invest in Fujian

China's internet giants have accelerated their investment in the electronics and information sector in Fujian province, in a bid to boost the growth of the local digital economy and technological innovation.

Fujian Electronics & Information (Group) Co Ltd signed cooperation agreements on Monday with 40 partners, including Chinese technology giants Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, Tencent Holdings Ltd and Baidu Inc, at the first Digital China Summit in Fuzhou, capital of Fujian province.

The total investment has surpassed 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion). The partners will cooperate in fields such as integrated circuits, internet of things, big data, cloud computing, artificial intelligence, network and telecommunication, information security, intelligent city, intelligent healthcare and digital film and television.

The State-owned enterprise will build a national-level AI medical imaging laboratory and launch public cloud area services in cooperation with Shenzhen-based Tencent.

They will also build payment scenarios for companies and the public sector, and deepen cooperation in education, tourism, healthcare and medical services, electronic ports and food security.

"We will speed up efforts to make breakthroughs in core technologies of the information sector, and work with partners to promote the development of the digital economy and related industries," said Su Linan, chairman of Fujian Electronics & Information (Group).

Su added that the integrated circuit, new display plate and storage industry is gaining momentum, and the company is now moving toward core technologies in the digital field.

In addition, the Fujian-based company will partner with Chinese internet search giant Baidu to expand the application of self-driving vehicles in Fujian, and launch a provincial AI service center, promoting AI technologies in the public sector.

Baidu tested Apolong, the country's first driverless electric microbus in cooperation with bus manufacturer Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co, in Pingtan, Fujian province, on March 30.

Aliyun, the cloud computing subsidiary of e-commerce giant Alibaba Group, will help boost cloud computing services and the construction of intelligent cities in Fujian.

Statistics show that the scale of the digital economy in Fujian reached 1 trillion yuan in 2017, accounting for nearly one-third of the region's gross domestic product.

Founded in 2000, Fujian Electronics & Information (Group) is a State-owned asset management company and investment platform in electronics and information industry, which ranked 34th among the top 100 of Chinese electronic information companies in 2017, according to China Information Technology Industry Federation.