Chinese enterprises in Silicon Valley looking to play vital role in relations

As Chinese enterprises operating in Northern California celebrated the Year of the Snake, they vowed to play a more vital role in underpinning bilateral business collaborations and more.

A gathering on Sunday, themed "Welcome the New Year", brought together the majority of the Chinese Enterprises Association (CEA) members at the Q Bay Center in San Jose, a multifunctional platform funded by Hangzhou, Zhejiang investment.

Since its inception in 2018 in Silicon Valley, the center has been a beacon of economic vibrancy and technological innovation.

Zhang Jianmin, China's consul general in San Francisco, said at the event that the Year of Snake offers an opportunity to "solve problems", adding that he sought the answer using DeepSeek, China's artificial intelligence app that was released in January.

"In recent years, problems and issues keep popping up in the China-US relationship," Zhang said. "No worries, we need to calm down and find solutions to bring the bilateral relations back to the track of steady, sound and sustainable development."

Zhang urged Chinese companies operating in the United States to abide by Chinese and US laws, and be clean.

"Chinese enterprises have been and will be an invaluable force to promote China-US business and trade. Your importance by no means can be underestimated," he said.

"Zhejiang recently has been a world focal point due to its technology breakthroughs, particular the debut of DeepSeek and Yushu Technology, aka Unitree Robotics; both are based in Hangzhou," said Zhang Dan, who is in charge of the Q Bay Center's operations.

In January, DeepSeek released its first AI model, DeepSeek-R1, with a chatbot. It immediately caused a sensation and reaction in the US stock market and tech industry. DeepSeek's product is forecast to overtake rival ChatGPT to become the top-rated free application.

Since 2016, Unitree Robotics has specialized in quadruped (four-legged) robots with a focus on individual consumers, a market of vast potential, as China and the world address the needs of an aging society.

"We are grateful for the science and technology cooperation and exchanges between China and the US; the flow of ideas and innovation that enables creations of such products," said Zhang. "It remains no secret that without Jerry Yang's vision and investment in Alibaba, we wouldn't be able to have an e-commerce giant of its kind."

In 2005, Yang directed Yahoo!, even before he took over as the tech giant's CEO in 2007, to purchase a 40 percent stake in Alibaba for $1 billion, plus the assets of Yahoo! China, valued at $700 million.

CEA President Liu Qing, from the Bank of Communications, commended the achievements of the association's members and pledged to unite all for a stronger and more vibrant presence for China's enterprises in the US.

"Facing uncertainties and rough waters, we need to strengthen our confidence and work more closely," Liu said.