APEC leaders jointly agree on AI vision

The Asia-Pacific region is poised to lead global development in artificial intelligence, experts say, calling for greater regional cooperation to ensure the technology benefits all.

"Asia will lead the world and be at the forefront of (AI)," said Nitin Mittal, global AI leader at consultancy Deloitte.

Speaking to China Daily at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation CEO Summit that concluded on Friday, Mittal attributed the region's potential to the sheer size of its talent pool, the rate of innovation — particularly open-source innovation — and the ability to invest in infrastructure.

Mittal was among the delegates at the event in Gyeongju, South Korea, this year's APEC chair. The business-centric gathering ran in parallel with the annual APEC Economic Leaders' Meeting.

AI was the focus of this year's meetings. During the Economic Leaders' Meeting held on Friday and Saturday, the member economies adopted an AI initiative aiming to foster economic growth through innovation, enhance capacity and spread the benefits of AI, and expand private investment in resilient AI infrastructure.

It marked the first leader-level consensus and joint vision on AI within APEC.

While AI has become a key engine of growth, Kim Wan-joong, a special adviser to the 2025 APEC CEO Summit Secretariat, said such growth cannot be achieved by a single company or country as it requires joint efforts.

"We have to use AI platform smartly and work together. That means the governments should take the initiative together."

Noting that China is South Korea's largest trading partner and that many South Korean companies have a strong presence in the Chinese market, Kim said he sees great potential for the two countries to deepen cooperation in AI development.

Lee Young-chan, a professor at the School of Business Administration at Dongguk University in Gyeongju, also highlighted opportunities for startups in South Korea and China to collaborate on AI research and development.

As South Korea is facing serious challenges amid an aging population, Lee said innovative technologies such as smart manufacturing and the internet of things will be necessary — and these are the areas that have potential for cooperation.

Choi Pil-soo, a professor of Chinese trade and commerce at Sejong University in Seoul, warned that countries in the Asia-Pacific should be very careful when it comes to substituting labor and judgment for AI, as the technology is having a huge impact on humanity.

"South Korea and China should also actively participate in establishing AI norms," Choi said in a separate interview in Seoul.

As countries are competing with each other in AI, which makes it easy to neglect the formation of sustainable and applicable AI governance, Choi said governments should step back and talk to each other to jointly create a mechanism to control excessive competition.

Echoing Choi's view, Mittal said AI is not about a race among countries.

"This is actually a lot more about how you harness the promise of AI for uplifting quality of life, advancement, and the next quantum leap that countries can take," he said.

China's strength in AI could benefit the Asia-Pacific region and beyond because of the diverse innovation it has, he said. "It has been shown in the Five-Year Plan — when a large country like China progresses with a single mission, how beneficial it could be," he said, referring to the recently unveiled recommendations for China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30).

Xue Jingqi and Ni Xuechun contributed to this story.

Contact the writers at kelly@chinadailyapac.com