China seeks closer US links on scientific research, use of AI in education

Beijing is under growing pressure from US technology curbs amid an intense geopolitical rivalry with Washington with AI as one of the main battle fronts, and has called for more international cooperation in the field in recent years.

“[We are] willing to bring 50,000 young Americans to China for exchange and study in the next five years”, Chen said, inviting NYU to participate in the initiative announced by Chinese President Xi Jinping last year.

The announcement from Xi – during a much-awaited summit in San Francisco with his US counterpart Joe Biden in November – followed an agreement to expand educational, cultural and business exchanges as the two countries sought ways to reverse a prolonged downward spiral in relations.

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The number of US students enrolling in Chinese universities dropped to its lowest level in a decade last year – with strained bilateral ties, Covid-19 restrictions and the delayed resumption of direct flights all thought to have played a role.

According to the 2023 edition of a US-funded study by the Institute of International Education, only 211 American students studied in mainland China during the 2021-22 academic year, compared with more than 11,000 from 2018 to 2019.

In response to Chen, Mills said NYU was willing to encourage more young Americans to visit China and hold more bilateral youth friendship activities on its campus, according to the readout from Beijing of Monday’s meeting.

China seeks to integrate AI in traditional sectors, including higher education, to stimulate innovation so it does not fall behind in the global AI race and also to boost economic growth, which has struggled to take off post-Covid.

The Chinese leadership has also called for more international cooperation in artificial intelligence in recent years as the country is squeezed by the US-led tech war.

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At the meeting with Mills, Chen commended the academic achievements of NYU Shanghai, which opened in 2012 as a joint venture with Shanghai’s East China Normal University.

NYU had hailed the opening of its Shanghai campus, which received support from the Chinese education ministry and the city’s municipal government, as a “major achievement”.

Mills said NYU would continue to firmly support the development of its Shanghai campus, and looked forward to closer scientific research cooperation with China. NYU Shanghai president Tong Shijun also attended the meeting.

South China Morning Post