AI innovation areas slated for construction

A second batch of national-level artificial intelligence innovation areas will be built in Beijing, the Binhai New Area of Tianjin, Hangzhou in Zhejiang province, Guangzhou in Guangdong province and Chengdu in Sichuan province, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said on Friday.

The first such areas were established in 2019 in the Pudong New Area of Shanghai, Shenzhen in Guangdong and Shandong province.

Building AI innovation areas is a significant move in efforts to promote the in-depth integration of AI and the real economy, the ministry said.

In Beijing, the area will focus on priority areas such as the utilities of AI in manufacturing, intelligent vehicles and the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games.

The innovation area in Binhai New Area will give play to the policy advantages of the China Pilot Free Trade Zone in Tianjin and promote breakthroughs in the application of AI in manufacturing, ports, communities and other key areas.

Efforts will be made to further promote the application of AI technology in smart city administration, manufacturing and financial services in Hangzhou, the capital of Zhejiang, according to the ministry.

Given Chengdu's geographic advantage in the Belt and Road Initiative, the AI innovation area in the Sichuan provincial capital will work to empower small and medium-sized enterprises with AI technology and focus on medical and financial industries to create a dynamic industry environment in the country's western regions.

Three human resources industrial parks planned

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security has approved the establishment of three national-level industrial parks, raising the total number of such parks nationwide to 22, according to a notice released by the ministry on Friday.

The new parks will be set up in Shijiazhuang, Hebei province, Shenyang, Liaoning province and Jinan, Shandong province.

Ministry statistics show that more than 3,000 enterprises moved into the country's national-level human resources services industrial parks last year, earning a combined annual operating revenue of 204.8 billion yuan ($31.6 billion).

The parks have provided services to 27 million people and have offered human resources services to more than 800,000 employers, making positive contributions to employment and work resumption during the fight against COVID-19, the ministry said.

20 IPR protection, fast service hubs to be set up

The nation plans to set up 20 intellectual property rights protection centers and fast IPR service centers this year across the country in an effort to provide more efficient protection, the country's IPR watchdog said.

Further, 10 centers will be set up abroad to provide guidance and services for overseas Chinese companies to deal with related disputes, Shen Changyu, head of China's National Intellectual Property Administration, said in an interview with Xinhua News Agency on Feb 10.

China has established more than 60 IPR protection centers and fast service centers, which provide efficient, low-cost assistance to market entities.

IPR protection centers address difficulties in obtaining evidence and reduce processing time and costs involved in disputes, while the fast service centers are aimed at providing county-level industry clusters quick IPR review, verification and protection services.

China is shifting from a major IPR importer to a major creator. According to statistics, 530,000 patents were granted in China last year, a year-on-year growth of 17.1 percent despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.