The era of artificial intelligence requires wider cooperation between Chinese and overseas companies. [Photo/sh.gov.cn]

The era of artificial intelligence requires wider cooperation between Chinese and overseas companies, according to experts.

The 2019 Zhangjiang International Artificial intelligence Summit kicked off in Zhangjiang Science City, in Pudong New Area on June 13, with government officials and representatives from 200 companies in attendance.

As a cluster for the AI industry in Shanghai, Pudong has attracted a group of innovative and highly competitive enterprises to locate themselves there. Now, the area is working on exploring and unleashing the development potential of the AI industry, said Guan Xiaojun, the district's deputy head.

According to organizers, an innovative AI alliance was successfully established at the summit.

An initiative from the Zhangjiang Transnational Enterprises Joint Incubation Platform, the alliance is designed to be an industrial innovation platform that provides services and support for technological startups and helps them develop by coordinating resources from multinationals, international organizations, investment institutions and research institutes.

Experts say that the development of AI requires diversity, which means that it is hard for any multi-national or for small and medium-sized companies to tackle problems on their own. The alliance was launched to break down boundaries and help companies with matchmaking, so as to improve their working efficiency, said Yang Liang, vice president of Zhangjiang Transnational Enterprises Joint Incubation Platform.

The summit also witnessed the launch of an innovative AI cloud platform, which aims to provide digitalized services for companies by integrating technological resources from IBM, as well as other organizations and institutions.

Zeng Jianbiao, vice president of IBM, introduces "5 in 5" -- a list of innovations that has the potential to change people's daily lives over the next five years -- at the 2019 Zhangjiang International Artificial intelligence Summit in Zhangjiang Science City, in Pudong New Area on June 13. [Photo/sh.gov.cn]