China will continue to be world economy's stabilizer in 2019

Li Daokui, an economist of Tsinghua University, listens during a panel discussion at the 2019 Impact Summit in Beijing on Jan 5, 2019. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

China will continue to be world economy's stabilizer in 2019 with uncertainty in the first half of the year and relatively stable status in the second half, an expert said in Beijing on Saturday.

In the first three trading days of 2019, the fluctuations in the US stock market due to movements in Chinese market reflects the impact of Chinese economy, said Li Daokui, an economist of Tsinghua University, at the 2019 Impact Summit.

Li said China will contribute more than 30 percent to the world economy this year with investment in fixed-asset relatively stable in the second half and more job opportunities in service sector.

China has entered service economy which is highly interconnected by cutting-edge technologies and has changed boundaries of government and businesses, said Jiang Xiaojuan, a professor of Tsinghua University, at the summit co-organized by chinadaily.com.cn and netease.com.

Different from international experiences where as service industry developed the economy would face downward pressure, Chinese economy is expected to maintain relatively high growth rate as service technologies and interconnected technologies may improve efficiency in service sector, Jiang said.

Artificial intelligence's contribution to labor productivity will exceed 55 percent of GDP from 2017 to 2030, said Wu Hequan, president of Internet Society of China and member of Chinese Academy of Engineering.

By 2030, AI is expected to contribute an additional $13 trillion of GDP growth to the world, with an average annual growth rate of 1.2 percent, which is comparable to steam engine in the 19th century, industrial robot in the 20th century and information technology in the 21st century, according to global market consultancy McKinsey and Company.

Wu Hequan, president of Internet Society of China and member of Chinese Academy of Engineering, delivers a speech at the 2019 Impact Summit in Beijing on Jan 5, 2019. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

AI's contribution to economy is projected to reach $7 trillion in China and $3.7 trillion in North America and medical and healthcare, automobile and financial services will become top three industries with highest AI index in 2030, Wu said.

China has paid great attention to intellectual property protection and Chinese enterprises are estimated to contribute over one third of key 5G technologies international standards, according to Wu.

China is in the forefront in only a few technological areas and ranks top 20 in world's tech arena comprehensively, so more efforts are needed to increase the contribution rate of scientific and technological progress for industries by accelerating the transformation of scientific and technological achievements, Wu said.

With current economic development pace, China is expected to take a leading role in the next two to three decades and the key is not to be big but strong with advanced industries leading the charge hopefully, Wu said.