Capital.com NewsCNBC is hosting its annual invite-only technology conference in the Nansha district of Guangzhou, China where topics including artificial intelligence, blockchain, fintech and the future of smartphones will be discussed.
The event will help cement the country’s desire to become In 2017 a world leader in artificial intelligence by 2030, with the aim of making the industry worth 1 trillion yuan ($147.7 bn, £114.4 bn).
The event known as East Tech West, will feature guest speakers including Liang Hua, chairman of Huawei, Peng Tao, president at Airbnb China, Gilluam Tans, chairwoman of booking.com and Michael Gorriz, the CIO of Standard Chartered bank.
China is home to some of the world’s biggest fintech firms, such as Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial, which runs the popular Alipay mobile payments app. Jack Ma, the founder of Alibaba currently tops the Forbes China Rich list for the second year in a row with his fortune growing from $34.6billion (£26.9 bn) to $38.2 billion within a year.
Microsoft, Alibaba, Samsung, Huawei and Tencent are some of the major companies who attended the event last year, and experts say that China’s attempts to dominate the sector will continue despite the US-China trade war.
This year the East Tech West forum will be held from the 18th-20th November.
