Chinas adoption of high technology is playing a vital role in reining in coronavirus
spread across the country, which are expected to be exported to help other countries
fight against the deadly virus, corporate representatives and analysts said on
Thursday.
To help fight the coronavirus, domestic technology companies have developed
specific technologies such as those for performing basic diagnostic functions,
spraying disinfectants and conducting contactless delivery.
The Global Times spoke with many of these companies, which said they are ready
and willing to share such technology and products with foreign partners to contain the
virus.
China's Alibaba Cloud announced Thursday it would offer free CT image analytics
for COVID-19 to all countries and regions. Baidu Inc told the Global Times that on
Tuesday it launched online services such as medical and psychological consultations
for overseas users.
Chinese agricultural drone-maker XAG said since the virus outbreak, it has tried to
combine drones with ground robots to release disinfectants in public places to replace
hand sprayers.
"We have seen rising demand for such services and received increased overseas
inquiries. For instance, our clients in South Korea and Vietnam have begun to explore
the solutions," the firm told the Global Times on Thursday.
Apart from medical supplies such as masks that should be shipped to COVID-19 hit
countries, the experience or products used by Chinese high-tech companies to combat
the viral epidemic are also expected to be exported to help contain the spread, Dong
Lei, key account manager of Shanghai-based technology company Inventec, told the
Global Times on Thursday.
"Developed countries like the US have edges in research and developing advanced
technology, but that does not indicate their application to epidemic prevention has
been widely promoted," Dong said.
"I heard that robots are used to take patients' temperatures in hospitals in California,
but as far as I know, there are not more high-tech factors like artificial intelligence
(AI) or facial recognition employed in other social venues to monitor or prevent the
epidemic spread," Jack Luo, who is in his 20s and lives in San Jose, California, told
the Global Times on Thursday.
"An online real-time tracking platform for COVID-19 information focusing on the US
and Canada, which many of my friends and I used, was developed by a Chinese firm,"
he said.
China's AI industry has driven many practical applications during recent years, which
is the main reason that domestic firms in the sector are able to deploy their technology
into various scenarios to help fight the virus in a timely manner, Xu Yiya, senior vice
president of Shanghai-based Xiao-i Robot Technology Co, told the Global Times on
Thursday.
During the epidemic, the Xiao-i has offered inquiry services about epidemic
information to users in more than 30 cities across China. Industry analysts said the
export of such high-tech related experience will be helpful, but some Western
countries may not buy it because of their conventional stereotype of not believing in
China's technology development.
Dong also said the export of high-tech products for epidemic prevention will
encounter barriers as foreign markets, the US in particular, is always on guard against
China's high-tech products such as drones, citing the so-called excuse of national
security.
"We just started trying to use drones to spray disinfectant in China, and since other
virus-hit countries still have restrictions over the technology, it is hard to predict the
prospect for exports," XAG said.
