2019 Smart China Expo kicks off in Chongqing

Tech experts, business insiders and representatives of global tech firms are gathering in Chongqing to share ideas on various technologies including 5G and artificial intelligence.

They are attending the 2019 Smart China Expo which kicked off on Monday.

Themed "Smart technology: empowering the economy, enriching life", the expo consists of various conferences, exhibitions and contests.

Diverse topics from smart manufacturing and big data, to 5G and even 6G technology are on the agenda.

Professor Tian Hui from Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications says the 6th generation of mobile networks is based on the Internet of Intelligence, with an aim of achieving intelligent communication at a deeper level.

"The speed of 6G technology will be an upgrade from GigaByte to Terabyte. Also the technology could be holographic, and possibly an improvement from Internet of Thing to Internet of Intelligence."

A helicopter on display at 2019 Smart China Expo on August 26, 2019. [Photo: VCG]

Various competitions including a self-driving vehicle challenge, international drone racing and big data contest are on the line-up at the expo. Over 400 overseas teams and contestants from over 20 countries and regions are expected to participate in the competitions.

Chen Zhixin leads a race team in the autonomous vehicle challenge.

She says the smart designs in their cars help improve her team's performance.

"Our control system comprises two Industrial Personal Computer (IPC) and one Rapid Control Prototyping (RCP). The first IPC performs process sensing. And the second IPC handles decision-making during autonomous driving. The RCP is a system that lets engineers quickly test and iterate their control strategies on a real-time device, and it controls the execution system including steering, braking and driving."

The organizers say several major documents of economic cooperation will be signed during the expo.

Zhou Qing is the Director of the organizing committee. He says multiple reports concerning the latest developments of various technologies in China will be presented at the expo.

"During the event, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will officially publish the 2019 report of China big data application index, a report on the development of China's intelligent techniques and white paper on the outlook of 5G application of China."

During the four day expo, global tech giants including Google, Intel and Alibaba will showcase their latest products with cutting-edge technologies including artificial intelligence and cloud-computing.