As was already announced in this news section, GraphicsMedia.net’s newest member, CGAII (www.cgaii.com), planned to host its annual China-Germany Artificial Intelligence Conference on September 16 in Zhuhai, China. However, precisely during the conference date, a major typhoon, Mangkhut (a class 5 typhoon), crossed Zhuhai and the region, including Hong Kong and Macau. Hence, although with a heavy heart, the organizers decided to postpone the conference but the safety of the conference attendees (approx. 1.000 registered) was paramount.
The new date for the conference is now established; it will be held on November 15 and 16 this year. More information about the event at conference.cgaii.com.
As Jürgen Bund, GraphicsMedia.net’s Managing Director, and Dr. Walter Olthoff, DFKI’s CFO, had already travelled to Zhuhai, several bilateral meetings that were already scheduled in the context of the conference, could still be held anyway.
So, on September 14, a business lunch took place at Zhuhai Hi-tech Zone, an infrastructure dedicated to the provision of office and lab space for Chinese start-ups and tech companies, where CGAII is also located. Mr. Haobo Yan, Secretary of the Party Committee of the High-tech Zone, Mr. Hu Su, its Director, and several other representatives participated, along with Prof. Yan Cui, CGAII’s President, and Mrs. Kuan Zheng, its Managing Director. During the lunch, an overview of the progress of the cooperation between CGAII, DFKI and GraphicsMedia.net was presented.
On the next day, Saturday, another meeting was held, at Wuyi University, in the city of Jiangmen. The CGAII delegation and Jürgen Bund were received by Prof. Zhang Kun, Secretary of the Party Committee of Wuyi University, Prof. Zhang Yunhua, the university’s President, and Prof. Li Ting, its Vice-President. The meeting was very informal and pleasant; among others, Jürgen Bund was introduced in the Chinese way of preparing tea. Again, the cooperation between CGAII and its European partners was the focus of the meeting, along with a short presentation of Wuyi University, its technical background, strength, mission and faculties.
Jürgen Bund’s visit to CGAII was rounded up with a demo tour through the insitute which was quite impressive, having into account the relatively short time in which CGAII is active. Yan Cui also explained CGAII’s business strategy in which 4dage (www.4dage.com), a commercial start-up, plays a pivotal role. Both also used the time to discuss in detail a series of possible new cooperation models and specific projects between CGAII/4dage, GraphicsMedia.net and its European members.
Overall, Jürgen Bund was quite impressed with the density and quality of the infra-structure for tech companies in Zhuhai and Jiangmen, two epicenters in the Guangdong province, China’s version of “Silicon Valley”, which is strategically well chosen, being in very close proximity of Hong Kong.