Official predicts 100 AI breakthroughs

 
Wave of innovation set to change economy

New wave: Signage outside DeepSeek’s office in Beijing. The company’s AI is considered much cheaper to set up than Western competitors. — Reuters

Beijing: China’s advantages in developing artificial intelligence (AI) are about to unleash a wave of innovation that will generate more than 100 DeepSeek-like breakthroughs in the coming 18 months, according to a former top official.

The new software products “will fundamentally change the nature and the tech nature of the whole Chinese economy,” Zhu Min, who was previously a deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, said during the World Economic Forum in Tianjin yesterday.

Zhu, who also served as the deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund, sees a transformation made possible by harnessing China’s pool of engineers, massive consumer base and supportive government policies. 

The bullish take on China’s AI future promises no letup in the competition for dominance in cutting-edge technologies with the United States, just as the world’s two biggest economies are also locked in a trade war.

The United States sees China as a key rival in the field of AI, especially after DeepSeek shocked the global tech industry in January with its low-cost but powerful model. 

In addition to efforts to prevent China from securing advanced semiconductor manufacturing equipment, Washington is blocking Chinese companies from acquiring Nvidia Corp’s high-end AI chips for training, citing national security concerns.

Beijing is now pinning its hopes on domestic tech giants like Huawei Technologies Co when it comes to advanced chipmaking. 

The emergence of DeepSeek triggered a rally in China’s tech stocks, fuelling optimism over Chinese competitiveness despite tensions over trade with the Trump administration and economic challenges at home.

Bloomberg Economics estimates the contribution of high-tech to China’s gross domestic product (GDP) climbed to about 15% last year – from near 14% a year earlier – and could exceed 18% in 2026.

Despite a tariff truce negotiated a month ago with the United States, American levies are still at high levels, with a more lasting deal still in question. 

Zhu said the United States will likely see inflation pick up starting in August, as it takes some time for tariffs to feed through to the economy and for companies to use up stockpiles they accumulated before Trump hiked duties. 

“The uncertainty brought by US tariff policy is an important factor that may lead to negative growth in global trade this year,” Zhu told reporters on the sidelines of the forum.

“The entire trade industrial chain has begun to slow, investments has begun to stop, so the impact is greater than the actual tariff rate.”

The World Economic Forum meeting in Tianjin, also known as “Summer Davos”, has attracted global business executives and world leaders. 

Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Vietnamese Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh are scheduled to speak at the three-day event.

Chinese Premier Li Qiang is expected to address the conference during the opening plenary today and meet with participants.

Despite a tariff truce negotiated a month ago with the United States, American levies are still at high levels, with a more lasting deal still in question.

Analysts polled by Bloomberg forecast GDP will slip to 4.5% this year, significantly below the official target of around 5%. It expanded 5.4% in the first quarter.

“The uncertainty brought by US tariff policy is an important factor that may lead to negative growth in global trade this year,” Zhu told reporters on the sidelines of the forum. “The entire trade industrial chain has begun to slow, investments has begun to stop, so the impact is greater than the actual tariff rate.”

Zhu said the United States will likely see inflation pick up starting in August, as it takes some time for tariffs to feed through to the economy and for companies to use up stockpiles they accumulated before Trump hiked duties.

Despite shocks from abroad, China’s GDP likely grew faster than 5% in the second quarter, according to Huang Yiping, a member of the Chinese central bank’s monetary policy committee. Speaking on another panel at the Tianjin forum, he pointed to the economy’s solid performance in April and May.

But despite strong retail sales in May, when they grew at the fastest pace since December 2023, Huang said China still needs to address the issue of insufficient consumption. — Bloomberg

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Report reveals China's innovation-driven development is gaining steam

A report from China's State Council on Tuesday revealed that the country has made notable strides in advancing innovation-driven development, and that its innovation-driven strategy has been gaining momentum.

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Spreading the word on low-code programming

Orangeleaf working to bring about quicker app development

Orangeleaf Consulting co-founder Tim Hendricks with CEO and co-founder Ellice Ng Pui San.

“Rapid developers help close the skills gap by democratising application development, which is important given the rising scarcity of qualified IT workers globally.” Ellice Ng Pui San

DESPITE being someone who now has both feet firmly planted in the world of technology, Ellice Ng Pui San, chief executive officer and co-founder of Orangeleaf Consulting, originally had a completely career track in mind when she started working.

Before she started the technology consultancy, she felt she did not fit into the realm of technology.

Recounting her venture into the technology industry, she tells Starbizweek technology was not something that used to excite her and she believed that she would not fit into the industry.

Despite that, her mother persuaded her and enrolled her in a computing diploma.

“I completed my studies. However, despite spending hours studying and working hard on my assignments, I could not see my future in the field and later quit pursuing my degree in computing.

“Instead, I ventured into corporate communications and founded my own public relations agency with just RM500 in my pocket. Thankfully, the PR agency did considerably well, and was enough to sustain me in those early years.

“Even with this achievement, destiny stepped in and brought me back to the technology industry when I met my husband Tim Hendricks, who is now my business partner and co-founder of Orangeleaf Consulting.

“I was intrigued when my husband introduced how ‘low-code’ technology barely needed any coding and utilised visual interfaces, drag-and-drop tools, and pre-built components to quickly design and build software solutions. We are speaking about 10 times faster in development,” Ng explains.

As a communication practitioner who had worked in the corporate sector for many years, she saw a gap in the market, as many technology consultancies were still relying on traditional coding to build systems, and low-code, relatively unknown in the Asian market at the time, was not utilised, though it proved to be much more efficient and easier to implement.

Orangeleaf Consulting utlises Siemen’s Mendix low-code platform and has been successful judging from the fact that Orangeleaf was recently chosen as the only consultancy in Selangor to work with the Selangor Technical Skills Development Centre (STDCX).

STDCX is the Selangor government’s technical professional development centre.

What gives Mendix an upper hand as a low-code platform is its speed to market opposed to the traditional forms of computer programming. Those who do not have a coding background can rapidly adapt to Mendix and seamlessly develop software that caters to an organisation’s needs.

With technical and vocational education and training (TVET) gaining strong momentum and now a focus in Selangor, plans are underway for the use of the latest coding technology.

The 2024 Selangor Budget has provided an allocation of Rm13.85mil for TVET programmes and the state is set to benefit from the use of low-code programming, which enables users to build apps quickly.

Powering this transformation will be Mendix, a low-code app development platform owned by Siemens.

Orangeleaf Consulting is one of the leading experts in Mendix in Asia-pacific. The consultancy provides digitisation and technology innovation consultancy services and custom software system development based on the low-code software development platform.

Mendix enables software development at a much faster pace than traditional software programming.

Realising the potential of low-code technology, Ng and her husband decided to form Orangeleaf Consulting in 2018 with their marriage funds.

The consultancy grew from a two-man team in 2018 to 30 dedicated low-code professionals offering a visual approach to software development that enables faster delivery of applications through minimal coding.

“We saw the opportunity to help develop a high-calibre talent pool in Malaysia that was skilled in low code, and able to take on global markets in developing good software. Since the start of our journey, Tim and I have continued to firmly believe in education, therefore as the team grows and stabilises, we invest time and resources to nurture local talent through the Mendix Certified Digital Professional Programme.

“We recently launched the programme together with STDCX, which is sponsored by the Selangor government.

“The programme aims to groom and educate talent, ensuring they remain competitive and relevant in the low-code landscape, which then contributes to the nation’s technological advancement. We coach talent to understand the needs of businesses before developing an app,” Ng says.

Thanks to its success, Orangeleaf Consulting has expanded and now has a presence in Malaysia, Singapore, the Netherlands, and recently Japan

Elaborating on the future of low-code technology, Ng says, among other things, it is a visual technology for software development that features a drag-and-drop interface, requiring minimal hand coding.

She says low-code technology is adaptable for both the small and medium enterprises and enterprise markets, enabling businesses to iterate and evolve quickly based on customer input and usage statistics.

She says examples of its use include digitising the measurement process for liquid chemicals and developing an application that allows medical staff to monitor realtime temperatures of rooms where key vaccines and medical-grade products are stored.

Ng says the customisability of low-code programming is particularly advantageous for clients as it can cater specifically to their industry and needs.

She adds that the global low-code market is expected to grow significantly, reaching around Us$65bil by 2027 and Us$187bil by 2030, underscoring its scalability and longterm potential.

In today’s rapidly changing technology landscape, she says the versatility of lowcode development is a valuable advantage, fostering innovation and improving operational efficiencies globally.

Commenting on the consultancy’s plans to develop 300 certified “rapid developers” in the next three years, Ng says rapid developers are individuals who undergo an intensive training programme designed to accelerate their journey to becoming certified Mendix low-code professionals. The term “rapid” emphasises the efficiency and speed of the certification process, which typically spans just three days, she adds.

“During this short time frame, participants immerse themselves in a comprehensive curriculum that covers key concepts, tools, and techniques related to lowcode development using the Mendix platform.

“The rapid-developer programme is structured to provide participants with a condensed yet robust learning experience that equips them with the skills and knowledge needed to leverage low-code technology effectively.

“The core of the certification includes training programmes, innovation labs, mentorship programmes, and community-engagement activities.

“Rapid developers help close the skills gap by democratising application development, which is important given the rising scarcity of qualified IT workers globally.

“Through the rapid-developers programme, more people with different backgrounds and skill levels can learn low-code programming, increasing the talent pool to propel technological advancement,” Ng said.

Besides the domestic market, Orangeleaf Consulting is also making its mark in the Japanese manufacturing sector with a strategic collaboration with Macnica Inc, a leading semiconductor company headquartered in Yokohama. Together with Macnica, the consultancy is working on improving and strengthening enterprise digital transformation and innovation within a new market.

“We intend to use advanced technology to revolutionise the way people think and behave in the business-software sector, rather than merely being affected by it,” she says.

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