China on Wednesday urged Asia-Pacific economies to fully harness artificial intelligence (AI) to boost productivity and economic growth as finance ministers concluded a two-day meeting in Hong Kong.
Chinese Finance Minister Lan Foan said the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) meeting produced “practical” results, including a joint statement and a policy document on digital infrastructure financing, Hong Kong public broadcaster RTHK reported.
“We should fully unlock the potential of emerging technologies, such as AI, to raise productivity and cultivate new growth drivers,” Lan said.
He said members agreed to strengthen macroeconomic coordination, improve financial resilience and encourage private investment in digital infrastructure.
The meeting also highlighted household consumption and domestic demand as priorities for sustainable growth.
The APEC leaders’ summit is scheduled for Nov. 18-19 in Shenzhen, China.
The remarks come amid growing debate over AI regulation between Washington and Beijing.
Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei recently urged slowing the development of increasingly powerful AI models, warning that technological advances could outpace safety measures.
OpenAI CEO Sam Altman and Google DeepMind’s Demis Hassabis backed aspects of his proposal.
However, US President Donald Trump rejected calls to slow development, arguing that maintaining America’s technological lead over China was essential.
Beijing has criticized proposals that could restrict China’s technological development, advocating open and inclusive international AI governance instead.