Visitors gather at the booth of iFlytek during the Smart China Expo in Chongqing on Aug 27, 2020. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Chinese artificial intelligence (AI) pioneer iFlytek's revenues reached 18.3 billion yuan ($2.81 billion) in 2021, representing a 40.61 percent increase on a yearly basis, according to its 2021 annual report released on April 21.

Revenues generated from its smart education business exceeded 6 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 49.47 percent. In 2021, iFlytek's AI learning machine sales posted a surge of 150 percent.

iFlytek's open platform and consumer business revenue rose 52.19 percent year-on-year to 4.69 billion yuan. In 2021, the number of developer teams registered on iFlytek's open platform grew 66 percent year-on-year and the sales of iFlytek's AI smart office hardware rose 140 percent year-on-year.

In terms of smart medical care, iFlytek's AI-enabled medical assistants have been deployed in 28 provinces across the country, serving over 50,000 primary-level doctors and a population of 100 million residents, assisting primary-level doctors in the completion of more than 130 million standardized electronic medical records, and providing more than 340 million AI-assisted diagnosis suggestions.

In 2021, iFlytek's R&D investment continued to grow, reaching 2.94 billion yuan, a year-on-year increase of 21.5 percent. iFlytek won 10 championships in major international competitions in the field of AI, and the relevant achievements have further strengthened its technical advantages in education, medical care, and consumer business.