The fifth World Intelligence Congress, which gets underway on Thursday in Tianjin, is of great significance to the city and China in maintaining the lead in intelligent technology and high-quality economic and social development, according to the local government.

As an important international congress in intelligent technology, the four-day event features a series of activities including forums, exhibitions and competitions with online and offline channels to highlight cutting-edge artificial intelligence technologies.

According to the organizers, the congress will hold two summits that are expected to attract Chinese and foreign political officials, representatives from leading enterprises, experts and scholars.

The international dignitaries from Singapore and Kobe in Japan, diplomatic envoys from 13 countries, mayors of Antwerp in Belgium, Melbourne in Australia, Wellington in New Zealand and Genoa in Italy, as well as Nobel laureates, Turing Award winners, and executives from Fortune Global 500 companies, such as carmaker Rolls-Royce, oil and gas supplier Exxon Mobil and information and analysis services provider Relx Group will participate and discuss hot topics including achievements in AI and its relationship with the economy, culture and art.

During the congress, a total of 30 forums focusing on AI, intelligent manufacturing, digital economy, smart cities and the prospect of the intelligent technology industry, intelligent science and technology achievements, and the deep cooperation in the fields of intelligent science and technology, will be held.

Of them, 12 forums will be held by national commissions and universities, including the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the China Association for Science and Technology and Tsinghua University, Peking University, Tianjin University and Nankai University.

Exhibitions and competitions

One of the highlights of this year's congress is the exhibition area that aims to show the changes in various fields with AI and achievements by Tianjin in AI city construction.

With both online and offline channels, the exhibition has six areas and three intelligent experience zones, covering intelligent products and technologies such as scientific research and application, smart manufacturing, smart cities and transportation.

The offline exhibition is located in the Tianjin Meijiang Convention and Exhibition Center, covers 48,000 square meters and has attracted more than 220 companies and institutions, including Fortune Global 500 companies Huawei, Tencent, Alibaba, Tesla, Panasonic and iFlytek, to set up booths.

This year's exhibition has a creative industry zone and domestic companies, such as 360 and Phytium, have been invited to display Tianjin's ability to develop across the whole software industry chain, including developing chips, operating systems, servers and machine terminals, and security software. It also highlights Tianjin as an example of the national information security strategy.

According to the WIC organizers, the international consumption center city experience is highlighted at this year's exhibition zone. A smart consumption experience area has been set up by Alibaba, Xiaomi and Haier to showcase smart home and other consumer experience scenarios.

To display new achievements in 5G, China Unicom has set up 5G industry ecosystem intelligent production scenarios.

An "escape the maze" robot competition has been launched this year to attract more young people to take part.

An AI orchestra founded by the Tianjin Conservatory of Music that integrates intelligent technology into its music will also perform at the event.

Tianjin Port and the China-Singapore Tianjin Eco-City are demonstrating what people can look forward to in the future as smart cities allow intelligent technologies such as AI to integrate further into their daily lives.

To encourage innovation, the WIC is holding five competitions this year focusing on smart driving, mobile apps, data processing and algorithms and sports, according to the congress organizers.

A variety of other competitions covering all aspects of intelligent technology, from autonomous driving, drones and smart city applications to esports, mobile apps and AI.

Hundreds of teams from across the globe and from universities and research institutions will compete to find out whose innovative solutions are best.

According to the congress organizers, the WIC has helped to attract global resources to Tianjin and promote the upgrading of the local industry. During the congress, Tianjin will sign a new round of cooperation agreements with China Electronics Technology Group, China Telecom and Lenovo, and with new partners, including the China Association for Science and Technology and China Media Group.

The WIC is a platform for companies and governments to communicate and cooperate.

To strengthen international relationships, this year's WIC will hold a meeting with its sister cities of Antwerp in Belgium, Melbourne in Australia, Wellington in New Zealand and Genoa in Italy, and sign cooperation memorandums to continue to expand Tianjin's global influence.