Attendees at the recent China-ASEAN AI Summit said artificial intelligence is a driving force to promote better development of the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

China has maintained its position as the largest trading partner of ASEAN for 10 consecutive years. And in the first half of 2019, ASEAN became China's second largest trading partner for the first time, with the bilateral trade volumes reaching $291.85 billion, a rise of 4.2 percent year-on-year.

This robust trade has benefited from the wide application of AI technology. For example, the owner of a chain of outlets selling fresh melons in Zhengzhou, Central China's Henan province, can directly track the growth of its produce, the brand and dosage of the pesticides used in the orchards in Thailand, through the use of cameras installed there.

Xu Yi, a professor of Guangxi Normal University, said that the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area has evolved from being a system set up to enhance the early harvest of agricultural products to trade in other goods, to become an early adopter of the latest technology used in the digital economy. The data landscape from this sector can help to maximize value, increase brand influence and optimize the user experience for retailers and customers alike.

As well as the agricultural field, AI technology has also been applied to the fields of disaster relief and medical care.

In July 2018 when Laos was hit by serious floods, an auxiliary dam of a hydropower station under construction in Attapeu province collapsed, leaving thousands of people homeless.

But thanks to the unmanned aerial vehicle control mapping technology provided by a Chinese company and its AI data analysis, the relief team in Laos discovered many disaster-stricken areas, and rescued scores of trapped villagers.

When it comes to medical science, AI technology has endless applications. It can help doctors to discover and disseminate the latest medical developments through a wider range of channels, and offer patients more convenient ways of diagnosis and treatment, said He Chengxin, a former vice-president of the Guangxi Medical University College of Stomatology. AI technology would also help improve the health of the people in the free trade area.

Chairat Porntipwarawet, consul-general of the Royal Thai Consulate-General in Nanning, said the free trade area offered an important forum for ASEAN countries and China to connect and cooperate in the field of AI, which would provide new development opportunities for enhancing the well-being of participating countries.

At the summit, the China-ASEAN financial information service platform was launched, which many experts said would provide an important channel for "precise docking" between the finance economy and real economy within the China-ASEAN Free Trade Area.

Liu Zhengrong, vice-president of Xinhua News Agency, said that the platform would provide professional information services such as financial information, data, analysis and consultation for Chinese companies seeking overseas markets and ASEAN companies that are coming to China through the Xinhua Silk Road, an economic information platform serving the Belt and Road Initiative. And it would not only serve business development between China and ASEAN countries, but also help promote people-to-people exchanges among participating nations.