By Yinong Li, Binya Hu, SFC 21st Century Business Herald

The Ninth Hongqiao International Economic Forum held a session titled “Pudong and the World: Technological Innovation Driving Industrial Upgrading, Smart Integration Shaping a Shared Future” in Shanghai.

Global leaders from business, academia and government gathered to exchange views on innovation, industrial integration and high-level opening-up, exploring how Pudong can connect with global resources and unlock new opportunities for growth.

Michael Levitt, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, said AI accelerates everybody and makes its users smarter, but with AI doing tasks cheaper, the central question is what matters. He called for learning to ask what is worth solving, stressing selectivity and the need to teach curiosity and judgment so people can judge what is worth doing rather than merely what they can do.

Turning to China, he noted its rapid development of AI and homegrown AI chips, as well as its strength in application.

Chris Riley, Global Chief Executive Officer of Cytiva, said the real value of China speed lies not in speed itself but in the momentum and execution it enables. Discovery is only the beginning, he said; the challenge is validating the biology, proving safety and efficacy, and manufacturing reliably. He noted that scientists, clinicians, industry partners and regulators came together around one mission, and that Chinese institutions are helping define, not merely participate in, the future of medicine.

On the AI front, Riley said it can guide discovery, but science must establish truth, and Pudong can serve as an important bridge. What makes China speed powerful, he concluded, is the ability to learn faster, connect capabilities and carry momentum forward through to patient impact. He is confident that China, and Pudong in particular, will play a defining role in making that possible.

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Reporter: Yinong Li, Binya Hu

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Produced by: Southern Finance Omnimedia Group