The Chinese tech giant, best known as Tencent has pledged to invest in “digital government” assistance, “online education,” and artificial intelligence (AI) in the city of Wuhan, China. Although the tech giant will invest in other fields in the city, a new report notes that the company is eager to invest in Wuhan soon since China is lifting the coronavirus lockdown on said city.
According to website scmp.com, a Tencent spokesperson took to WeChat and said in a post on April 7th, 2020, the following information regarding the company’s plans and Wuhan:
“During the epidemic, Tencent has been supporting Hubei and Wuhan’s fight against the virus through funds and technology. In the future, we will also fully support Wuhan’s post-pandemic reconstruction and continue to support the development of Wuhan’s digital industry.”
It’s worth noting, according to the report, that Wuhan is said to be an “industrial powerhouse,” producing stuff like steel, semiconductors, and automotive sectors.
With Tencent eager to help out, the city will gain assistance from the mega-corporation through digital government assistance, online education, and AI support, which will supposedly bolster “Wuhan’s digital industry.”
Moreover, the website notes that Tencent “declined” to provide specific “details regarding the size of its latest investment” in Wuhan. Also, the spokesperson declined to offer a timeline for the company’s investments and resource implementation.
However, the spokesperson did say that Tencent will be “involved closer with cooperation and city authorities” in the areas of “digital government, education, smart mobility, AI, and cybersecurity” to help the city.
Furthermore, the website relays that Tencent will push ahead with the plan to build a headquarters focusing on “digital industries” in Wuhan — especially in the digital spectrum to help the “government and smart city initiatives.”
Tencent will also establish a base in Wuhan for its online education ambitions, erect an AI lab, and cybersecurity academy and build a school focusing on smart mobility in collaboration with Chinese carmaker Dongfeng Motor Corporation.
Lastly, and something in relation to the above, the mobile payment app Alipay also created a dedicated section for Wuhan and offered loans to small local merchants in need of financial support. In case you don’t know, Alipay is operated by Ant Financial, an affiliate of Alibaba, which owns scmp.com.
