Chinese AI companies raised USD 15.7 billion (RMB 105.8 billion) in 262 investment rounds in 2018, with the average amount raised topping USD 60 million, according to a new report by Wuzhen Institute, a think tank.
This financing accounts for more than 93% of investments in AI throughout Asia, and nearly 47% of global financing for the field, according to the report, which claims that global AI companies have raised an accumulated USD 78.5 billion as of 2018, with the two top countries being the US with USD 37.4 billion raised, and China at USD 27.6 billion.
Wuzhen Institute estimates there were 15,916 AI companies worldwide, including 4,567 in the US, 3,341 in China, and 868 in the UK.
The report also details China’s leadership in AI research and development, measured by the number of patents filed and research papers published.
In the decade from 2009 to 2018, more than 68,000 AI patents were filed in China, more than anywhere else in the world, and more than double the number in the US (30,200).
During the same time period, the number of AI research papers published in China reached 30,303, with the Chinese Academy of Sciences being the world’s most prolific researcher in the field with 2,500 papers published, accounting for 2.1% of all papers on AI in the past decade.