Technicians conduct noise tests on an smart air conditioner in a laboratory of an air conditioner manufacturer in Liujiang District, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. (PHOTO: XINHUA)

By ZHONG Jianli

China's R&D institutes and market players are being encouraged to actively apply AI technology to improve the intelligence level of electronic products, in a clear message to accelerate technological upgrades.

A new policy, issued by the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and other government bodies, seeks to promote technological innovation of electronic products and boost consumption of those that are smart and low-carbon.

Relying on the new generation of information technologies such as virtual reality and ultra-high-definition video, more innovative electronic products are expected to attract more consumers.

Efforts will also be made to remove barriers from rural and elderly residents to use electronic products. More investment will be put into the development of speech recognition technology for dialects and specific accents. Software installed with those popular products should be designed to tailor to the need of the elderly at the same time.

Exhibition and marketing activities for green smart electronic products should be organized across the country, while e-commerce platforms are encouraged to set up a special page to promote low-carbon smart electronic products, according to the policy.

It calls for the improvement of the quality standard system for smart electronic products, so as to realize the interconnection of electronic products such as smart home appliances and wearable devices of different types and brands.

In addition, the policy made it clear that consumer information protection policies for mobile phones, smart home appliances, wearable devices and other products should be strictly implemented. The formulation of policies and industry standards for data masking and compliance should be speeded up, and improper use of personal data by concerned enterprises should be cracked down on.

In terms of recycling electronic products, the policy proposed to regulate the recycling system, while increasing the crackdown on illegal dismantling of electronic products and promoting the "Internet + recycling" model.