China is a huge technology market . For decades, it has been taking care of its continuous development in this sector. Now, however, it has been faced with a major crisis affecting public health . The name of this crisis is known all over the world. Coronavirus . Beijing is pressuring technology companies to actively participate in the fight against the deadly disease.
Companies responded immediately in a variety of ways. They developed autonomous vehicles to transport supplies to doctors, created drones with thermal cameras to detect the virus more quickly , and offered their knowledge and techniques to help develop a vaccine.
Can the coronavirus be controlled by technology? We can't know for sure. The coronavirus has infected at least 79,000 people worldwide and killed many of them, mostly in China. Mitigation efforts have had limited effectiveness.
However, Beijing stresses that combating the virus is a national priority that requires collective action.
The government sees the tech market as a key pillar of growth. China has spent billions of dollars on subsidies, loans and bonds aimed at promoting artificial intelligence, autonomous vehicles and other technology products.
"The fight against the epidemic cannot be achieved without the support of science and technology," said Chinese President Xi Jinping.
He also added that China should increase clinical research on vaccines and antiviral drugs, as well as offer more online shopping to serve the millions of people staying at home to prevent the spread of the disease.
On Thursday, China's Ministry of Science and Technology asked for help from technology companies to develop robots, temperature monitoring devices and machinery that can help reduce human contact.
China: technology market and rise
A few decades ago, in the 1980s, authorities began designating parts of China as “high-tech development zones,” which focused on consumer electronics and biotechnology. According to statistics, the 168 zones brought in more than 33 trillion yuan ($4.7 trillion) in revenue in 2018.
There is also Beijing’s “Made in China 2025” initiative , which aims to shift the economy from manufacturing to high-tech sectors. This initiative involves the government investing billions of dollars in areas such as wireless communications, microchips and robotics.
There has been a lot of good work done in this area over the years. In 2018, 9 of the 20 most important technology companies in the world were headquartered in China.
The coronavirus cannot be fought solely by technology, according to Danny Mu, an emerging technology analyst at Forrester.
However, this sector can be very useful, as it provides digital servicesthat can be very helpful for people in quarantine. For example, delivery and payments via mobile devices are very helpful in these cases.
Research into treatments and reduction of human contact
This month, Tencent (TCEHY) opened its supercomputing facility, which includes machines capable of running calculations much faster than a regular computer. This technology could help researchers quickly find a cure for the coronavirus.
Large companies in China are partnering with doctors and other scientific teams, providing their equipment. Others are developing robots to eliminate human contact to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
Food delivery company Meituan Dianping has introduced robots to some of its partner restaurants in Beijing. The robots help deliver food to customers. Meituan plans to expand the program to other cities if it proves successful.
Online retailer JD.com (JD) has also begun using self-driving robots to deliver products to medical staff in the city of Wuhan, where the coronavirus originated.
The bots, which resemble small vehicles, are delivering packages to a hospital that is primarily caring for coronavirus patients. The route is relatively short, but it reduces human contact, helping to protect workers.
This entire process had to be done in a very short time frame. Companies were forced to put into practice ideas they had not tried before.
Another new company, Shanghai TMIRob, is also sending dozens of robots into hospitals across Wuhan. The robots are spraying isolation wards, intensive care units and operating rooms with disinfectant sprays.
Surveillance
Drones could not fail to be utilized by China to combat the coronavirus .
This technology is very useful because it allows authorities to scan large crowds of people and identify if anyone needs medical attention. For example, drone manufacturer MicroMultiCopteris providing about 100 devices across the country to help locate patients. It has also recruited 200 employees to operate command centers that monitor what the drones see in real time.
Although in this particular case drones are helpful, their use, like the use of other similar technologies, has led many to criticize China for the constant surveillance of citizens and the violation of their freedoms, as human rights groups claim.
Either way, the technology market in China is at the disposal of experts to mitigate this global threat called Coronavirus, and that is the most important thing right now.
